two days ago, i did research on the Conjuring and the Warren demontologists, [see two posts before] and it was deemed 'interesting'. i found it to be so too; and thus, my job for the holidays shall be researching rumours that you may or may not have heard of, about movies that you might have watched.
because why the fuck not? like i'd said, i wouldnt be able to watch a movie based on a true story without reading everything about the said true story. would you?
so all morning [yesterday's and today's] til now i've been sitting here reading about some movies from the past which were actually, though loosely, based on real-life accounts.
if you remember the Chuckie doll from Child's Play; a serial killer uses voodoo rituals to transfer his soul into a doll, possessing the child's toy and going around attacking people. [thanks to Google, because i forgot half the plot of this movie]
yes. it wasn't just imagination. whatever that is portrayed in the film is not necessarily from reality; just inspiration. and for this film which may have been a huge part of your childhood, its inspiration comes from a Robert doll.
the year is 1906, and Robert Eugene Otto was given a doll from his servant, who despised the family. she was skilled in black magic and voodoo, and of course, soon after, Eugene's family began to believe that there was something eerie about the doll.
[it was named Robert, so from here on, i shall label Robert as the doll and Eugene as the boy to avoid confusion]
Eugene started talking to himself in his room, and his parents also heard the doll speaking back; at first they thought it was the boy answering himself in changed tones, but later believed that the doll was talking. strange encounters just increased from there.
Eugene would start screaming in his sleep and crashing noises would be heard from his room at night, and his parents would rush to see furniture turned over, and him crouched in a corner, pointing to the Robert doll and yelling; "he did it!"
neighbours claimed to see the doll moving from window to window, and sometimes Eugene's parents would hear it emit a terrifying giggle, and running from door to door. after all these strange experiences, Robert was taken and left in the attic.
when Eugene got married, he dusted off the doll and brought the doll down from the attic, much to his wife's dismay. he spent all his time with the doll, although his wife had a bad impression of it from the very start. even when Eugene was ill, he spent his last breaths locked in the room with his doll; instead of spending time with his wife.
he died in 1974, and his wife left the house, leaving behind the doll after planting a whole load of boxes on it.
a new family moved in, including a ten-year-old girl who became the new friend of the Robert doll. soon after though, she too began screaming in her sleep, and claimed that the doll was trying to kill her. even many years later, she still stuck to the fact that she had indeed gotten attacked by the doll.
Robert continued attacking people, sometimes locking them in the attic. he was also found at the foot of the owners' bed, holding a kitchen knife with a scowl. [just like your best friend Chuckie...]
today, he is kept and locked in a glass case, in a museum; where he continues to scowl and plan mischievous deeds. you may take a picture of him only when you've gotten his permission. ask him politely, and proceed if his head tilts a little to the side.
if he doesnt give you permission but you still snap anyway, he'd curse you and your family, as well as the families of whoever had followed you to the museum. well, it's just rumours, but you can always try for yourself.
another film which was based on a real life account; Nightmare on Elm Street. of course, the burned figure that is Freddy doesnt exist in reality, but the movie's director had read in the newspapers about a physician's son, which inspired his film.
at the age of 20, a boy was having nightmares, and refused to sleep because he was too terrified; "i have a lot of nightmares but these are different." he stayed awake for about six days, refusing to go to sleep. he strongly believed something was trying to kill him in his sleep.
his family was worried; they had given him sleeping pills but they never seemed to work. one day, he was watching television when he fell asleep on the couch; he was so exhausted til he just dozed off. he was brought to his bedroom, laid to bed, and everyone thought it was all over.
at night though, screams were heard from his bedroom. before his parents got to him, he was dead in his bed. his closet was filled with sleeping pills which he had spat back out.
when director Wes Craven read about this, he immediately thought; "hey, this is gonna make a great movie.", which brought the film A Nightmare On Elm Street. not sure if you've watched it, but i did, once, in the company of my parents and cousins. [and afraid to sleep at night, yes]
there was also a period of time when young men from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were dying in their sleep. it was also recorded in our very own Singapore, between 1982 and 1990. healthy Thai men were dying in their sleep as well; it was soon known as "sudden unexpected death syndrome".
according to folklore, there was a malign spirit dab tsuam, which takes on the form of a woman who takes your breath from you as you sleep. the name roughly means "to sit upon", and men often went to bed dressed as a female so as not to attract the spirit's attention.
last but not least; The Hills Have Eyes. i've heard about this one, had watched my cousins and brother watching it, while i cowered in the corner with a book, pretending not to hear the screams from the television.
it apparently involves cannibalism; and yes this is another film based on a true story. i've written about this last because i've made the prince research about this as punishment for closing all my research tabs last night. didnt want to write this until he recites me everything about it, but he's too slow, so here you go.
Alexander "Sawney" Bean; semi-mythical head of a clan from 15th/16th Century Scotland, known for his mass murdering and cannibalism.
Bean had ran away with a vicious woman, and they took lodging in a coastal cave, where they lived undiscovered for some 25 years. they had children and grandchildren, most of which were born through incest, or, sexual intercourse between family members.
to survive, they hunted and killed none other than human beings. the clan sneaked around at night, targeting individuals or small groups. their bodies were dragged back to the cave, and sometimes the clan just left unwanted, or 'unedible' parts around. body parts would wash up on the shore.
the villagers nearby were disturbed, of course. the disappearances and washed up body parts didnt go unnoticed. but the Beans were so skilled with their ambushes that the villagers were unaware that the murderers were in fact living nearby.
search parties were launched to find the culprit, and the cave was also glanced at, but the men refused to believe that anything human could live in it. they suspected the innkeepers, who were always the last to have seen the victims alive.
one night, the Beans ambushed a man and a wife who were riding on a horse, but the man was skilled in combat, and at least managed to stall time. before the clan could do anything more, a large group of other men appeared, and they just fled.
but their existence was exposed. more search parties, into the telltale cave this time; the Beans were captured and taken in chains to the Tolbooth jail in Edinberg, where they were prosecuted without trial. the men were hanged, drawn, and quartered: kind of a normal punishment for high treason.
just side facts, but for men who have committed acts which were strongly against the law or nation, they were first hanged, most of the time to the point of death, put through disembowelment, emasculation [google for the meanings of these words; i don't think i'd want to put in the details here on my baby blog] and body parts were dismembered. the women were burnt, due to modesty issues.
in another town nearby called Girvan, there was another legend in which one of Sawney's daughters left the clan, settled there, and planted a Hairy Tree. after the Beans' prosecution, her identity was revealed and angry locals hanged her from the tree.
some more additional facts: local legends in the town of Girvan today, says that you can hear the sound of a hanging corpse while standing beneath the boughs. the exact location of the tree is unknown but searches have been launched to hunt it down.
so there you have it! three films which you may or may not heard of or watched, which were inspired by real life accounts. i'm not sure if anyone have read this post to the very end, but i hope you enjoyed this one.
imagination have limits too. nobody has great creativity like our creator himself. our stories are based of his creations, not ours. most films and books are inspired by what God made happen, not us measly humans. [i hope i dont seem bullshit with these sudden God references.]
forgive me if my posts have been boring lately. just testing out different topics to see what draws in more audience. i'm really doing my best to get my writing appreciated okay!
thank you for reading.
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