The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an undisputed horror classic, but the film's overall production went terribly wrong and is talked about nearly as often as the film itself.
In many ways, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is considered to be one of the films that originated the slasher genre. 2019 marked its 45th anniversary, and to date, Leatherface remains one of horror's most iconic villains. There have been many sequels to the original film, a remake, and an origin story. Recent news of a reboot being produced by Fede Alvarez has made waves in the horror community, especially with the success of other major franchises, such as Halloween, seeing a resurgence in the modern horror space after receiving this retcon and reboot treatment.
Despite the film's undisputed success, director Tobe Hooper had his work cut out for him with the numerous catastrophic events that tied the film up during and after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre wrapped.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Cast Barely Got Along
While lots of movies and television shows seem to have cast members who get along, this was not the case with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. One instance of this in-fighting involved Paul A. Partain, who played Sally's wheelchair-bound brother, Franklin. Due to Partain's relative inexperience with acting, he decided on a "method" approach and stayed in character between scenes. As many fans of the film note, he is the most annoying character in the film and this obnoxious persona didn't win him any friends behind the scenes. Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface, was also ostracized. While it might have been good for the integrity of the film, most of the cast members decided not to speak to Hansen or even be around him outside of shooting until they had finished their scenes and were "dead." However, even once they were open to being friendly, Hansen's body odor was offensive to cast and crew. It wasn't entirely his fault, since he had to spend many days shooting in a sweltering costume in extreme heat, but people tended to leave him alone, particularly during meal times.
Shooting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Was Brutal
Shot during a sweltering Texas summer, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre cast and crew had to endure temperatures up to 115 degrees. Many people were crammed into tiny spaces at once with no air conditioning. Some sets were dressed with rotting meat, which caused many actors and crew members to get violently ill. Marilyn Burns stated she actually cut her finger during the scene where Sally feeds her blood to Grandpa. The dinner scene was shot in a single day, totaling 27 hours from start to finish because John Dugan (Grandpa) didn't want to go through the extensive process of a second make-up application. That scene's intensity was heightened by sleep deprivation and illness, since the cast was cramped hot, smelly space and went stir-crazy. Gunnar Hansen was behind the cut Burns endured; he ripped the safety tip off the prop knife to speed things along when the blood tube kept clogging.
Hooper Didn't Get A PG Rating (& The Cast Got Little Pay)
Looking back at The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's hardly gory or bloody at all. Tobe Hooper initially wanted the film to be able to obtain a PG rating so audience accessibility wouldn't be limited; back in 1974, there was no PG-13 rating. After asking the MPAA what he could do to meet his goal, Hooper followed their instructions by limiting the amount of onscreen blood. The film's intensity was what caused it to be rated R, penalizing Hooper for content over violence, so Hooper joked about the film's notable lack of blood for years following the film's release.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a budget of $140,000, so many of the cast members decided to take shares in the film instead of a salary. These shares were part of Vortex, which was Hooper and Henkel's production company, but Vortex only owned half of the film. Even worse, the film's distribution company ended up reporting much lower sales numbers than were factual, which led to a lawsuit and even lesser pay. Gunnar Hansen said his first paycheck was just over forty dollars.