The Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Enforced Method Acting: In the original when Pam is hung up on a meathook, the actress was held there by nylon rope tied in between her legs. The position ending up being extremely painful for the actress, and the screaming Pam does in the scene is in genuine pain.
    • When Leatherface cuts Pam's finger so Grandpa can drink her blood, the device attached to the knife that was supposed to squirt stage blood broke. Gunnar Hansen, already breaking down from having to film the scene (see Sanity Slippage), proceeded to cut her finger open for real in order to get the scene done.
  • Executive Meddling: Averted in the original. Tobe Hooper avoided excessive gore and showed the violence in quick cuts because he was originally aiming for a PG rating(!) The censors were pleased. The other films in the franchise are a different story altogether...
    • Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III was completely destroyed by the censors and the executives.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Viggo Mortensen in the third film, as well as Renee Zellweger and Matthew Mcconaughey in the fourth, not that they'll admit it.
    • Also, John Larroquette as the narrator in the original - one of his earliest roles. He reprised the role in the remake and its prequel.
    • Dennis Hopper stars in the second film.
  • Jossed: A lot of background stuff introduced in the novelization of the remake is rendered non-canon by The Beginning.
  • Money, Dear Boy: Michael Bay once stated the he only produced the remake due to the name appeal alone.
  • Sanity Slippage/Troubled Production: Happened for real while filming the infamous dinner scene. The food rotted under the filming lights, and created a horrific smell, combined with the one scene filmed for 27 straight hours in 110 degree weather that it actually drove the actors a bit nuts; the DVD commentary has Gunnar Hansen eerily recounting how he genuinely wanted to kill Marilyn Burns for a few seconds after being ordered to by his "brother". Vietnam veteran Edwin Neal (Hitchhiker) even describes it as worse than anything he went through during the war.
  • Working Title: Leatherface and Head Cheese.