There’s a good deal of humor surrounding The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? Sure, buddy. What institute did you escape from? No, really. There is.
Many fans of the original film know that Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface, actually cut the main actress during the dinner scene, and the production used real animal carcasses to decorate the Sawyer household—they couldn’t find roadkill props. And thanks to the bonkers and often highly-misleading season of Monsters, many know that Ed Gein was a partial inspiration for the film (albeit, not as strong an influence as the show would have you believe).
Some may also know that the “dinner party” scene—filmed over the course of one long day (26 hours, to be exact) was filmed under horrendous conditions. Thick shades covered the windows, blocking out the light—which, along with the already roasting Texas heat and lamps all over the room—contributed to the room getting exceptionally hot, possibly over 100 degrees. Among other side-effects of this pressure-cooker set? Much of the cast were puking their brains out.
Not helping matters was the director, Tobe Hooper, “encouraging” cast members to refrain from bathing. Because things didn’t smell bad enough already with all the animal carcasses hanging around. Most of these factoids, or parts of them, are already well-known, and hardly “ha, ha” funny. However, there is behind-the-scenes info that is lesser known, and actually humorous, although some of it is also fairly macabre (shocker, right?). This writer also has some inside info on a cast member’s idiosyncratic behavior several years after the film was released.
Not enough people know these details, possibly because they have better things to do than read every memoir they can get their grubby hands on. Yet, you never know what you’ll stumble on—e.g., in Kane Hodder’s memoir (he of Jason Voorhees fame), the actor admits to a tradition of urinating in fellow cast members’ rooms. In the bathroom? No, in the room. Like on walls or the bed. What a jokester! But back to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Let’s start with the drugs. Marijuana played a sizeable role behind the scenes in the film. Perhaps common knowledge to film buffs is how the movie’s narrator, John Larroquette, was even paid in weed. The film was made for half a shoestring and made gobs of money, none of which was seen by the cast—it’s been widely reported that most of the film’s profits went to the mob, who had also helped finance the film. Some people just have no integrity.
Tobe Hooper certainly didn’t endear himself to the cast, who reportedly hated him thanks to his cheapskate tactics, such as buying real skeletons from India. The skeletons, when exposed to high heat, produced a “foul odor” on set (more on Hooper’s “inventive” filmmaking methods later). Hooper also isolated cast members. And yeah, that part about encouraging some of the actors not to shower didn’t help either.
However, the cast did catch a break while filming: they discovered a sizable marijuana patch growing on the property—courtesy of the most recent “hippie” tenants. According to Hansen’s memoir, Chain Saw Confidential: How We Made the World’s Most Notorious Horror Movie, the cast was told they could help themselves to the crop, but they couldn’t take it off the property. He also notes that at this time in Texas, marijuana was a felony. The sound man’s wife on the picture made good use of the marijuana crop though, making copious amounts of weed brownies for the crew. Did this take some of the edge off the tight filming schedule and a broiling house? Perhaps, but it probably would have helped if the cook had informed the cast the brownies contained marijuana. It’s the little things in life, right?
Hansen says prior to the scene where he cuts through the front door while in pursuit of Sally—played by Marilyn Burns—he was so stoned, a friend recalled him chanting “time has no meaning, time has no meaning, time has no meaning.” Hansen also reports Dorothy “Dottie” Pearl, the makeup artist, saying, “We are all dead, and sitting in hell.” Just more fun high talk. But if you want to see the brownies in action, watch the scene of Leatherface cutting through a door. The character pauses considerably here. This wasn’t an actor “choice.” Hansen was so stoned he had forgotten what he was supposed to do next. Ah, there’s nothing like operating heavy machinery when you don’t realize you’re under the influence.
Though there is some discrepancy here, as Hansen, in his memoir, claims, “I assume she told us that this [the brownies] was her special marijuana recipe.” Moreover, Hansen says it was the caterer, Sally Nicolaou, who made the edibles. Adding to the confusion: some sources claim the edibles were distributed during the final day of filming, and some (Hansen) claim they were frequently available. Although if it were the case that Hansen was aware of the brownies containing marijuana, you have to wonder why he’d deliberately take edibles and handle a chainsaw? The ever self-aware Hansen says the shot “looks a little goofy now,” owing to the “dopey, exaggerated double take” he does before proceeding after Sally.
Speaking of the chainsaw, it wasn’t without its own issues, some deliberate and some otherwise. For example, in the scene where Leatherface is crashing through the forest, Hansen lost his hold on the machine, and it went careening off into the night. He could only cover his face in the hopes of avoiding a complete mangling. And the chainsaw twirling at the very end? If you look closely, you can see the chainsaw coming awfully close to the camera. That was Hansen being fed up with Tobe Hooper and trying to give him a scare by wielding the roaring machine right at his director.
