10 Most Disturbing Real-Life Crimes Turned Into Movies

Hollywood’s not proud. Whenever a truly heinous crime takes place, studio executives are almost always falling over themselves to get the rights to adapt it for the big screen — whether it’s in good taste or not. Luckily, there is legislation in place that prevents criminals from making money off the tales of their illegal exploits, but that doesn’t mean filmmakers are any less eager to tell their stories on-screen. And whether the crimes in question are serial killings, terrorist attacks, or one-off murders that caught the public’s attention, it’s clear that these types of films will always find an audience.

These days, we have entire podcasts and series devoted to true crime. On this list, we’ve put together some of the most reprehensible criminal acts that have been adapted for film, where Hollywood just couldn’t resist the urge to bring them to life once more for curious audiences. While some films in this genre can be undeniably salacious, the ones we’ve included manage to (mostly) avoid feeling exploitative, despite their subject matter. Still, please read ahead with your own comfort in mind.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, there was a rash of London murders that stumped Scotland Yard. Although Timothy Evans was identified as a suspect for two of the murders — his wife and infant daughter — was prosecuted, and hanged for the crime, he was later absolved of any wrongdoing. Because in fact, the killer and serial rapist was someone else: John Christie, who buried the grisly evidence beneath the floorboards of his own house at 10 Rillington Place.

Released in 1971, “10 Rillington Place” tells the whole dark tale of Christie’s crimes, his efforts to hide them, and the desperate plight of the innocent Timothy Evans amidst it all. With Richard Attenborough and John Hurt in the two lead roles as Christie and Evans, respectively, “10 Rillington Place” received mixed reviews from critics. However, the duo was praised for their performances in particular. What’s even more chilling is that at least one sequence was shot at the actual scene of the crime, shortly before 10 Rillington Place was torn down by the city.

When West Germany was chosen to host the Olympics in Munich in 1972 — for the first time since Adolf Hitler was in power on the eve of World War II in 1936 — it was seen by many as an opportunity for a fresh start. But it also put immense pressure on the country to make sure that everything went perfectly — a wish that, tragically, would not be fulfilled.

The 2024 film “September 5” details the 1972 Munich massacre through the eyes of the ABC Sports crew reporting on the Olympics, who found themselves in the unexpected position of being on the ground as the Israeli Olympic team was held hostage by Black September, a militant organization that was also responsible for the assassination of Jordanian Prime Minister Wasfi Tal.

“September 5” gives a good deal of focus to the issue of journalistic integrity — a fitting approach for this tragedy, as it was reported that the team had been rescued, only for the news later to break that they had actually all been killed.

As the years go by, more attention is given to tragic events in Black history that go beyond slavery and the civil rights era. “Rosewood” is a perfect example of a film that shines on crimes carried out against Black people as the result of racist mob mentality. Directed by John Singleton, who also gave us “Boyz ‘n the Hood,” “Rosewood” tells the story of the 1923 Rosewood Massacre.

Racial tensions had escalated in Rosewood, Florida — a predominantly Black community — after a number of lynchings had been committed against their residents in the previous year. But things really came to a head when a local white woman claimed to have been beaten by a Black man, and in response, a white mob came into Rosewood and essentially destroyed it. The official death toll sits at eight, although eyewitness accounts suggest that as many as 150 people may have lost their lives in the violent attack.

One of Peter Jackson’s earliest dramatic efforts, “Heavenly Creatures” essentially redefines what it means to be in a codependent relationship. It stars Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey in both of their first leading roles (Winslet had a few credits to her name by this point, while Lynskey was making her on-screen debut) as Juliet and Pauline, a pair of best friends who do everything together. They can’t imagine living without one another — so much so that when they are threatened with separation, they go to extreme lengths to avoid such a fate.

With this film, Jackson infuses their friendship with a strange atmosphere that blurs the line between reality and imagination. But the wildest thing about “Heavenly Creatures” is that it’s based on a true story, the infamous Parker-Hulme murder case, where two teenage girls shocked all of New Zealand by brutally killing one of their mothers.

Younger fans of Yondu from “Guardians of the Galaxy” may be surprised to see Michael Rooker in “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” where he’s … well, a much less endearing character. This deeply unnerving horror film casts Rooker in the lead role of Henry, a drifter who, alongside his prison buddy Otis (Tom Towles), essentially goes on a murder tour of America.

