The "Back Story" of "Based on a True Story" Texas Chainsaw Massacre

 

The True Story behind the inspiration of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" horror movies us horror fans have loved throughout the years!

 

 

 

 

 

Like most horror movies, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is loosely based. When a movie begins with the words, "Based on a True Story" or "Based on Actual Events" more than likely it is exaggerated to no end! For our entertainment of course! I don't mind, however, I do like to know the story behind it all. What inspires someone to make the movie in the first place. So I've gathered as much information that I could find for you guys! Hope you enjoy.

 

 

LEATHERFACE 

 

THE MAN BEHIND THE

INSPIRATION:

 

EDWARD THEODORE GEIN

 

 

 

Edward (Ed) Theodore Gein was the serial killer that Leatherface was loosely based on. The movie takes place in Texas but the actual murders were in Wisconsin. Ed's mother, Augusta Gein, was a very cruel and strict woman to Ed and his brother, Henry. They were taught that women in general ( except for her of course) were evil and that any form of sexual pleasure was a sin. She forbid her sons from having contact with other people and would not allow them to make friends at school. She talked her husband into buying a farm on the outskirts of town to keep the brothers away from the sins of the world. His father, George Gein, was an abusive alcoholic. Augusta and George fought endlessly and it was obvious to Ed and Henry that their parents were in a loveless marriage but because divorce was a sin, they remained married and miserable.

 

Ed was shy and had an eye malformation. He was made fun of all the time from kids at his school. Surprisingly, he was a very smart and good student.

 

 

In 1944, a fire wiped out part of their fields. Police found  Henry dead but untouched by the fire. It was apparent to the police that he had suffered trauma to the head but in the end, an autopsy proved it to be Asphyxia due to the smoke from the fire. There was a lot of speculation that Ed killed his brother from the citizens in town. Everyone knew that he had an unhealthy infatuation with his mother, viewing her as a "Goddess" and wanted him all to himself, especially since his father had passed recently after drinking himself to death. It was never taken seriously by the police.

 

Later that year, Augusta suffered a stroke that rendered her bed-ridden. Ed spent the entire rest of the year taking care of her until she passed away in December 1945 from another stroke. After his mother's death, Ed became a recluse. He boarded up all the windows in the house and rarely was seen around town except at the local hardware store. It was then that he began all of his research. He started studying the female anatomy. He was also seen making many late night graveyard trips. He would keep up with the obituaries and would dig up fresh corpses, skin them, and put the rest back into the graves.

 

 

Disappearances around the area began in 1954. December 8th actually, which is MY birthday! 51 year old Mary Hogan disappeared from a tavern she was owned and was never found. Police knew foul play was involved because of the blood left behind at the tavern. At this point though, they had no leads. November 1957, Bernice Worden disappeared from the hardware store she owned. Her son, Frank, was the deputy sheriff and after having an odd and unsettling conversation with Ed the previous day when he was purchasing a shovel, Frank had a gut feeling right away. He led the officers to his farm immediately after realizing his mother's disappearance. The smell about knocked them down as soon as they stepped out of their vehicles. Ed had a shed set off behind the house, in which they found Mrs. Worden hanging from the rafters by her ankles, decapitated, disemboweled and slit from her groin to where her throat should have been. When they found her head, it had hooks mounted into it as if he had planned to put it on the wall like it was some type of trophy. Her heart was found in a paper sack in the refrigerator.

While searching the farmhouse, they also found a bodysuit made from the skins of women he had killed. He had chairs with human skin upholstery, necklaces of human lips, and dead skin masks that he would sometimes wear. Upon interrogation, Ed confessed to the murder of Mrs. Worden and Mrs. Hogan among many others he would not name.

 

 

 

Ed was found incompetent at that time to stand trial and was sent to a mental institution in Waupun, Wisconsin. In 1968, doctors sent word that Ed was finally fit to stand trial. He did not serve one day in prison for the gruesome crimes he committed due to a jury who came back with the verdict of "Not Guilty by reason of insanity."

 

He died in 1984 from heart and respiratory failure.

  His farmhouse was torched by the citizens who lived there when they got tired of all the tourists coming to their town to "visit" the gruesome site.

 

 



His grave-site was a popular place for many tourists. This headstone was eventually stolen in 2000. Who knows what some morbid weirdo has done with it! Also...what warped individual would put a rose on his grave!

 

 

AND THUS, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE WAS BORN....

 

1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ( 1974 )

2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part II ( 1986 )

3. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III ( 1990 )

4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation ( 1994 )

5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake of the Original ( 2000 )

6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning ( 2006 )

7. Texas Chainsaw 3D ( 2013 ) * What the hell happened to Massacre??? *

 

COOL FACT: "Psycho" was also inspired by Ed Gein!

 

I urge you to check out the movie: "Ed Gein."  I found it interesting and after checking in my research I found it pretty factual!

 

 

I plan to continue doing "Back Stories" on most of my favorite "Based on a True Story" horror movies! So keep checkin! I'm on a roll!

See you guys..right here...next time!