10 Conspiracy Theories That Inspired Horror Movies

You might not have known these movies are based on actual conspiracies.

Devil's Pass
Anchor Bay Entertainment UK

It feels like conspiracy theories have never been more popular (or more ridiculous). Nowadays, there are "truthers" who believe the Earth is flat, there's mind-controlling chemicals in our toothpaste, and the Royal Family are shapeshifting lizards.

Whether or not you believe in these outlandish assertions, conspiracies are a topic that millions of people are fascinated by. In fact, some of the wildest hypotheses have inspired classic movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, JFK, and Capricorn One.

It's a terrifying thought that there could be a cabal hiding a great truth from humanity. As a result, it's not surprising that many horror films have been inspired by conspiracy theories. On this list, we will be looking at films that sound so fantastical, many viewers assume they are nothing more than entertaining fiction. When a story centres around sub-humans consuming mankind or aliens living among us, it's hard to fathom that people actually take this stuff seriously. After all, it's all a bunch of nonsense, right?

But you never know. There could be more truth to these conspiracies than you ever realised.

10. Area 51

Devil's Pass
Blumhouse

As soon as construction began on Area 51 back in the 1950s, it felt like it was at the epicentre of all conspiracies. The official explanation is that the building was established to test experimental aircraft and weapons.

Since the ins-and-outs of Area 51 are shrouded in mystery, it has inspired every conspiracy you could imagine. There are theories it was built to study time-travel, teleportation, and weather manipulation. But since Area 51 was built a couple of years after the Roswell Incident and UFO sightings were on the rise at the time, it wasn't long before the facility was associated with aliens. Some people, who claim to be ex-workers of Area 51, stated that it houses spacecraft that are not of this world.

And in 2015, Paranormal Activity director, Oren Peli, decided to make a found-footage horror revolving around the mysterious base, simply called Area 51. In the film, a trio of friends formulate a plan to break into the Nevadan facility to uncover its secrets once and for all. After they stumble upon alien ships, dismembered body parts, and a colony of sleeping aliens, the group realise that entering Area 51 was a huge mistake.

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows