The first Texas Chain Saw Massacre claimed to be based on real occurrences, but the truth is a little murkier (and perhaps even darker) than fiction. Yes, “chainsaw” was spelled as two syllables in the 1974 classic’s title.
Please be advised that the information you are about to read is frightening and perhaps triggering for many people. Continue reading (if you dare) to find out if the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a true story.
Does the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Actually Happen?
Director of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre Tobe Hooper has said that serial killer Ed Gein’s killings served as inspiration for some of the crimes’ specifics, such as Leatherface’s infamous skin mask. Gein is thought to have committed his killings between 1954 and 1957, however, his base of operations was in Wisconsin, not Texas.
“My family who lived in a town adjacent to Ed Gein told me these horrifying tales of human skin furniture and lampshades, among other things. Hooper, a native Texan, stated, “A little bit of grave-robbing, I guess. I grew up with Gein as a bogeyman figure in “campfire tales, “but his knowledge of the murderer’s true narrative was limited.
Edward Gein: America’s Most Bizarre Murderer, a book about the case written by Judge Robert H. Gollmar, who presided over Gein’s trial, describes the horrors discovered in Gein’s home, including heads, bones, and bodies of murder victims; human skulls; and masks, bowls, chair covers, leggings, and lampshades made of human skin.
Gein, a serial grave robber, was ultimately only tried for and found guilty of two genuine murders, raising doubts about whether the remains found in his home came from the bodies he had forcibly unearthed or from more victims who were never found.
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Did the Real Ed Gein Murder His Victims With A Chainsaw?
No, Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan, Ed Gein’s two known victims, both died from pistol shots. Police discovered Bernice Worden hanging from the rafters in a shed outside Gein’s house in November 1957. Her head had been cut off, and her body had been gutted like a deer.
Ed Gein was a suspect in a number of other missing person cases as well. The addition of the chainsaw to the plot of the movie underscores the film’s hazy relationship with Gein once more. –carpenoctem.tv
Did Leatherface Have a Real-Life Inspiration?
Gein served as a major inspiration for Leatherface, even down to the skin mask. Kim Henkel, who co-wrote Texas Chain Saw Massacre with Gein, told Texas Monthly that Gein wasn’t the only one who served as a gory inspiration.
“I did research on Gein, but I also took note of a murder case in Houston at the time involving Elmer Wayne Henley, a serial killer you may be familiar with. Recruiting victims for an older homosexual man, he was a young man “Henkel remembered. “Elmer Wayne was quoted in a news source as saying, “I did these crimes, and I’m going to stand up and take it like a man.” He had this traditional moral at that time, which I found interesting. He wanted it known that he would act morally moving forward after being discovered. I, therefore, wanted to incorporate this sort of moral insanity into the characters.”
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Who Actually Committed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Murders?
A true Texas Chainsaw Massacre never occurred (thankfully, yet). Gein and Henley’s family is partially modeled on the homicidal family in the movie series.
Ed Gein, Is He Still Alive?
No, Gein is dead, and for the rest of us who want to go to bed at night, that’s probably much better. Gein passed away in the Mendota Mental Health Institute in July 1984. Henley is currently alive but will remain behind bars till he passes away.
Was a real family the inspiration for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
The violent and cannibalistic Sawyer family is a prominent part of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but they are not based on any particular group of real individuals. Having said that, Gein, like Leatherface, had an odd obsession with his mother that served as a significant influence on the character of Norman Bates in the film Psycho.
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Conclusion
In order to draw in a larger audience and provide a subtle reflection on the political situation of the time, the film was promoted as being based on true events. The murders of serial killer Ed Gein served as inspiration for the character of Leatherface, and for some minor storyline specifics, but the rest of the film is entirely fictional.