UPDATE: Reader Al Sirois informs me that the spelling of the name of the real-life "hero" of this movie is Alferd, not "Alfred". Though since writing this review, I've come across several articles on Al, and I've seen his name spelled both ways! Looking up the title of this movie in two of my reference books, I found it spelled "Alfred". So that's how it will remain in my review, unless I come across the movie again and I see it spelled the other way.

UPDATE 2: Scott Andrew Hutchins sent me this information:

"I just watched it tonight. It is Alfred. Alfred was his legal name, but he spelled it Alferd, since that's how he said it. They don't say it or spell it "Alferd" in the film, though. I have a biography of Packer by Paul H. Gantt and it might have info about the trapper scene, which seems similar to the Frenchy scenes of Cannibal! The Musical."

UPDATE 3: Scott Andrew Hutchins contacted me again with this:

"I finished reading Gantt's The Case of Alfred Packer the Man Eater. It consistently spells his name Alfred, except when quoting written documents, in which his name was frequently signed "Alferd." "Alferd" was also tattooed on his arm. The book also explains the opening sequence with the gunman. He was W.W. Anderson, who was promised a reward if he helped Packer pay his legal fees. The Denver Post accused him of stealing Packer's money,--allegedly Polly Pry jumped in front and her skirts slowed the bullets enough that the newspaper executives, whose names were Bonfils and Tammens, survived after long hospital stay. The Trapper & Weasel scene was definitely made up, as the Cyclops scene was in Trey Parker's version. In case you were wondering, Polly Pry is a pseudonym. The Post was a very progressive paper, and she was known as their beautiful blonde reporter, always known as "Miss Pry," despite being Mrs. Leonel Ross O'Bryan. I sent the IMDb updated character names, providing the full names of all the historical people that were portrayed in the film. Lauter, Alan David Gelman's character, made up the account that Dashiell Hammett repeated that formed the basis of the recent film, Ravenous.

The reporter, McMurphy, however, was also made up--a reporter from Harper's Weekly named James Randolph (sometimes erroneously reported as Reynolds) found the body, but he doesn't seem to have anything to do with this character. I frankly believe that the end of the film ended up on the cutting room floor, leading to Nessin's voiceover at the end. Presumably, this would have explained what was going on in the opening, since it has a basis in historical fact, in addition to being an intriguing moment that holds your interest so that you expect such an implication. The fact that it falls at exactly ninety minutes seems to reinforce this hypothesis.

UPDATE 4: Karen Maley sent this along:

"I thought you might be interested to know that the student cafeteria at the University of Colorado Boulder campus has been called the "Alferd Packer Grill" since 1968.  From 1968 to 1995 the school also held an annual festival called "Alferd Packer Day" in honor of our local cannibal.  The unfortunate cancellation of this tradition was apparently caused by a wave of political correctness.  Trey Parker and the other film students who created Cannibal: The Musical were attending CU at the time they made the film.   Incidentally, Alferd Packer's grave is in Littleton, Colorado, Trey Parker's hometown.

"My guess is that the US Dept of Agriculture cafeteria that you mention was surreptitiously named by someone who knew exactly what Packer did, and quite possibly by someone who attended CU or had dined at the Alferd Packer Grill in Boulder.

"Locally, a well-known and much-beloved part of the Packer legend is that he spelled his first name "Alferd."  For some reason this has become controversial and people will argue until they are blue in the face, even if they don't give a hoot about more substantive aspects of the case, such as whether Packer was innocent of murder.

"Perhaps the most infamous part of the legend holds that the men he ate were all Democrats.  Could this have anything to do with the fact that a bust of Packer was reportedly (I have not seen it myself) placed in the Colorado state capitol building in 1982?  The Republican Party has always been strong in Colorado, but I think if you consider the enduring celebration of Packer by university students in liberal Boulder, it's clear that Packer's legend transcends politics.

"I'm not aware of how much of a celebrity Alferd Packer is outside of Colorado, but apparently author Dashiell Hammett was quite fascinated by the Packer case, which is discussed in great detail in the 1934 novel "The Thin Man."  I suspect that Packer was a very thin man prior to committing his crimes.

"Just thought you might like to know.  Hope this email is non-frivolous enough to meet your standard.  Thanks for keeping track of bad movies. You're doing a great job.  And someone's got to do it."

UPDATE 5: I got this from "PACmaster":

"I was there when the Alferd Packer plaque was affixed to the USDA lunchroom wall. We certainly knew what Alf did. We were all members of the D.C. chapter of the Alferd Packer Society. The plaque was taken down because an anal General Services Administration bureaucrat complained to Secretary of Agriculture Bob Bergland that we had defaced government property. Bob said he didn't need any trouble and asked that we take it down. Today, the plaque is in the member's bar of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. It is there as a memorial to the late Stanley Weston, an extraordinary and gentle soul who left his home in Colorado to work at the USDA. The whole episode was a joke and remains funny today, at least among those few news reporters who were on hand for the ceremony."