10 Bone-Chilling Horror Movies Based on Urban Legends You Heard as a Kid

Creepy urban legends have found their place in the movies – for directors and horror fans this means even more new plots that would be a shame not to use.

Our list includes several examples of films that are a mix of cinematic art and the urban legends, usually told around a campfire.

1. When a Stranger Calls, 2006

When a door suddenly begins to creak, or some other eerie sound is heard, the first thought is that it is either a thief or a ghost. A similar fear is at the heart of the man upstairs urban legend, about a nanny who was intimidated by ominous calls and threats from a psychopath who entered the house.

In When a Stranger Calls, a wealthy family hires college student Jill to watch their children while the parents are away. An ordinary job turns into a game of survival when the phone rings.

The voice on the phone asks about the children. At first, Jill thinks someone decided to play a cruel joke on her, but it soon becomes clear that the stranger is hiding somewhere in the house.

2. Dead Man’s Curve, 1998

Students are superstitious people – they come up with all kinds of strange things to get good grades. According to one of the student legends, if a student's neighbor dies, the student will get a high score on the exam.

In the dark comedy thriller Dead Man's Curve, two friends decide to put this urban legend to the test by killing their roommate and passing it off as a suicide. At first, everything goes according to plan. But a terrible secret begins to poison the lives of the students and becomes the cause of fatal events.

3. Alligator, 1980

One of the most unusual urban legends is about crocodiles and alligators in the sewers. In the '50s, it was fashionable to bring home small reptiles from Florida as "souvenirs."

But when the little alligators grew up, they were flushed down the toilet with little regard for their fate. Legend has it that the reptiles survived and formed entire colonies in the sewers.

Small crocodiles were indeed found and rescued near New York, but no major catastrophes occurred. However, this did not stop the creators of Alligator from fantasizing about it – in the 1980 horror movie, an alligator found in the sewers fed on the corpses of animals being tested for growth hormones. So the little reptile turned into a real monster and started hunting for bigger prey.

4. The Mothman Prophecies, 2002

The Mothman was reportedly seen by 100 people in West Virginia in 1966-1967. They described him as a very large creature with wings and glowing red eyes. The press gave him the nickname Mothman. Interestingly, the Mothman was only seen until the collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967, after which he disappeared.

Ufologist and journalist John Keel dedicated the book The Mothman Prophecies to this creature, describing supernatural phenomena associated with it. The book was the basis for the movie of the same name starring Richard Gere.

5. The Tag-Along, 2015

The Taiwanese urban legend of the little girl in red stems from a creepy story that happened in 1998. A family, after the funeral of a relative, watched a video of the deceased made shortly before his death. They noticed that this man was followed by a pale girl dressed in red.

An adaptation of the legend, The Tag-Along, tells the story of a man who lives with his grandmother. One day, the old woman mysteriously disappears. Soon, the man stumbles upon a video that captures his grandmother on a hike, being followed by a creepy girl in red.

6. The Hitcher, 1986

Many scary urban legends have grown out of road adventures. Especially creepy are those that involve encounters with mysterious strangers – where the hitchhiker turns out to be either a psychopathic killer or an evil ghost.

The cult thriller The Hitcher, starring Rutger Hauer as a highway killer, is based on just such a road legend. The confrontation between the driver and his passenger results in a brutal race for survival, and this suspenseful thriller has enough creepy surprises for even the most seasoned viewers.

7. Shutter, 2004

"Ghostly" images in old photographs taken with long exposures have given rise to many creepy horror stories. In some photos, they are just lights that can be mistaken for glare, while in others they are translucent figures with distinguishable features and faces.

Shutter is based on a Thai horror urban legend. In the story, a couple gets into a car accident and hits a woman. The frightened couple leaves the stranger on the street and goes away, but soon they begin to notice strange shadows and faces appearing in their photographs.

8. Ring, 1998

The horror classic Ring is based on the novel of the same name by Koji Suzuki. The book was inspired by Japanese myths and urban legends about vengeful ghosts.

Ring brings together all these ghostly, vengeful horrors and tells a chilling story about a journalist who takes on the investigation of a cursed videotape. Anyone who watches the tape will die a horrible death within seven days.

A bell rings in the house of the man who watched the video, and a week later, the evil ghost of a girl named Sadako comes for him.

9. The Burning, 1981

New York State has its own legend – the Cropsey. According to the legend, Cropsey was a madman who escaped from the hospital and started killing children, wielding a hook.

According to the plot of the movie, campers at Camp Blackfoot decide to play a prank on a counselor named Cropsey, but the prank ends in a fire. Cropsy suffers severe burns, but survives. A few years later, consumed with anger, he goes to another camp to take revenge.

10. Christine, 1983

The evil 1964 Dodge 330 Limited Edition known as the Golden Eagle has a dark history. It began its bloody journey as a police car in Maine.

Rumor has it that the Golden Eagle killed three police officers and members of their families. After "retiring" from the police force, the car continued to kill.

Stephen King was born in Maine, and his works are often set there. His book Christine was inspired by the urban legend of a killer car. John Carpenter made a horror movie of the same name based on the novel about a guy who restores an old car named Christine.