10 Insane Movies You Didn't Know Were Based On True Stories

3. Open Water

The Conjuring
Lionsgate

Jaws may remain the big daddy of the shark movie subgenre (and, let's face it, that's never going to change), but it's not the only one to draw heavily upon terrifying real life events.

2004's Open Water is one of those movies for which reading the synopsis alone is a panic attack waiting to happen. The film centres on a couple vacationing in the Caribbean who take a scuba diving trip, only to find themselves stranded in the middle of shark-infested water when the boat accidentally leaves them behind.

As the low budget chiller was shot on home camcorder-esque DV, out in the ocean with real sharks, there is already an unnerving sense of realism about the whole endeavour.

It's all the more unnerving when you learn the film was inspired by the true story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were lost at sea under similar conditions in 1998.

Anyone else crossed scuba diving off their bucket list? No? Just us?

In this post: 
The Conjuring
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Ben Bussey hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.