Top Five Murder Movies Based On True Ark-La-Tex Stories

We've all heard the phrase "Based on a true story", it's one of the best marketing tools that movie studios can use. Most of the time the theme is used in horror and thriller movies, and not romantic comedies, because it just works better.

Now when those "true stories" happened around where you live, it could work even better. Or, it could ruin it altogether, because you're more aware of the real true story. Because after all, even if a movie is "based" on true events, they have to up the entertainment value by adding to whatever true events they're building on.

Here are some examples of "based on true story" movies created on stories from the Ark-La-Tex:

#5 - BERNIE - CARTHAGE, TX

Not a horror movie or thriller, but this dark comedy starring Jack Black is based on the 1996 murder of an elderly millionaire in Carthage, Texas.

#4 - BABY BLUES - HALLSVILLE, TX

This 2008 low budget horror movie was based on the 2001 killings of Andrea Yates, who murdered her 5 children.

#3 - THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN - TEXARKANA, AR

This single story has actually spawned two major motion pictures. The 1976 original drew directly from the Texarkana murders in the 1940s. While the 2014 remake actually references the original film, and uses it as a plot device.

#2 - HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER - BOSSIER PARISH & EAST TEXAS

Henry Lee Lucas is one of the most discussed serial killers in US history. He claims to have killed more than 3,000 people, but authorities have never been able to substantiate that. At one point, Lucas confessed to killing a woman who was the subject of a cold case in Bossier Parish. At that time, the victim was known as "Bossier Doe", but has since been identified as Carol Cole. Police are confident that Lucas was not responsible for Cole's murder, because he was in Florida at the time of her death. Additionally, he has confessed to murders across Texas, including murders in Smith County, though again, police have not been able to confirm that.

#1 - SCREAM - SHREVEPORT, LA

Scream is regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of all time. It was a box office blockbuster, the start of a franchise, and ultimately a cinematic game-changer. It's regularly put on Top 10 and Top 5 lists of the horror movie genre.

The story on the screen took place in California. There was never any "Ghostface" killer out there. So what's the Shreveport tie?

While horror master Wes Craven's name is tied to the movie, he was only the director. The writer of the film was a man named Kevin Williamson, who is also known for horror films I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty, and Cursed. When Williamson was getting ready to work on a new project in 1994, he found inspiration in the coverage of "The Gainesville Ripper", a man known as Danny Rolling. 

In August of 1990, Danny Rolling terrorized the community of Gainesville, Florida when he killed 5 college students over the course of three days. Not only did Rolling kill the students, he posed their bodies to be discovered after he left.

Danny Rolling was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father was a Shreveport Police Officer.

Once Rolling was arrested for the crimes in Gainseville, police in Shreveport reached out to authorities in Florida about an unsolved Shreveport triple murder. Police in Shreveport saw similarities in the Gainesville crimes to the 1989 murders of the Grissom family. 55-year-old William Grissom, his 24-year-old daughter Julie, and 8-year-old son Sean were all killed in their Shreveport home. After Rolling was convicted of the Gainseville murders, he gave a written confession to the Shreveport murders. 

The horror classic Scream is based on a true Shreveport horror story.