10 Scariest Scenes In "True Story" Films

The filmography of one Charles B. Pierce is one of the most curious of the past century. The director, writer, actor, editor, producer, set decorator and cinematographer managed to have a hand in some of the best and worst franchises and genre trends since the 1970s.

To say that sounds like it's just beefing up the CV of an independent filmmaker, but in actuality Pierce worked each of those jobs at different points in his career on different films. He wrote the story for Dirty Harry's fourth outing Sudden Impact and is largely credited with writing the catchphrase, "Make my day," something his father used to tell him to get him to mow the lawn.

But Pierce's own directorial efforts are a mixed bag, ranging from genre-defining works to MST3k fodder, His second, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, helped to invent the psuedo-documentary horror film. The facts of the unsolved 1946 Texararkanna Moonlight Murders are depicted with a minimum of artistic license.

The hooded Phanton Killer's M.O. was not as clear cut as some future movie slashers. But of the deaths, the most memorable and disturbing was also the most liberally altered.

Betty Jo Booker (Peggy Loomis in the film) was killed after playing her saxophone for the local VFW. Pierce changed the details to include a trombone and a prom, with the latter getting the kind of upgrade only the most deranged video gamer would apply.