10 Movies Everyone Thinks Are Based On A True Story (But Aren't)

1973's legendary folk horror film The Wicker Man is one of the most atmospheric films of its genre ever made, so expertly balancing the grounded with the elevated in a way that makes it entirely believable.

Director Robin Hardy certainly encouraged audiences to believe that this tale of a devout Christian police sergeant (Edward Woodward) being preyed upon by pagans on a remote Scottish island was indeed inspired by true events.

After all, the film opens with a title card reading the following:

"The Producer would like to thank The Lord Summerisle and the people of his island off the west coast of Scotland for this privileged insight into their religious practices and for their generous co-operation in the making of this film."

That blatantly seems to suggest that the villainous Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) was a real person in some capacity, and that Summerisle was indeed an actual Scottish island filled with Celtic pagans.

But this was all pure bunk intended to make the film seem more realistic. In actuality, Lord Summerisle, the island itself, and the pagan community in question didn't ever exist, with The Wicker Man being inspired solely by David Pinner's totally fictional 1967 novel Ritual.