Underrated Movies Based On Real-Life Crimes

The Movie: Several years before becoming a household name with The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson made one of the best true-crime movies of the ’90s. Heavenly Creatures stars Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey as teen girls in New Zealand who strike up an intense friendship. Indulging in fantasies and pretending they’re real is an everyday activity for them. That leads to murder when their parents feel the bond is becoming unhealthy. Anchored by stunning, nuanced performances from the two leads, Heavenly Creatures expertly depicts how these girls get dangerously lost in fantasy, to the point that they practically dissociate from the real world. This is a picture that gets under your skin.

The Real-Life Story: In 1954, adolescents Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme really did strike up this kind of friendship. Pauline’s mother came to believe that things were becoming too intense between her daughter and Juliet. Aside from the indulgence in fantasy that included belief in a “fourth world” paradise, another concern was that there might be a sexual element to their friendship. (This was a time when same-sex relationships were viewed with less understanding than they are today.) When she tried to separate them, the girls beat her to death with a brick. Even more shocking, forensic evidence suggested one girl held the woman’s head down while the other pummeled her. The kicker to the story is that, after serving time for the murder, Juliet grew up, changed her name, and became best-selling mystery author Anne Perry.

The Movie: A Cry in the Dark tends to be remembered for a specific line of dialogue – “The dingo’s got my baby!” It has been the subject of multiple pop culture spoofs, most notably on Seinfeld. In reality, there’s nothing funny about it. Meryl Streep plays Lindy Chamberlain, a woman charged with murdering her own 9-week-old infant while on vacation in the Australian outback with her husband Michael (Sam Neill). Lindy insists that she saw a dingo drag the baby away in its mouth, but neither the authorities nor the jury believe her. The film offers another riveting performance from Streep, as well as a compelling look into a case that rocked Australia for years. Unfortunately, that single line of dialogue has changed the perception of A Cry in the Dark. It deserves to be rediscovered and appreciated for the hard-hitting drama it is.

The Real-Life Story: The movie pretty accurately captures the actual story. Lindy Chamberlain became the most hated woman in Australia after she was convicted of murdering baby Azaria. She maintained her innocence throughout. Although sentenced to life in prison, she was released after three years when a piece of the baby’s jacket was found near a dingo’s lair. That it was found at all was a total fluke. The body of a British tourist was spotted at the base of Uluru, a large sandstone formation. In the process of retrieving that body, a search team found the piece of the jacket. Michael, who was convicted of being an accessory to murder, was released as well, once this occurred. In 2012, a medical examiner confirmed the cause of death, permanently exonerating the couple. Nevertheless, they spent years being called baby-killers and sitting behind bars.

The Movie: Bully is an exceptionally difficult film to watch, but it’s one that has great power if you can handle the tough material. Nick Stahl plays Bobby Kent, a troubled teen with sociopathic tendencies. He’s often physically aggressive with best friend Marty (Brad Renfro) and he sexually assaults girlfriend Lisa (Rachel Miner). Because of all the abusive behavior he inflicts, Marty and Lisa decide that the only way to make it stop is to eliminate Bobby. They soon enlist several others to join the cause. The sequence in which the group carries out the murder is graphic and horrifying. Bully‘s real power, though, is in depicting the moral lapses that allow these kids to take such an extreme measure. It’s a stunning portrait of disaffected youth. Unpleasant subject matter limited box office appeal, leading to a box office total of about $1.4 million, despite a rave 4-star review from critic Roger Ebert.

The Real-Life Story: The true story behind Bully began in a Florida Pizza Hut when seven teens plotted to get rid of Bobby Kent. On July 14, 1993, they lured him to a secluded canal, where two of them distracted him while another snuck up behind, stabbing him in the neck with a knife. As he lay bleeding, one of them beat him with a baseball bat and somebody else slashed his throat. The group tossed Bobby’s body into a marsh. One of the culprits, Derek Dzvirko, grew a guilty conscience, going to the police a few days after the event and leading them to Bobby’s remains. Because of the ages of everyone involved, the case made national headlines. Adding to the shock value was the fact that three of the teens never even met Bobby Kent. They were simply into the idea of helping to murder someone. All seven of the offenders received jail time – and they were all unrepentant for their offenses.

The Movie: Jimmie Blacksmith (Tommy Lewis) was born to a white father and an Aboriginal mother. Because of that, he’s never been fully accepted by white society. Making matters worse, the British rule Australia in the 1900s, enacting more than a few racist policies. Jimmie finds himself facing all kinds of racist attitudes after he marries a white woman. That pushes him to the edge, leading to him embarking upon a killing spree. This exceptionally well-reviewed film from director Fred Schepisi offers a fascinating look at historical racism in Australia, in addition to true insight on the progenitors of violence. It’s a smart picture about a tough subject, and one that never quite made a splash with domestic audiences.

