Inspired By A True Story

August, 1969. Four people have been tasked with a mission: to murder strangers in the most gruesome fashion possible. The results of which haunted an entire nation for decades. In 2008, writer and director Bryan Bertino took this notion and crafted The Strangers , one of the most terrifying thrillers of this century, which answered the horrific question of why would you do this to us with a simple...

France, 1969. After fleeing authorities in Louisiana to Europe, Frank Abagnale Jr., is apprehended in France. To this point, Frank has been suspected on counts of impersonating a pilot, a lawyer, a doctor, and eventually became an undercover agent with the FBI. In 2002, Steven Spielberg directed a dreamy retelling of Frank Abagnale Jr's story, Catch Me If You Can , starring Leonardo DiCaprio and T...

November 30, 1989. Aileen Wuornos has led a life of crime and debauchery, and tonight, she will segue into murder. What follows is the emergence of one of history's most renowned serial killers. In 2003, Charlize Theron portrays Aileen in a brutal, almost empathetic look at Wuornos' life. Prepare to journey into the mind of a Monster. This is inspired by a true story. 2003's Monster was written an...

November, 1991. Danny Rolling is charged with five counts of murder, crimes that occurred over the course of four days in August 1990 in Gainesville, Florida. His crimes extended to a triple homicide, sexual assault, and even an attempted murder. He became known as the Gainesville Ripper. In 1996, Wes Craven unleashed a new slasher film named  Scream , which flipped horror on its ear and launched...

It's 1985. A former officer turned drug smuggler named Andrew Thornton has been found dead in a driveway. A short time later, a hunter discovers the body of a black bear, deceased for some time. And when they performed an autopsy, they discover the shocking truth: this bear overdosed due to a heavy intake of what some call the white tornado, or as we call it, COCAINE. In 2023, director Elizabeth B...

May 1999. Several missing person reports have led investigators here to an abandoned bank vault in Snowtown, Australia. Inside the vault are several barrels containing the results of a group of evil perpetrators. In 2011, the accounts of these men were captured in a searing thriller called The Snowtown Murders. And this film was inspired by a true story. Email your thoughts on this episode and/or...

It's May 1, 2010, 4:51 am. A young woman named Shannan Gilbert calls 911, the phone call lasts 23 minutes. It's not until a neighbor calls 911 that the police arrive, nearly an hour later. By then, Shannan Gilbert has vanished. Her mother, Mari Gilbert, is a force of nature who refuses to let her disappearance go unchecked, which leads to the discovery of several dead bodies on Gilgo Beach. Years...

We all love true crime and the movies they inspire, but have you ever wondered how TRUE that story is?   Welcome to Inspired by a true story, where every two weeks, our award-winning podcast hosts and film critics discuss the genuine details that have inspired some of the most memorable true crime movies around. Each episode will break down the crime or crimes that inspired a specific film, and th...