horror story

Horror films try to take on an air of authenticity by making the claim that they're based on true events. But then you watch the film and there are elements that are obviously fantastical - jump scares and a lot of familiar tropes that we're used to seeing in horror films, like bodies contorted in strange positions and things that are normally associated with innocence being associated with evil. 

I watched a film called The Crucifixion which was based on true events. It was based on an exorcism that a priest in Romania did to a 23 year old nun in 2005, which involved chaining her to a cross for 3 days, and she later died. The priest was sentenced initially to 14 years in prison and then that was reduced on appeal to 7 years. Four nuns who assisted with the exorcism also served prison sentences. 

The film was fairly entertaining, but I think what would have really elevated it and made it great would be if they didn't have all the elements of obvious fantasy, or at least if they minimized those elements and foregrounded the actual truth of what happened. 

That's why I really loved The VVitch. Robert Eggers did extensive research about the Salem witch trials and other historic interactions between the puritans and witchcraft, and the film is grounded in that reality. It gives you a sense of the actual dynamic of those original events and how they actually happened. There are some fantastical elements but they're used sparingly and the overall impression is of historical authenticity. It engages your mind as well as your emotions.

That's what I thought The Crucifixion might do and that's why I wanted to watch it. How could this happen in 2005? What actually happened? But the film only used that event as a starting premise to tell a pretty typical horror story.