Three on a Meathook
1972 film by William Girdler
Three on a Meathook is a 1972 horror film written and directed by William Girdler and starring Charles Kissinger, James Pickett and Sherry Steiner. The film is loosely based on the crimes committed by Ed Gein.
Plot
Four girls embark on a weekend trip to a lake. On their way home, they encounter car trouble and meet Billy Townsend, a local young man who offers them a ride to his farm, where he lives with his father, Frank. Later, Frank murders three of the girls and attempts to frame his son by convincing Billy that he is responsible for the deaths and has gone insane.
Production
Three on a Meathook, director William Girdler's second film, was inspired by the true story of Ed Gein. The film crew included the Asman brothers, with John Asman on sound, William Asman behind the camera and film editor Henry Asman. The film received funding from a local realtor named Joe Schulten, as well as cash from Girdler's trust fund.
Release
Three on a Meathook was shown at the South Park drive-in on October 7, 1972.
“Three on a Meathook” enters the record as 1972 film by William Girdler. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Three, Meathook and film can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q545760. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972.
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This entry incorporates text from “Three on a Meathook” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.