After the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) came out, there was a lot of talk about the true story behind the movie. From every source, the conclusion was drawn that this was merely a loose tie with the story of Ed Gein. So was the TCM in fact a real event?
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What exactly do you mean "I thought it never happened"?? This is merely a documentary on the making of the FILM - not real life events surrounding a mass slaughter.
shareof course it actually happened, back in the 70's and i've heard some rumours that he might still be alive, but i'm guessing he's dead by now.
shareI'm sure that somewhere, at some point in history, somebody has been murdered with a chainsaw (especially since TCM was released), it may have even happened in Texas, but was the movie based on one actual event? Nope...more based, loosely, on the antics of one Ed Gein
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its all about ed gein he's the insperation to the movie they added characters just to make a horror film. but ed gein died of natural death (old age), they buried him next to his mother.
shareActually,yes.Before migrating to NC my family lived in texas.My grandfather was a texas ranger at the time and he told me facts of the case shortly before he died.Him and another collegue had been assigned to work the case.According to him there were actually only two killers involved. They were brothers.It happened in the early sixties.The girl that escaped was found wandering on a road near austin.The man who rescued her from the scene had left her on the side of the road claiming he did'nt want to get involved.She could never identify him.The girl then told police that her and her friends had been victimized by two men,one who wore masks that she claimed looked like human skin.She stated that they tortured her for two days and that she had seen remains of her friends in the house while every thing was going on.She also said that one of the brothers was hit by the truck of the man who rescued her. After that the girl became incoherent and never regained her sanity.She died a few years later.My grandpa said they could never find the location of the house but did locate the kids vehicle abandoned in another part of the state.He said it was found months later.The rest of the kids were never proven to have been killed and were apparently considered missing.He said that because the kids that were traveling together were from several different states the case was'nt looked at seriously enough.He studied the case until after his retirement. As far as i know now the case is still cold.I hope this info was of some help in answering your question.
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Don't write it off as BS. I find it very likely, but believe it is a coincidence and not directly related to the film "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
There are some very similar cases that over time in people's memories become interwoven.
My own grandfather in the 1950s had an unsloved case in WV that involved a torso that fell out of the back of a pick up truck.
These types of things happen constantly, only rarely do we hear of them.
On another note, my adopted brother served time in prison with a man who according to him was a a member of a "bloodcult" who cut an old woman's head off with a chainsaw.
If that had been in Texas, I'm sure he would have told someone and it would have ended up being repeated and connected to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
if you've listened to tobe hooper's commentary on the texas chainsaw massacre dvd you'd know that he grew up near where ed gein had lived and he used to hear stories about him and ultimately decided to make a movie "about a family of ed geins". the chainsaw part comes from this one time when he was in a crowded hardware store and he imagined himself cutting his way out of the store with one of the chainsaws that he saw. as for it being set in texas in the summer, tobe hooper has said that he's fascinated by the way the sun effects life on earth (ie: people's behavior) and that the "family of ed geins" did what they did partially due to sun flares and what not.
i'm absolutely amazed that over 30 years after this movie was orginally released that there's still controversy over whether it really happened or not.
killxthexdogs is correct. Tobe Hooper was inspired by the story of Ed Gein and he wanted to make a movie of "a family of Ed Gein's" etc.
Do you know who you are
In your robes of skinn
How many creatures live inside you?
If I remember correctly, he was also a UT film student? Which would be an obvious reason for Texas.
Yeah I got into a huge argument in line at a Luby's with a lady who claimed her son was a guard at the Texas State Pen. and that "leatherface" is still there rotting away because it's illegal to kill the last born male of a family. First, I had to correct her on the fact that we don't care in Texas. If you're the last of your family, your lineage is getting melted in a chair along with your body. Then, I had to explain to her that Travis County could not be the site of this for the simple fact that 88% of Travis County is the University of Texas campus. I then explained the Ed story and that she was a moron to believe that. Of course, she continued to claim she had newspaper clippings hahaha.
On another note, I live in Bell County, which was used for some filming of TCM. Even though I know it's good ol' fiction, I still get freaked out driving alone at midnight on these desolate roads!
it is kind of intriguing to think of urself being chased down the hallway or being dragged into "the room" by Leatherface, my opinion its too *beep* up to be real and i heard about the Ed Gein thing and i believe it.
People may not remember what we say here tonight, but by God they'll remember what we did.
I know this and take it for what you want. I was incarcirated in Leavenworth, KS maximum security facility. It is a well known fact among us (inmates) that there was a man whose name shall not be mentioned that did live in a small town in Texas that was incarcerated with us. Rumor, which in prison means true, was that the man was there for the murder of several people in edward ghein fashion, cannabilism, torture, etc and was incarcerated back in the late 60's sentenced to life. The story was that he and a family member had done the acts and his accomplice was never caught. The man was older and was prescribed over 60 pills a day. I had encountered him every now and then on various work duties and can honestly say that he was quite a bit off in the head and no one, i mean no one would mess with the guy. We were all actually quite afraid of him, a shriveled elerly man. No one ever spoke to him in detail about anything. Is this the man the movie is based on? Hell if i know, hell if i care, but it is true that there were two guys who were serial killers, cannibals, and f--- ups in texas around the same time. one was caught and had to have been in his 50's to 60's when i was locked up. take it for what you want, and the Exorcist is true, based on a little boy in a st. louis hospital- there were many priests who now work at Rockhurst university in kansas city missouri. ask them about the exorcism and they'll each get a nervous look and simply walk away. trust me, i've asked many a times
shareWhether this happened or not has nothing to do with Tobe's film...If The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was in fact based on one or more serial killers living in Texas Hooper would have at some point mentioned this(Hell, he would have talked about this every chance he got to help hype the film)But, no...many many times Hooper has mentioned his inspiration from the stories he had heard about Ed Gein when he was a kid.