The Real-Life Story: The real Jimmie’s last name was Governor, but other than that the details are pretty much the same as in the film. Jimmie married a 16-year-old white woman and grew tired of people harassing her for wedding him. The last straw came when he was insulted by members of a family for whom his wife performed housework. He responded by killing almost everyone in the clan with a tomahawk. This, in turn, spurred him to go on a killing spree with his brother Joe that lasted for over two months. They killed people who had crossed them in some way. Authorities pursued him, and at one point he was shot in the mouth by a hunter. That weakened him, allowing for capture. Once apprehended, Jimmie was tried and sentenced to death by hanging.

The Movie: A few years after his breakout debut Boyz N the Hood, director John Singleton made the historical drama Rosewood. It didn’t get a lot of attention, which is a shame because it tells an important story. Set in 1923, the film stars Don Cheadle and Ving Rhames as citizens of the titular Florida town. Almost all of the people who live there are African-American. On New Year’s Day, a lynch mob from a nearby white community shows up looking for trouble, so they have to lead the charge in protecting the town and the families within it. Jon Voight co-stars as a white grocery story owner who lends a hand. Singleton infuses Rosewood with equal parts passion and urgency, creating a movie that has a lot to say on the subject of racism, then and now.

The Real-Life Story: The true story of Rosewood did indeed begin on January 1, 1923, when a 22-year-old white woman named Fannie Taylor claimed to have been beaten by a Black man. Her husband James assembled a band of white locals, along with some KKK members, to search for the individual. That led them to Rosewood, where they began beating and torturing people in an effort to get information. A gun battle eventually broke out, and within a day, newspapers began reporting the story, This led even more white aggressors to flood Rosewood, where they set buildings on fire, then shot people as they ran out of the burning structures. The mobs pulled back after a couple days, but not before having wiped out the entire town. Although legal proceedings occurred, the jury – who heard from mostly white witnesses, not the Black citizens themselves – declined to hold anyone accountable.

The Movie: Angelina Jolie stars in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling. She’s Christine Collins, a single mother whose beloved son Walter disappears for five months. When the cops finally find him, he’s halfway across the country. Mother and son are reunited, but Christine is convinced that this boy is not actually Walter. Among other things, he is three inches shorter. She tries to convey these concerns to the police, who respond first by attempting to gaslight her, then by committing her to a mental institution. Aside from the typically excellent performance by Jolie and a compelling portrait of a woman fighting to find her (real) son, Changeling works because it offers an astute look at how institutions can apply great pressure on individuals in order to achieve corrupt results.

The Real-Life Story: Changeling is based on the shocking “Wineville Chicken Coop Murders” in which a man named Gordon Stewart Northcott abducted and sexually assaulted young boys. When he was done, he would take them into an incubator room, ostensibly to see baby chicks, and kill them. One of his targets, whom his mother helped kill, was Walter Collins. Another boy managed to escape Northcott’s grasp and, having been told he had a passing resemblance to the missing child, decided to pass himself off as Walter. He was eventually sent to Walter’s mother Christine, who recognized he was not her son. For her refusal to accept the “official” version of the story sanctioned by the police, she was institutionalized. Only after a handwriting expert declared that the real Walter’s print was not identical to the other boy’s did authorities relent and release her. For his offenses, Northcott was eventually hanged and his mother was sentenced to life in prison.

The Movie: Crime generally isn’t funny, but Richard Linklater’s Bernie found one so bizarre and unlikely that it lent itself to comedic treatment. Jack Black stars as Bernie Tiede, the assistant undertaker in a small Texas town. By all accounts, he’s a pillar of the community. Bernie has an especially close relationship with Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), a widow known for her nasty temper. No one understands why Bernie likes her. When Marjorie is slain, her body shoved into a freezer, he becomes the prime suspect. Interestingly, everyone in town rallies to his defense. The film finds humor in the quirky personalities of its central character, as well as the offbeat idea that the town’s residents are okay with him offing a woman nobody cared for. Anchored by Jack Black’s winning performance, Bernie is a kooky crime flick that takes a nice low-key approach.

The Real-Life Story: The town of Carthage, TX was not exactly rocked when the body of Marjorie Nugent was found at the bottom of a freezer. Even the fact that she’d been dead for months didn’t raise a lot of eyebrows. Assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede confessed to shooting her four times in the back, but that also barely raised a fuss. In fact, townspeople argued that Bernie was actually a pretty good guy, despite this heinous crime. The local preacher went so far as to deliver a sermon about how Bernie needed “support” through his ordeal. In jail, local women baked cakes and pies for him to enjoy. What caused such compassion for a killer? Part of it was due to the fact that Bernie had taken about $500,000 of Marjorie’s money, which he donated to the local church and handed out to people in need. As for the slaying? Marjorie was mean to him, too, and he simply reached his boiling point.

