Elsie Fisher and Sarah Yarkin from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 break down some of the film's hidden Easter eggs. The film is the ninth in the franchise, which began in 1974 with Tobe Hooper's grindhouse classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The film's screenplay was written by Chris Thomas Devlin from a story by producers Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues. It was directed by David Blue Garcia, who previously directed 2018's Tejano, which follows a man who needs money so badly he is forced to break his own arm to smuggle cocaine across the border in his cast. The film was also co-produced by Kim Henkel, who wrote the screenplay for the original film.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is positioned as a direct sequel to the original, though it doesn't explicitly cut any other films out of continuity other than the 2003 Platinum Dunes reboot and its prequel. The film stars Yarkin, Fisher, Jacob Latimore, Moe Dunford, Alice Krige, Jessica Allain, Nell Hudson, Sam Douglas, William Hope, Jolyon Coy, Mark Burnham as Leatherface, and Olwen Fouéré as Sally Hardesty. Sally is the only survivor of the original massacre in 1974. The character was originally played by Marilyn Burns, who passed away in 2014, but did make a brief cameo in 2013's Texas Chainsaw 3D.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to sit down with stars Fisher and Yarkin before the film's release. When asked if the film had any Easter eggs they knew of, they were tight-lipped on whether or not there were any references to the Texas Chainsaw franchise but revealed a few nods to the cast and crew. In addition to crew members' names appearing on an Instagram Live and a cameo from producer Shintaro Shimosawa, there are two references to Tejano. First, Fisher reveals that she gets to "pick up a cowboy hat at the end and put it on," which is a reference to Garcia's film. According to Yarkin, "there's a movie theater scene" and "they were able to print his movie posters inside the theater" for Tejano as well. Read the full quote below:
Elsie Fisher: There were a lot of little character choices I definitely made to try and be like, "hoo hoo hoo." The one Easter Egg that does come to mind that's kind of fun is -- I don't know if it's an Easter egg -- I get to pick up a cowboy hat at the end and put it on, and that was my idea and it was pretty fun. It's a little bit of a reference to David Blue Garcia, the director's, last movie, so that was kind of fun to tie that in.
Sarah Yarkin: I think this is an Easter egg, I'm not sure if it counts as an Easter egg, in the theater, there's a movie theater scene, and David Blue Garcia, his movie, Tejano, they were able to print his movie posters inside the theater and your character walks by it, which I think is super funny. And then also, I don't know if you noticed this Elsie, [...] when Shin is holding [his phone] and he's like, "If you do this you're gonna get canceled" or whatever on the bus, holding his phone and you see the Instagram Live and the names are like Fede and--
Elsie Fisher: Oh also that's an Easter egg though. Shin, the main guy on the bus who has the phone, is one of our producers, and he was with us the whole time and it was hilarious that he's in this.
Although both stars are young and relatively new to the industry, both have experience with the horror genre. Yarkin, who is top-billed in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, though that doesn't guarantee her survival, played Andrea Morgan in the Blumhouse slasher sequel Happy Death Day 2U. Fisher, who is best known for her role in the 2018 Bo Burnham project Eighth Grade, also appeared in the Stephen King-inspired series Castle Rock for 10 episodes. It will be interesting to see if Texas Chainsaw Massacre has any hidden references to the cast's previous horror works as fun nods for viewers.
The stars certainly seem to have done their homework on the director's previous work. Those hoping for some dirt on any more cameos or locations from the original films might be disappointed, but they can at least rest assured that Texas Chainsaw Massacre won't skimp on the connections to the original film. In addition to the direct continuity with the original film, the opening narration will be read by John Larroquette, who was the narrator of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, so the producers clearly have keen instincts for the types of things that might excite fans of the original.
