The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Terrifying character Leatherface was partly inspired by murderer Ed Gein from Wisconsin in the US. He was fond of converting victims’ remains into masks and clothing, although he used a gun, not a chainsaw, to murder them.
When police searched Gein’s farm, they were shocked to discover chairs made of human skin, rubbish bins fashioned from skulls and human-head bedposts.
Gein was also the inspiration for Robert Bloch’s novel Psycho, which was adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock.