When it comes to the slasher genre, there are many iconic killers who lead these movies, and one of the earliest and most memorable of them is Leatherface from 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As the chainsaw wielding, former slaughterhouse employee who wears his victims' faces as masks, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) is hard to forget. Along with him, there is the rest of his cannibalistic family and a house that feels like a deathtrap. The filmmaking is a success, especially for its time, in creating an unsafe environment with horrific characters; however, the inspirations for the film, as well as the production history of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, are their own nightmare.
A Christmas Story
While the horror genre is often associated with Halloween, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most scary summer films, this movie, despite the heat, has ties to Christmas. Director and writer Tobe Hooper came up with the idea after having to reluctantly deal with Christmas crowds, figuring out the best way to clear the masses with ease.
"I was frustrated, and I found myself near a display rack of chainsaws," Hooper says. "I thought, 'I know a way I could get through this crowd really quickly.' I went home, sat down, all the channels just tuned in, the zeitgeist blew through and the whole damn story came to me in what seemed like about thirty seconds."
Real-Life Inspirations for Leatherface
Along with its strange ties to the holiday season, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also owes its existence to two real individuals. The most well known is Ed Gein, who stole bodies from the cemetery and used the skin and bones to make articles of clothing, furniture, masks and trophies. He also was found guilty of murdering two women, Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden. The nature of Ed Gein's crimes, as well as his troubled relationship with his mother, not only inspired The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but he also inspired the likes of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and Norman Bates in Psycho.Â
The second person to inspire Leatherface, particularly his fondness for wearing masks made of human skin, was a doctor Hooper knew. According to Hooper's interview with TexasMonthly, when the doctor was in medical school and the students were practicing on cadavers, "he went into the morgue and skinned a cadaver and made a mask for Halloween." As seen in the film, Leatherface similarly wears masks like this; however, he has multiple ones that match his mood and the occasions.
The Horrors on Set
As mentioned earlier, the Texas heat affected the cast and crew, with temperatures reaching 115 degrees and the indoor sets lacking any air conditioning. To make matters more nauseating, some set dressing consisted of real bones and rotting meat, which was already starting to smell. The heat cooked the meat and bones, making the stench all the worse, and actors got physically ill, some fleeing the building at the end of takes for air or to vomit.
The hardest scene of all ended up being the dinner scene for the aforementioned reasons, along with the fact that John Dugan (Grandfather) refused to go through makeup application for a second time. Because of this, the cast and crew spent 27 hours filming the dinner scene in an overheated, putrid room, enduring the struggles of sleep deprivation and illness along with going stir crazy. This scene also featured Marilyn Burns (Sally) having her finger actually cut and being dealt several blows to the head.
More Than Method
Under these conditions, the actors were pushed to their limits. With how tired, ill and uncomfortable the actors were on set, it is no wonder that the characters feel so real, manic, scared and exhausted. Even the smell started to affect the performances, specifically for Hansen. The cast already decided to keep distance from him until their characters were killed off in the film; however, even afterwards, the odor of his sweaty, filthy costume made him difficult to be around in between takes.
Other actors were also deeply invested in their characters, effecting the raport on set. Paul A. Partain (Franklin) decided to take a method approach to his role as Sally's annoying brother. Because of this, many of the cast grew to dislike him on set. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Burns was struck several times in the head, and what prompted this was several cast and crew members, including Burns, encouraging Jim Siedow (Old Man) to actually "hit her."
With an environment like this, it is no wonder The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has gone down in history as one of the most horrific slasher films of the 20th century, even originally earning an X-rating, despite Hooper aiming for PG-rating. The bizarre nightmare of this production is best reflected in Burns who was asked to return to set once more for reshoots.
"When I was crazy at the end of the movie, laughing hysterically, that wasn’t acting," Burns says. "That was me, having to go back and do it one more time."