I just recently reread the nonfiction book, "Chain Saw Confidential," by Gunnar Hansen. Hansen, of course, played the terrifying villain "Leatherface" in the 1974 horror classic, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." After reading it, I was inspired to re-watch the movie, as well as look up some more movie details online. So today I'd like to share some trivial tidbits, that even die hard fans might not know. There are SPOILERS AHEAD, obviously.
1) First off, many folks think that the chainsaw used by Leatherface is the popular McCulloch brand. However, Hansen revealed that it was a chimera of a Poulan 306A model, modified with a fuel tank from a Poulan 245, and a muffler from a Poulan 245A.
2) In "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2" (1986), and 1990's "Leatherface," the cannibal family has the surname "Sawyer." However, in the first one, it's shown as being "Slaughter," as a sign on the gas station/barbecue joint reads "W.E. Slaughter," which is admittedly a very on-the-nose, obvious joke. The fourth movie, "Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The New Generation" (1994) reused the "Slaughter" name. The 2003 remake (and the subsequent remake sequels/prequels, I think--I don't care enough about them to check) changed the surname to "Hewitt."
3) On a similar note, in the original film the members of the cannibal clan are Grandpa, The Hitchhiker, Leatherface, and Old Man/The Cook. Subsequent movies in the series retcon their names as being "Drayton" for The Cook, "Nubbins" for The Hitchhiker, and "Bubba" for Leatherface. (Again, the remake and its sequels changed some of these even further, but I don't care, since I didn't like the one I saw, and have no further interest in seeing more of them.)
4) Staying on the cannibal Chainsaw clan, the relationship in the original movie is a grandfather and his three grandsons. Many viewers think that The Cook/Old Man is the father of Leatherface and The Hitchhiker, but he's in fact their (much) older brother.
5) John Larroquette, who's probably best known for roles in "Stripes" (1981), "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984), "JFK" (1991), and on television's "Night Court" (1984-92), did the opening narration. For, he claimed, the salary of a single marijuana joint.
6) Budding astrologer Pam claims that the planet Saturn is in retrograde on the day they're driving, said to be August 18, 1973 (and into the following day). She claims this planet is malefic, meaning it brings bad luck and misfortune, and the effect is worse when a planet is in retrograde. Or, somewhat more subtle foreshadowing. Also, staying on the topic, we learn that Sally Hardesty's sign is Capicorn.
7) Despite the title, another weapon is used to kill most of the four innocent victims (The Hitchhiker dies, too, of course, by being run over accidentally by a truck). Kirk and Jerry are killed via sledgehammer, Pam by a meathook and being stuck in a freezer, and Franklin by the chain saw. Admittedly, "The Texas Sledgehammer/Meat Hook/Chain Saw Massacre" would be an overly wordy and less dramatic title, so the moniker the filmmakers chose is the best one, in my opinion.
8) The movie is set in (or near) the fictional Muerto County in Texas (Muerto is Spanish for "Dead"--also a bit on-the-nose). Similarly, it's in, or possibly just outside of the fictional town of Newt. A real town, Childress, is mentioned as being relatively close.
9) In the radio broadcasts, going on in the background, we learn that the sheriff of Muerto county is Jesus (some sources say Rhesus--it's hard to hear exactly) Maldonado.
10) The Franklin house (the abandoned home of Sally and Franklin's grandparents) appears to be on the F.M. 685 (Farm to Market) road. (Which is a real road, in Austin, Texas, which is the general area the movie was filmed in.)
11) Leatherface wears three different masks, or more accurately, three other peoples' preserved faces and scalps, throughout the film. The cast and crew called these the Killing Mask, the Old Lady Mask, and the Pretty Lady Mask.
12) According to The Cook, Grandpa once killed 60 cattle in 5 minutes with his sledgehammer, and could have done more if his assistants had been able to drag the bodies out of the way more quickly.
13) The innocent young people also were probably cannibals, although it was inadvertent, as they buy some of The Cook's barbecue, which we know is at least spiked with human flesh. We only see Franklin actually eating it, but the others may well have done so as well.
14) For weather minutia, the forecast for the following day (August 19th, when the movie actually ends), was for a temperature of 96 degrees, with 98% humidity, and a barometer reading of 29.9.
15) The Slaughter barbecue stand/gas station is affiliated with the Gulf gasoline company--you can see the familiar orange sign in some shots.
16) The filming of the cannibal family dinner scene took over 24 hours, in a shut in, blisteringly hot house with estimated temperatures of 120 degrees or more (and some members of the cast wearing heavy makeup or a mask). Edwin Neal, who played The Hitchhiker, claimed it was the worst time of his life, worse than his time in the Vietnam War, even.
17) During the scene where Leatherface and The Hitchhiker feed Grandpa some of Sally's blood, the special effects device kept malfunctioning. So Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface) got exasperated and just cut actress Marilyn Burns' finger for real, and had Grandpa actor John Dugan consume it. Burns thought this was an accident, and was not amused when she learned the truth many years later.
18) The Franklin House and The Cannibal House were in reality located across the street from each other, on Quick Hill Road in Williamson County, Texas, right outside of Austin (since it's become part of the town of Round Rock). The abandoned Franklin House was mostly burned down by teens in the early 1980's, and then demolished. The Cannibal House was cut into pieces, transported 60 miles east to Kingsland, Texas, and then rebuilt. It's been at least two different restaurants since. Currently it's known as the Grand Central Cafe--their website is online.
19) The gas station/barbecue joint building was recently bought by Roy Rose, a big fan of the movie. He's restored it, and turned it into part of a themed resort. Included are a restaurant, gift shop, and rental cabins. It's called the Gas Station, is located in Bastrop, Texas, and it also has an active website.
20) The cemetery seen in the movie is real, and still functioning, too. It's the Bagdad Cemetery in Leander, Texas. Some reviews I read mentioned that the cemetery is friendly to Chain Saw fans visiting, as long as they follow common sense rules like not littering or disturbing any of the graves.
21) In his book, Hansen claims that during filming, behind the Cannibal House, the owner was growing a huge crop of marijuana. This caused some tense moments when the county Sheriff stopped by during the filming. (No one was arrested.)
22) Alas, the cast and crew didn't get much of the film's enormous profits. One of the major reasons was that their distribution company, Bryanston, was run by several members of the Peraino family, who were reportedly part of the New York Mafia.
23) Makeup artist Dorothy "Dottie" Pearl was reportedly the first female member of the Make-up Artists and Hairstylists Guild.
24) Finally, while watching the credits, I saw that one of the Production Assistants was listed as "Jim Crow." Which is either a tasteless alias, or a very unfortunate coincidence. (IMDB lists him under that name with three other credits, so it appears it was the latter.)
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