8 Horror Movies Built On A Lie

8. The Fourth Kind

The Gift
Universal Pictures

The most audacious liar of them all, The Fourth Kind takes things to the extreme with its fictitious story presented as cold hard truth. A mockumentary that goes to great lengths to appear as if the 'mock' has nothing to do with it, this tale of alien abductions in Nome, Alaska claims to be based on a true story. And it is! Only... it's a true story that has nothing to do with alien abductions.

Going so far as to construct fake 'true' footage with 'real' actors to go alongside dramatic recreations, The Fourth Kind really hammers home its bafflingly convincing premise of extraterrestrial terror. It's just a shame that it's been plastered over actual accounts of missing and dead citizens of Nome in the process - using real tragedies as a canvas to paint in alien tales that seem wildly inappropriate when looked at in context.

Producers even went as far as to create fake news stories from real papers in the area for marketing. The whole thing earned them a hefty lawsuit in the process, and the film was critically panned for its offensive manipulation of the truth. Ouch.

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Horror film junkie, burrito connoisseur, and serial cat stroker. WhatCulture's least favourite ginger.