The Movie: The next time you think your love life is pitiful, remember Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler), the lead character in The Honeymoon Killers. She’s fallen in love with her pen pal Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco). He’s a psychopath who seduces lonely women, does away with them, then takes all their money. Rather than falling prey to Ray’s scheme, though, she decides to join him, worrying that he’ll take up with one of the other women if she’s not around. Because she doesn’t believe anyone else would want her due to her weight issue, Martha is willing to be with him, despite his propensity for violence. What follows is a brutal string of killings committed by the two. Made with an eye toward creating a sense of authenticity, the movie offers a harrowing depiction of codependence and sociopathy. Powerful performances from Stoler and Lo Bianco add to the picture’s unnerving quality. It’s an interesting bit of trivia that a young Martin Scorsese directed the film for one week before being fired.

The Real-Life Story: The real Ray Fernandez had every intension of conning Martha Beck. Left bald after a serious head injury while serving in WWII, he launched a scheme to bilk lonely women of their money. Martha was a prime target, as she was overweight and not particularly attractive. The two formed a connection, though, and he decided to spare her. Instead, they joined forces to place personal ads in newspapers, looking for “lonely hearts” who might be susceptible to their wicked intentions. Martha pretended to be his sister, and the ruse worked a couple of times. A woman they tried to con in Michigan knew something was up, so, in a fit of impatience, they murdered her and her 2-year-old daughter, burying their bodies in the basement. The killer couple confessed when caught, but did not anticipate that they would be extradited to New York, a state that still used the electric chair. Both were executed at Sing Sing Prison.

The Movie: Director Justin Kurzel has made a specialty of deep-diving into the psychology of criminals. Prior to his stunning 2022 film Nitram, which looks at the events leading up to the worst mass shooting in Australian history, he made The Snowtown Murders. It details how an angry man named John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) becomes a mentor/manipulator to his girlfriend’s teenage son Jamie (Lucas Pittaway). Together, they go on a killing spree. The film offers a harrowing look not only at the sociopathic mind of Bunting, but also how he was able to spread – or, depending on how you choose to look at it, force – his sociopathy onto Jamie. Kurzel tells the story with frankness, yet never allows the movie to veer into exploitation or tawdriness. This is about as insightful a look into the abyss as you’ll find.

The Real-Life Story: John Bunting was responsible for a dozen slayings during the 1990s. He became close to his girlfriend’s son, Jamie Vlassakis, a sexual abuse victim lacking a positive male role model in his life. Bunting took on that role, and the two became close. Despite that seemingly benevolent gesture, there was real anger inside. Bunting had a great deal of resentment toward people he felt were a scourge on society, particularly gay men, people accused of being pedophiles, and those of low economic status. That dehumanization of individuals he disliked made him think he was justified in killing them via the most gruesome means imaginable. Even more disturbing, he was said to have laughed as his targets perished. Young Vlassakis was pulled into some of his violent activity as a result of the influence Bunting exerted. DNA evidence eventually helped authorities nab the men, who carried out their acts along with another individual, Robert Joe Wagner. Vlassakis was sentenced to life, with a minimum of 26 years served. Bunting and Wagner received life without parole.

The Movie: Jason Statham had a rare light-on-action role in The Bank Job. He’s Terry Leather, a London car dealer who owes a heavy debt to some local thugs. Because of that debt, he agrees to join a group of crooks planning to rent a storefront, then dig a tunnel into the bank two doors down. When it turns out that one of the safe deposit boxes inside contains incriminating photos of high-ranking political officials, the entire caper takes on a different twist. The Bank Job faltered at the box office, likely because it was an atypical Statham flick. Audiences wanted to see him fighting, not digging. This is one of his best performances, though, in one of his best movies. Director Roger Donaldson stages the heist meticulously, so you understand every aspect of it, and therefore become more tense wondering how it will pan out.

The Real-Life Story: The Bank Job is based on an actual robbery known in Britain as “the walkie-talkie bank job.” In 1971, a ham radio operator accidentally heard two people arguing over two-way radios about whether to keep digging a tunnel or pause for a while. He reported the suspicious behavior to the police who, believing it to be a hoax, failed to investigate in a timely manner. When £500,000 was reported stolen from the bank, the story hit the papers in a big way. Then the unexpected happened. A government gag order was put in place, preventing the media from covering the news. It later came out that the bank’s vault held photographic evidence of sexual encounters featuring prominent public individuals, and many believe this was the reason for the gag order. The resolution of this crime remains unknown, due to the lack of reporting. Because of the dearth of information, the filmmakers had to make educated guesses about some of the specifics, but they stayed very true to the parts that are known.