10 Scary Horror Movies About Urban Legends

Many urban legends were born to scare us. They’ve become an inspiration for plenty of horror movies, too. When you come across these myths in film, you’re helping to keep them alive. And like all other kinds of storytelling, urban legends are a means of preserving our culture. They also address universal fears in a way that is thought-provoking. The horror genre prevails for the same reasons.

Using frightening, stirring narratives can effectively convey a point without being plain-spoken. So when you combine horror with urban legends, you are in for some indelible entertainment. With homicidal backseat drivers and reptilian sewer dwellers in mind, check out these ten horror movies inspired by contemporary folklore.

10 Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007)

The Slit-mouthed Woman (or Kuchisake-onna) is a Japanese vengeance spirit armed with a pair of shears. An onryō, to be specific. She covers the bottom half of her face with a mask of some kind, and she approaches would-be victims with the question, “am I pretty?”

Your fate depends on your answer.

A “no” will get you killed immediately; a “yes” invites another question — “how about now?” — while she removes the mask. Your response to her Cheshire grin-like injury will result in death or maiming. You can’t really win in this situation.

In Kōji Shiraishi’s Carved, a teacher’s attempt to solve a rash of child abductions leads her to the Slit-mouthed Woman.

9 The Barrens (2012) — The Jersey Devil

Deep in the Pine Barrens forest lurks an unholy creature known as the Jersey Devil. It’s physically described as a bipedal demon with a goat head and wings like a bat. The Jersey Devil also walks on cloven feet, its tail is forked and, it has a horrifying scream. Basic lore states the Jersey Devil came to be when a mother cursed her thirteenth child prior to birth.

The baby started off looking human before it eventually turned into the creature New Jerseyans no doubt think about when they enter the Pine Barrens. Yet in The Barrens, a bickering family is unprepared to meet the mythical Jersey Devil when they go camping.

8 Hell Fest (2018) — Corpses in Haunted Houses

There are various accounts of dead bodies being used as props in haunted houses and ghost trains. But are they true? Yes and no. Accidents have happened, and spectators may have mistaken the body for a prop. This isn’t common, however, despite what the urban legend wants you to think. Interestingly, movies have come close to using real corpses. For instance, Apocalypse Now almost used illegally harvested cadavers.

In the 2018 slasher Hell Fest, a group of friends visits a horror-themed amusement park. Little do they know, the victims being killed at the hands of the park’s masked employees aren’t acting. Of course, customers think this is all part of the show and move on.

7 Black Christmas (1974) — The Babysitter & The Man Upstairs

You know the story, and you know the twist. For those unaware, “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs” concerns a young woman who is tormented by a crazed prank caller as she babysits some kids. Eventually, the calls are traced to a second line in the same house. The babysitter flees, but the fate of the children isn’t so bright.

The legend has been adapted into movies like Black Christmas and When a Stranger Calls. In reality, the story is thought to be based on a 1950 crime that happened in Columbia, Missouri.

6 Alligator (1980) — Sewer Gators

Back in the day, stores apparently sold baby alligators and caimans. As expected, these reptiles grew too big to take care of. So, the owners disposed of them in whatever way they saw fit. The myth of albino, blind alligators living in sewers suggests people simply flushed the poor critters down the toilet.

Would alligators be able to survive in the sewer, though? No, not for too long. They’re cold-blooded so they need to be in the sun. And there’s not enough food either. That’s not to say there haven’t been misplaced alligators throughout history. The 1980 creature feature Alligator saw its mutated namesake emerging from the sewer to chow down on bigger prey.

5 Campfire Tales (1997) — People Can Lick, Too

The obscure anthology Campfire Tales actually features three urban legends and one well-known children’s ghost story. Other than the movie’s interpretations of “The Hook” and “The Boyfriend’s Death,” there’s a chilling adaptation of “People Can Lick, Too.”

In most versions of the legend, a girl is left home alone with her dog. From under the bed, the dog licks the kid’s hand whenever she’s scared. In the middle of the night, a noise ends up startling the child. To soothe her nerves, she dangles her hand underneath the bed so her dog can lick. The next morning, she finds the message “People Can Lick, Too” written on her wall.

4 The Mimic (2017) — The Jangsan Tiger

In South Korea, there have been sightings of a quadrupedal cryptid called the Jangsan Tiger. It’s named after a mountain in Busan, where sightings have occurred since 2010. This creature resembles a large dog or sloth with long, white fur. It’s said the Jangsan Tiger can lure people by mimicking its voice.

The Mimic is probably the first movie that capitalizes on the Jangsan Tiger. In the film, a mother grieving for her missing son finds a lost girl in need of a home. However, she’s far from being an ordinary child.

3 The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) — Black Dog

Dartmoor is famous for its myths. From pixies to headless horsemen, this moorland is home to various things that go bump in the night. Some of its more famous supernatural residents are the Dartmoor Beast — a mysterious big cat — and various demonic canines like spectral hounds and black dogs.

The 1959 film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. In this retelling, Sherlock Holmes and his dear Watson investigate the death of a peer, whose body was discovered in the moor around his estate. They now worry a ghost dog caused his death.

2 The Burning (1981) — Cropsey

Cropsey was like the boogeyman for so many people on Staten Island. He was rumored to be a hook-handed killer who abducted children and then took them back to his lair beneath the old mental hospital he escaped from. And the real-life inspiration for Cropsey is said to be convicted serial killer Andre Rand.

The 1981 slasher The Burning loosely adapted Cropsey as the film’s killer. The movie is considered a Friday the 13th knockoff, but Tom Savini’s exemplary practical gore effects make it stand out among the crowd of copycats.

1 Urban Legend (1998) — The Killer in the Backseat

The aptly titled Urban Legend may be a Scream cash-in, but it’s a good one. Fairly ambitious in its story and execution, this movie has aged well if not better than other hip slashers from the same time period. Urban Legend entails an assortment of popular, contemporary myths.

There’s the cautionary tale of what happens when you flash your headlights at another car. And then we see the supposed result of drinking soda with Pop Rocks. Arguably the best take is in the opener, though. After narrowly escaping harm at a gas station, a driver neglects to see she’s picked up an ax-wielding stowaway.

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