10 More Horror Movies That Lied About Their Premise

3. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Was NOT Based On True Events

texas chainsaw massacre
Bryanston Pictures

Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of many, many horror movies to lay claim to being based on true events, and that 1974 film is likewise one of many to do so merely to drum up some attention.

The original TCM picture did pull extremely loose inspiration from real-life serial killers Ed Gein and Elmer Wayne Henley, but that's as far as things go when it comes to adapting "true events". Both Gein and Henley were grave-robbing loners who killed a small amount of people, with Gein believed to have made a mask out of human skin.

In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, though, we've got a whole family of cannibals who have been murdering people for generations, there's obviously a chainsaw as the weapon of the day, and the wider plot is largely completely fictional. And where the claims of "the film you are about to see is true" are concerned, Hooper himself has stated how he was purposely misleading his audience.

As for that misleading, the filmmaker noted over the years how he did this as an act of social commentary and a direct response to the lies being told by the US government at the time where it pertained to the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.