This wasn’t the only unusual conflict resolution with Hooper on set. In Chain Saw Confidential, Hansen recounts how the assistant cameraman, Lou Perryman, following the marathon diner scene, grabbed the director, shook him vigorously, before wrestling him to the ground. As Perryman tussled with Hooper, he told him, “You, goddamn it…how could you do this to us?” Fortunately, as Hansen recounts, once “the steam had blown off,” Perryman apologized to Hooper, which signalled “Lou’s certification that this was okay.” Although at the time, according to Hansen, it seemed the director thought the cameraman had legitimately lost his mind and was intent on killing him.
The low budget also forced the creators to adopt some creative solutions to their special effects issues. Despite its reputation as being incredibly bloody, the film doesn’t contain that much gore. However, one scene that did make liberal use of blood also had to rely on a rather ad hoc delivery system. The scene where Sally is pushing Franklin down the hill, and Leatherface pops out and kills Franklin? The director and makeup artist Pearl resorted to taking mouthfuls of fake blood and spitting it on Hansen’s face. Repeatedly. Ah, movie magic. On another occasion, Pearl was injecting the dead animals with formaldehyde (they were rotting too fast), and she missed with the needle and got a shot of the good stuff right in her leg.
The mythology of The Texas Chain Massacre has often been tied back to its “based on a true story” roots. The “true story” elements pertained to Ed Gein, the Wisconsin serial killer and so-so babysitter. Gein was known to wear masks of other people’s faces and populate his house with bespoke accouterments, like a belt made of nipples. That kind of thing. Yes, Ed Gein may have helped inspire the Sawyer’s unique interior design and Leatherface’s mask. But what you might not know is that Tobe Hooper’s doctor also helped inspire the villain’s signature look.
Go on, you say. Well, according to Hooper, he had a family doctor who skinned a cadaver’s face, and after curing and drying it, he wore the face as part of his Halloween costume. As you do. Hooper, who was actually delivered by this same doctor, describes the man as a “cool guy.” Which makes you wonder: if this is what Hooper considers “cool,” what on Earth does he find “odd,” or say, a gross abuse of medical privileges? Or maybe we’re just pearl-clutching, and the idea that your OB/GYN is using one of your family members’ faces as a “gag” is no big deal. Maybe they had a striking face, and they’d be happy it got some further use after their passing. Or they had a good sense of humor and would have enjoyed a doctor taking liberties with the body’s dignity. Who’s to say?
Now for an update on what one of the cast members has been up to in the area. As many fans of the movie will recall, early on in the film, the main characters stop at a local gas station, run by one of the Sawyer family, known as “Old Man” in the credits, played by Jim Siedow (who stars in the sequel, renamed “Cook”). Later, Sally comes back to the gas station for help, but is instead abducted by “Old Man” and brought back to the Sawyer house. In real life, this gas station was later converted into a horror memorabilia shop that also offers barbecue and cabins to rent. The owners named it “The Gas Station.”
This writer visited the shop years ago and chatted with the proprietors. According to the owners, one of the cast from the original film—who will go nameless, partially out of respect to the actor, but mostly because which actor it was specifically can’t be recalled—heard about the shop and stopped by for a free bowl of chili. The owners were initially thrilled about his visit. And then the actor came back. And again. And again. He came back so often the owners wondered when he’d stop coming back. It seems the actor had some serious time on his hands.
The owners acknowledged that neither Viggo Mortensen nor Matthew McConaughey—who both starred in different Texas Chain Saw sequels, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995), respectively—hadn’t made the pilgrimage to their store, but they hoped McConaughey would stop in at some point. While a visit from McConaughey would have been “alright, alright, alright” in their book, McConaughey has been fairly busy over the years, what with acting, writing books about the inspirational power of wet dreams (naturally), and delivering some of the best motivational speeches for fans of platitudes.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre lore is as deep as it is well-known. A beloved horror film, with one of the most dogshit sequels in recent years, it continues to live on well-past its expiration date. The original film’s distinct charm: the real road kill (a delicacy to some US health secretaries), the pell-mell production, which one cast member, stated was, “the worst time of my life… and I had been in Vietnam, with people trying to kill me,” and a liberal attitude toward the sticky-icky, was bound to produce some good stories. Even if living through them was far from pleasant or safe at the time. But good art is often borne through suffering. And suffering makes for the best stories, because the funniest tales never include the line “and everything worked out great!”
Jack Gayer
