15 Horror Movies That Inspired Real-Life Crimes

Directed by late, great Master of Horror Wes Craven, Scream is often credited with singlehandedly reviving the horror genre in the late 90s. Scary, gory and full of self-referential humour the movie struck a chord with knowing horror fans but the critically acclaimed Scream series has attracted its fair share of controversy too for a series of violent crimes it supposedly inspired.

The first known Scream copycat murder took place in California in 1998 when 16-year-old Mario Padilla and his 14-year-old cousin Samuel Ramirez killed Mario’s mother Gina Castillo after reportedly being inspired by the slasher movies. They also planned to rob Castillo to fund the purchase of Ghostface masks and voice-changers for a Scream-themed murder spree.

A year later two British teenage boys obsessed with Scream stabbed their friend 18 times and left him for dead. Luckily, the victim survived the attack and the pair were found guilty of attempted murder. Over in France in 2002, a 17-year-old male murdered a teenage girl while wearing a Ghostface mask after repeated viewings of Scream.

But perhaps the most infamous Scream murder took place in 2001 when 24-year-old Belgian truck driver Thierry Jaradin stabbed his 15-year-old neighbour Alisson Cambier to death while dressed as Ghostface after she rebuffed his advances. After confessing to the murder, Jaradin claimed the Scream movies were his inspiration.

Pretty ironic for a film series whose original Ghostface, Billy Loomis, implored us not to blame the movies.