Nobody is saying that people aren't killed with chainsaws. We are just saying that the TCM is loosely based on fact and not a true story.
shareSweetheart, either your grandpa was pulling your leg or he was senial. TCM is losely based off of Ed Gein. Ed Gein liked to where woman's skin so he could feel like a woman. Aside from the skin wearing, the rest is well, fiction. Sorry to burst your bubble.
myspace.com/bewitched_samantha
It it true that it was loosely based in Ed Gein's life; however, how many of you remember the "Matamoros Incident?" A bunch of crazy fanatics from the U.S., moved south of the border to Matamoros, Mexico. The FBI finally caught up with them and found an old hut in the middle of nowhere filled with putrid corpses partially devoured, some of the victims brains were completely eaten. All of these freaks commited suicide before they could be apprehended by the U.S. authorities. One agent reported that the stench was like something he never experienced before. They had to burnt their uniforms and clothes to get rid off the putrid smell. A smell they will never forget. Stranger than fiction incidents happen at all times in our world kiddies. You can read about this and other real horror stories at www.crimelibrary.com
Wooo, go crime libary. I learned all about Sweeney Todd, the sickest bastard to ever live.
shareDouble B.S.
shareNo its not real, it's only based on a true story because Eddie Gein would skin his victim and make clothes and furnature out of them. Three villians are based on him, Leatherface, Norman Bates, and Buffalo Bill. Bates is the most realistic because of his relationship to his mother. But the real story of Eddie Gein is far scarier then any horror film. Sick Bastard.
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no, Sweeney Todd was real. Leather Face was not.
shareSweeney Todd wasn't a real person. He was a fictional character who appeared in a number of British "penny dreadful" novels from the mid to late 1800s.
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I really think that all these "there were cannibal killers in Texas in the 60's"
and "Leatherface is still locked in a Texas Prison" is modern urban legends.
Heck I dated a girl that tried to convince me that an abandoned house across
from where I used to live was the actual house where the real murders occured.
I know TCM was loosely based on Ed Gein's acts but that film created a new
and popular (at least here in Texas) urban legend
There WAS a case involving a slaughterhouse owner outside of Austin who brutally murdered a number of passersby in his warehouse, and whose arrest came about through the account of woman survivor picked up on the highway. Others were thought involved, but only he was captured. Not a direct motivation for the film, but another actual example which adds to the legend.
shareAt the end of the newest TCM film; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), we are told that 33 people were killed in Texas by the Hewitt family between 1969 and 1973. Also in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) we are shown archive footage of Leatherface/Thomas Hewitt attacking a law enforcer. I'm sure some of you have watched these films, but anyway, I just thought I'd remind you all of that. I mean, why the hell are you discussing whether there was a Texas chainsaw massacre in the 60's and 70's, when the answer has all ready been revealed in these films?!!! Obviously a large amount of the events shown in the TCM films have been changed in order to make good films, or simply because facts cannot be discovered for sure, with there being a shortage of survivors, but still I think this discussion is kind of stupid as 33 people were killed by the Hewitt family between 1969 and 1973...according to the 2006 film anyway. The film stated it like it was a fact, so I think it is.
"Russell smash!" JR
Gullible little twit, aren't you? <G>
That wasn't actual archive footage, it was created for the film...Wow, you must also think the Blair Witch was real and the happenings in the film Fargo really happened too. You do know that Spinal Tap and The Rutles aren't real bands? And that Leonard Zelig wasn't a real person, Leslie Vernon isn't a real serial killer, Bob Roberts wasn't a real politician, Colin McKenzie wasn't a real filmmaker....
Seriously, if that kind of a massacre really happened in Texas there would be more on them than just fictionalized films. There'd be documentaries, and whenever shows are done or books are written about horrific murders this family from Texas would have been mentioned somewhere some time.
Like I said before Hooper wouldn't constantly be talking about his inspiration from Ed Gein, he'd be talking about this family from Texas, because if they were real he'd be trying to get the hype.
Leslie was the one covering people in apple butter.I was just an innocent on-lickershare
jr-1108, I seriously hope you're just joking.
"I've been living off toxic waste for years, and I'm fine! Just ask my other heads!"
"The film stated it like it was a fact, so I think it is."
lol!!
at the end of star wars. darth vader HIMSELF says that he's luke's father, so it must be true.
vader said so himself (and obi wan says it's true too).
Hi! I'm.... Tommy, and I'm your friend to the end. Hi Di Ho. Ha ha ha.
it amazes me how much impact this film had on the world,this film has gone so much farther a classic it has become a legend,its become part urban law to some people that this actually happened,tobe hooper changed the face of cinema with TCM,so many people have heard storys from families or friends 'fact' about the case behind the film lol,tobe your a genius man.
Wow, I've officially found the dumbest person on imdb.
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