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Mind_Storm · 10-17-2003, 05:14 AM

http://www.zap2it.com/movies/feature...-19093,00.html

The Ugly Truth About 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'

Wed, Oct 15, 2003, 01:10 PM PT

By Mike Szymanski

New Line is doing a lot these days to scare people these days. Audiences are faced with the ads of horrifying chases through a farm by a maniac with a roaring powertool for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" -- a remake of the original 1974 slasher classic. Then, people see the chilling tag line that these events are "inspired by a true story."

And although the marketing folks at New Line Cinema point out that word "inspired" is used, lots of people think that there really was a group of teenagers butchered horribly by a guy known as Leatherface in the middle of Texas and that the community hid it from authorities and that 30 or so bodies were found.

Even the press kit starts off: "On August 20th, 1973, police were dispatched to the remote farmhouse of Thomas Hewitt, the former head-skinner at a local slaughterhouse in Travis County, Texas. What they found within the confines of the cryptic residence was the butchered remains of 33 human victims, a chilling discover that shocked and horrified a nation in what many still refer to as the most notorious mass murder case of all time."

Truth is: there was no such murder, there's no such murderer's name and no chainsaw was ever used even in the "inspired by" crimes.

Although filmmaker Tobe Hooper created an incredible myth when he made the film, there are lots of people out there who believe it's all fact. And, there are others trying to correct people's impression that the story happened as it's told by him, or as it's told in the latest movie. The Travis County, Texas authorities, for example, point out that only a handful of murders actually happen outside of their metro city, Austin, and author/historian Tim Harden says his daily queries are tripling now that the myth is being perpetuated again just before the Oct. 17 release of the remake.

"Every day I get e-mails asking about whether this really happened or not," says Harden, who runs the website www.texaschainsawmassacre.net which is not affiliated with the movie. The horror film fan says he gets calls from college students who have found secret information about a series of chainsaw murders, but they never bring him proof. He points out, "The film was released in August of 1974 and the opening states that this happened in August of 1973? August of 1973 is when filming for 'TCM' began. So do you think that Tobe Hooper and company were monitoring a real live 'TCM' and mimicking it for the camera at the same time?"

"Leatherface is as real as Pinocchio," insists another Internet film historian.

The truth is that Hooper was terrified as a child about stories of the Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, which became legendary and exaggerated. Back on Nov. 17, 1957 police went into Gein's hardware store and followed a terrible smell and found the body of 50-year-old Bernice Worden, the missing mother of one of the police deputies. She was gutted and dangling upside-down like a deer.

Then, they noticed Gein's decor in his house included a bowl made out of a human skull, a suit and an armchair made of human skin, female genitalia kept preserved in a shoebox, a belt made of nipples, a human head, four noses and a heart. He confessed to two murders of women about the age of his overbearing mother, and he is suspected of killing his brother in a fire, but the remaining body parts found at his house -- of an estimated 15 people -- were dug up from a cemetery.

The Gein murders inspired not only "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but "Psycho, " "Silence of the Lambs," "Don't Go in the House," "Three On a Meathook," "Maniac," "Deranged" and "Ed Gein," starring Steve Railsback as the murderer.

Although he was never called Leatherface, Gein was known to have worn masks of the skins of his victims, but he was a little man, not the towering frightening monster of the movies.

The movie also doesn't go into any of the cannibalism attributed to him, which Gein denied until his death in 1984 in a mental institution at the age of 78.

Meanwhile, New Line is sending out press kits along with dirtied photos of families (supposedly victims), and random jewelry with names on them, a box of Epsom salt used to cauterize one victim's wounds, an evidence bag and a fake blood and hair sample. It's enough to make even the jaded press corp squeamish.

Other fun facts about the movie:

There are three sequels to the original.
The original movie was trying for a PG rating.
The original movie is banned in Great Britain, although it is now shown there, and so will the remake.
The movie was made for $150,000 and made more than $100 million worldwide.
Leatherface was once going to be called "Headcheese" and the name was changed only at the last minute.
No one ever uses the name "Leatherface" in the original or the remake.
Harry Knowles, creator of aintitcoolnews.com, has a cameo as the Victim on the Silver Platter.
"Night Court" star John Laroquette, who was the voice of the narrator in the first movie, reprises his role as the narrator in the remake.

And although this new version seems to have documentary footage in black and white taken of the crime scene, don't believe it. It's just to scare you.