Although director John McNaughton creates what can generally be considered a work of fiction, it’s no secret that the film is heavily inspired by the crimes of Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole, who went on a killing spree together up and down the East Coast during the 1970s. Gruesome, unflinching, and wildly unsettling, “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” earned a reputation as one of the most interesting horror films of the 1980s, courting controversy and censorship efforts upon its release in 1986.

In 1959, middle America was shocked at the brutal home invasion and subsequent murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. The crimes and resulting trial saw Perry Smith and Richard Hickok found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, and this was detailed in Truman Capote’s 1966 landmark work of nonfiction, “In Cold Blood.” 

The following year, the book was adapted for the screen, starring Robert Blake (who, interestingly enough, was charged with murder in real life after the death of his wife in 2001, but ultimately acquitted) and Scott Wilson.

The result is a deeply unsettling look at a murder committed entirely in cold blood, as the title suggests. The two men were attempting a robbery, and only killed the Clutters so that there would be no witnesses to their crime. Devastating and unnerving, “In Cold Blood” is one of the earliest and most powerful true crime films in American history.

Often, when Hollywood films tell the stories of serial killers, they focus primarily on those in the United States, with itinerant murderers leaving devastation in their wake. But “Citizen X,” released on HBO back in 1995, sets its sights on Andrei Chikatilo, one of the most prolific serial killers in Russian history. Chikatilo is notable not just for the sheer number of people he murdered (he was charged with killing 53), but for dispelling the popular notion in the Soviet Union at the time that serial killers were a uniquely Western phenomenon.

“Citizen X” details not just his crimes, but how the political environment in the Soviet Union during the 1980s impacted its investigation. Although it was a television movie at a time when they were not necessarily seen as prestige dramas, “Citizen X” has a fantastic lead cast, with Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, and Max von Sydow as Russian investigators opposite Jeffrey DeMunn as the frankly terrifying Chikatilo.

These days, the killing of innocent Black men by police officers is depressingly common. But rarely has been this crime and tragedy been depicted with more emotional impact than in “Fruitvale Station,” which details the final day of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan) before he was gunned down by BART police in Oakland. 

After Grant’s death, there was widespread community outrage, as videos documenting his murder were widely circulated online; later that month, the officer responsible was charged with second-degree murder. (He was eventually convicted of involuntary manslaughter, a lesser charge, rather than murder.)

“Fruitvale Station” is an intimate film that documents a devastating event without melodrama, its quietude delivering something much more authentic and heartbreaking. It served as a launching pad for both its star Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler, who made his feature debut with the film and quickly developed a reputation for sensitive but politically impactful storytelling.

In 1993, a 21-year-old transgender man named Brandon Teena was sexually assaulted and murdered, a crime that played a significant role in spearheading a movement for hate crime legislation that would protect the LGBTQ+ community. Six years later, his life and death were turned into the film “Boys Don’t Cry,” in which Hilary Swank played — and won an Oscar for — the lead role of Brandon.

The production isn’t without its weaknesses; it garnered criticism at the time from some of the real-life people depicted in the film, and modern viewers may look askance at the casting of a cisgender woman as Brandon. But for its time, it shined a light on the murder of an innocent young person who was part of a marginalized and frequently persecuted group. The deep sense of empathy in “Boys Don’t Cry” has allowed it to resonate with viewers in the nearly three decades since its initial release.

A lot of the entries on this list revolve around a single incident, or one person committing a series of crimes. But what makes “Killers of the Flower Moon” so sobering is that it’s based on a true crime story that cast a wide and horrifying net over the Osage community, with so many different victims, perpetrators, and people complicit in allowing these murders to unfold as they did. 

The Osage tribe in Oklahoma owned land that sat atop huge reserves of oil, making them one of the wealthiest groups in the entire country. It should come as no shock that schemes quickly developed to usurp this wealth from the Osage by any means necessary.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” tells the whole sordid tale, with Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio as two of the major players responsible for the grisly deaths of several Osage — including members of their own extended family. With an ever-growing sense of creeping dread, Martin Scorsese shines a light on one of the darkest, least-known periods of American history.