10 Movies Which Unwittingly Inspired Real-Life Crimes

1. Natural Born Killers

There are very few films in the history of American cinema that have become as infamous as Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Natural Born Killers wasn't just accused of inspiring one isolated crime but a very long list of grisly murders, the most famous of which would be the Columbine High School Massacre. In a rare scenario, the perpetrators of a crime have directly attributed their actions to the film, completely misunderstanding the use of violence within the film. Natural Born Killers is itself based on the real life story of Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate, who in the 50's went on a killing spree across the American mid-west.

A unique alleged copycat crime in regards to Natural Born Killers is that of the murder of William Savage by Sarah Edmondson and Benjamin Darras. Not because of the actual act itself, but the subsequent court case brought about by victim Patty Byers who was shot by the pair but survived. Byers brought a lawsuit against Oliver Stone and Time Warner accusing them of inciting violence with the film and there being a direct correlation between the film and the acts of her shooters. The case was eventually dismissed, but it is still a clear reminder of the powers that film possesses and how they can unwittingly influence unstable individuals to commit heinous acts.