Real-ly Scary: Fact, Fiction, and Chainsaws

The following is "real" crime footage from the epilogue and prologue of 2003's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

That Sweet Boy...

I'm awful tired of delusional old locals telling me that the town maniac is just a sweet misunderstood boy. Thomas Hewitt, to be fair, did it first. Before Jason and Michael. The result of a Maury-worthy fucked up childhood, Leatherface took much ridicule from the other residents of Middle-of-Nowehere, TX. When he'd had enough, he began hacking off their faces to wear as his own.

If you can't join 'em, cut 'em up with a gas-powered saw. Despite the mask and chainsaw, what's really scary is that he is a result of a not-so-rare Texas upbringing. Just look at this crazy bitch.

Fact and Fantasy: The Origins of a Legend

When the video above was first screened, it caused quite a buzz on the web. People argued the degree of validity. Were the tapes real? No, but really well done. Did Thomas Hewitt exist? No. Has anything like this ever really happened? Sort of.

Leatherface is the bastard child of urban legends and real life criminals. The most famous being Ed Gein, who also inspired Norman Bates. Gein was a madman with nearly twenty murders on file, the creator of the skin-mask, and a strong proponent of necrophilia. Gross.

Wisconsin's Ed Gein: Psycho, Murderer, Grave Robber, Packer Fan.

Gein being the primary influence on two of the most iconic slashers, his place in horror history is unquestionable. A real life monster with a body count that took fictional slashers three sequels to match.

Return of the Living Blog

Next week we'll be tackling another redo I don't hate: Dawn of the Dead. What a treat for all you reader(s). In addition to discussing the second film in Romero's undead franchise and Zach Snyder's remake, we'll also look at oddball Italian pseudo sequel Zombie 2. It features a zombie fighting a shark. No joke. More on that after the holiday.