10-17-2003, 05:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mind_Storm Tilted Location: The Finger Lakes of New York	The Ugly Truth About 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' http://www.zap2it.com/movies/feature...-19093,00.html The Ugly Truth About 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Wed, Oct 15, 2003, 01:10 PM PT By Mike Szymanski New Line is doing a lot these days to scare people these days. Audiences are faced with the ads of horrifying chases through a farm by a maniac with a roaring powertool for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" -- a remake of the original 1974 slasher classic. Then, people see the chilling tag line that these events are "inspired by a true story." And although the marketing folks at New Line Cinema point out that word "inspired" is used, lots of people think that there really was a group of teenagers butchered horribly by a guy known as Leatherface in the middle of Texas and that the community hid it from authorities and that 30 or so bodies were found. Even the press kit starts off: "On August 20th, 1973, police were dispatched to the remote farmhouse of Thomas Hewitt, the former head-skinner at a local slaughterhouse in Travis County, Texas. What they found within the confines of the cryptic residence was the butchered remains of 33 human victims, a chilling discover that shocked and horrified a nation in what many still refer to as the most notorious mass murder case of all time." Truth is: there was no such murder, there's no such murderer's name and no chainsaw was ever used even in the "inspired by" crimes. Although filmmaker Tobe Hooper created an incredible myth when he made the film, there are lots of people out there who believe it's all fact. And, there are others trying to correct people's impression that the story happened as it's told by him, or as it's told in the latest movie. The Travis County, Texas authorities, for example, point out that only a handful of murders actually happen outside of their metro city, Austin, and author/historian Tim Harden says his daily queries are tripling now that the myth is being perpetuated again just before the Oct. 17 release of the remake. "Every day I get e-mails asking about whether this really happened or not," says Harden, who runs the website www.texaschainsawmassacre.net which is not affiliated with the movie. The horror film fan says he gets calls from college students who have found secret information about a series of chainsaw murders, but they never bring him proof. He points out, "The film was released in August of 1974 and the opening states that this happened in August of 1973? August of 1973 is when filming for 'TCM' began. So do you think that Tobe Hooper and company were monitoring a real live 'TCM' and mimicking it for the camera at the same time?" "Leatherface is as real as Pinocchio," insists another Internet film historian. The truth is that Hooper was terrified as a child about stories of the Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, which became legendary and exaggerated. Back on Nov. 17, 1957 police went into Gein's hardware store and followed a terrible smell and found the body of 50-year-old Bernice Worden, the missing mother of one of the police deputies. She was gutted and dangling upside-down like a deer. Then, they noticed Gein's decor in his house included a bowl made out of a human skull, a suit and an armchair made of human skin, female genitalia kept preserved in a shoebox, a belt made of nipples, a human head, four noses and a heart. He confessed to two murders of women about the age of his overbearing mother, and he is suspected of killing his brother in a fire, but the remaining body parts found at his house -- of an estimated 15 people -- were dug up from a cemetery. The Gein murders inspired not only "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but "Psycho, " "Silence of the Lambs," "Don't Go in the House," "Three On a Meathook," "Maniac," "Deranged" and "Ed Gein," starring Steve Railsback as the murderer. Although he was never called Leatherface, Gein was known to have worn masks of the skins of his victims, but he was a little man, not the towering frightening monster of the movies. The movie also doesn't go into any of the cannibalism attributed to him, which Gein denied until his death in 1984 in a mental institution at the age of 78. Meanwhile, New Line is sending out press kits along with dirtied photos of families (supposedly victims), and random jewelry with names on them, a box of Epsom salt used to cauterize one victim's wounds, an evidence bag and a fake blood and hair sample. It's enough to make even the jaded press corp squeamish. Other fun facts about the movie: There are three sequels to the original. The original movie was trying for a PG rating. The original movie is banned in Great Britain, although it is now shown there, and so will the remake. The movie was made for $150,000 and made more than $100 million worldwide. Leatherface was once going to be called "Headcheese" and the name was changed only at the last minute. No one ever uses the name "Leatherface" in the original or the remake. Harry Knowles, creator of aintitcoolnews.com, has a cameo as the Victim on the Silver Platter. "Night Court" star John Laroquette, who was the voice of the narrator in the first movie, reprises his role as the narrator in the remake. And although this new version seems to have documentary footage in black and white taken of the crime scene, don't believe it. It's just to scare you.