MovieChat Forums > Death Hunt (1981) Discussion > true story

true story

posted 20 years ago by rainman5788
1 reply | jump to latest

this is actually somewhat a true story, Albert Johnson was a man who went around in that time and area and killed men for their gold teeth, the towns formed a large possey and hunted him down. The story was changed slightly to make more hollywood friendly but kept some of the story when johnsons friend killed the two men at the fire and took their teeth.i heard this one day when the movie was on television, there was a small bit about this before it started, if you have anymore information please post i think this is very interesting.

[–] Bernnard_Black 18 years ago

There are books on the subject, and frankly the real Johnson is more of a bad-ass than the movie one. Definately worth reading if you like the film, but many of the roles are reversed. In the film, Johnson is more or less the "good guy"...not so in real life. Also, Millin was killed fairly early in the chase in reality, and the pilot wasn't an arrogant jerk who got shot down. He really sort of saved the day on numerous occassions. But the story of Johnson making it across a mountain pass in a blizzard in two days is true, as was the long drawn out hunt.