I thought I saw this question here posted long ago, but my searches have not been able to find it. With the new version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre coming to theaters, I have friends insisteing that it is based on a true story. Is it?
It’s partially based on the true story of Ed Gein, the man who was also the inspiration behind Norman Bates in Psycho and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. In short, Gein murdered a couple of women in a small Wisconsin town in the 1950s. A corpse was found sliced up the front like a deer in the barn, and a number of body parts were found in the house including bowls made out of skulls and chairs made from human skin. He liked to dress up in the skin of women (like Buffalo Bill) and was a real mama’s boy (like Norman Bates).
Ah, something to disturb my friends with! Thanks for the info!
SOOOO… to get this straight, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is based on true events that DID NOT happen in Texas, nor involved a chainsaw… and that’s ONLY in the title of the movie.
From the article:
. . . made me snort.
While Ed Gein is generally cited as the inspiration for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre I think it likely also drew (arguably more significant) inspiration from the legend of the cannibal family of Sawney Bean:
http://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng9.htm
http://barryoneoff.co.uk/html/sawney_bean.html
The Bean legend has been acknowledged as an influence on The Hills Have Eyes, made in 1977. I’ve never heard it specifically connected with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, though the parallels seem clear.
You better snort…
while you still can!!!
Ed Gein was also inspiration for Slayer’s “Dead Skin Mask”
It is a song not a movie, so, please, ignore this.
Move along…
I liked Cecil’s comment:
I knew there was one! But my searches for it failed. I thought the words “Texas” and “chainsaw” should have done the trick. Alas, my wife is right, I can’t find the nose on my face.
Of course if it’s in that box in Gein’s attic I think I should get some slack.
Now I think the obvious next step is a musical based on these events. My working title is “Goodbye to my honker.”
Gein!
http://www.texaschainsawmovie.com/
Spooky website, but it has info for those unfamiliar about what we are talking about.
I sort of figured Alliance Atlantis was leaning heavily on the “Based on actual events” angle in the same way The Blair Witch Project was “actual events”.
y’know what I mean?
Oh! Don’t sneak up on me and do that—you scared the hell out of me!
No Pain, No Gein
Gein there, done that.
Hey if the pun worked once, no reason it won’t work agein.