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In Shirley – which hits theaters this week – we see how a historical person (horror writer Shirley Jackson, best known for The Haunting) ends up in a fictional situation. It is not the first time that a certain film has taken a toll on history. We collected 5 more films with an ‘alternate history’.
Note: spoilers!
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
There are films that tell a new story with a little adjustment and then there is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. In this book adaptation it becomes clear that the American president did not only fight for the abolition of slavery.
He also works as a vampire hunter. You read that right, the legendary statesman fights monstrous leeches in this insane film. The history books don’t tell that …
Watchmen
In Watchmen the eighties play an important role. Only these are not our eighties. Because of the rise of superheroes, America won the Vietnam War and Nixon could start a third term as president.
However, the Cold War has not averted that. Thanks to the presence of the powerful Doctor Manhattan, relations with the Soviet Union are on edge. While a large-scale war seems inevitable, the superheroes’ right to exist is also being questioned.
Fatherland
In the television movie Fatherland one looks at what would have happened if the Nazis had won World War II. Their war crimes have been covered up and in 1964 Hitler decides it is time to make peace with the United States.
This background is used for a tense thriller that is not so much about the war, but about a murder investigation. This leads to the greatest conspiracy the world has ever seen. Our own Rutger Hauer plays the leading role.
The Good Dinosaur
What if the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs never hit? According to The Good Dinosaur the enormous reptiles would then have evolved into the dominant species on Earth. Man has therefore never got much further than the animal state.
But when fearful dino Arlo gets separated from his family, he needs Spot’s help. This human cub follows him like a watchdog. Together they must discover what it means to be family.
Inglourious Basterds
If anyone likes to rewrite history, it is Quentin Tarantino. That came to a head in the finale of Inglourious Basterds.
In this war film, we follow a group of Jewish soldiers who traverse France to cause as much damage as possible to the Nazis. When they learn that the leaders of that regime will soon be meeting in a movie theater, they decide to devise a dangerous plan.
And so it is possible that Hitler and his propaganda minister Goebbels will not make it to the end of the war. At the time it was quite a surprise, which was appreciated by the fans of Tarantino. In the recent Once Upon a Time in Hollywood he rewrote history again, although he just let someone live there.
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