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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) More at IMDbPro »

This quote is from Gunnar Hansen (A.K.A.: Leatherface):

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And double nope. Here's what Tobe (director) and Kim (writer) told me themselves one night during the filming. They had heard of Ed Gein, the man in Plainfield, Wisconsin, who was arrested in the late 1950s for killing his neighbor and on whom the movie 'Psycho' was based. So when they set out to write this movie, they decided to have a family of killers who had some of the characteristics of Gein: the skin masks, the furniture made from bones, the possibility of cannibalism. But that's all. The story itself is entirely made up. So, sorry folks. There never was a massacre in Texas on which this was based. No chainsaw either. And, in spite of those of you who have told me you remember when it happened, it really didn't happen. Really. Believe me. This is an interesting phenomenon. I've also had people tell me that they knew the original Leatherface, that they had been guards at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas, where he was a prisoner. Maybe they knew somebody who dreamed of being Leatherface. It is, I suppose, something to aspire to.

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The film happened to have a very low budget (approximately US$85000)

Marilyn and Paul were not fighting over the flashlight, it was part of the film, making them look like bro and sis having a typical disagreement.

In the audio commentary of the DVD, it is revealed that Paul Partain, in real life, was sometimes as whiney and annoying as the character (Franklin) that he played in the movie. There are even stories that other cast members began to resent him. Gunner Hansen claims that he was happy to shoot Partain's death scene knowing that Paul Partain would be sent home once his work on the film was completed in that final scene.

The DVD by Dark Sky films costs $18 on Amazon, and it offers better picture quality and even better sound. It has been remastered in HD from the original 16mm film. It also has a second disk of interviews, soundtrack, and documentaries. You can toss that old Elite DVD in the trash. I would recommend this new DVD.

You can compare the New Sky DVD to the original Elite here: http://www.horrordvds.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&file=viewarticle&id=468

I recently bought a poster from Http://www.AllPosters.com. You can get one there for $9 or $50 for a laminate film and black frame TCM poster. Either one will work, but for a frame for less than a fraction of the real cost, you can get a cheap frame for the poster or one without it.

No Frame Poster: http://www.animationstation.net/posterimages/T/Texas_Chainsaw_Massacre.jpg

Framed Poster: http://www.cinedie.com/images/tcm_poster.jpg

Italian Reprint Poster: http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7320/thetexaschainsaw3vc.jpg

Dutch Reprint Poster: http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/8600/texas3bj.jpg

American Reprint Poster: http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/9587/texaschainsaw9mw.jpg

Original Bryanston Poster(rare find): http://www.texaschainsawmassacre.net/Memoribilia/Poster.jpg

Sorry, but at the time being, Tim Harden is sold out of Marilyn's autograph, and as you may know, Jim Siedow passed away in 2003, and Paul A. Partain in early 2005.

You can, however, get autograph from Gunnar Hansen at his Web site. Here's a link for it: http://gunnarhansen.com/merch.htm Prices vary, but the Shipping and Handling is $5.

Tobe began filming in July and August of 1973. He filmed for nearly six weeks. It took a while to be released to the theaters in 1974 because Tobe wanted to make some changes, fix sound editing, correct movie goofs, and give the final touch-ups.

Gunnar Hansen has revealed to Tim Harden, who later told me that Gunnar received $800 for taking on the role of Leatherface. The rest of the cast probably got around the same, maybe a little less, but I'd say Marilyn was probably paid the most, since she's in almost every scene of this film. She was there through all the six weeks of filming, and Gunnar was there for 4 weeks, so I'd imagine her pay check was a bit more.

Marilyn and Gunnar got hurt the most while filming, but it was mainly Marilyn who took blows for the team.

Marilyn got her finger cut by an impatient Gunnar because the fake blood wasn't coming out of the blade. She was cut on several branches during the chase scene (so a lot of the blood on her clothing is real), she had two inch thorns in her hair that had to be medically removed. She got hit in the head several times with a foam mallet. Tobe threw the panes of sugar glass down on top of her (which was crystallized), and she had to jump out a two story window in which she actually sprained her left ankle in the jump (her limp throughout the rest of the movie is real), and she had karo-syrup and red food dye (fake blood) all over her clothing and body, which dried to her skin in the hot Texas sun during the final days of filming.

In order for the 6-foot-4 Gunnar to stand obviously taller than the rest of the cast, he wore boots with three inch lifts bringing him to the height of 6 feet 7 inches. Since these lifts made him taller, he wasn't used to having to duck while going through doors and such, so during filming he suffered many hits to the head. Also, Gunnar tripped and the chainsaw flew up in the air while filming the chase scene.

In the extended ending in the bonus features, you see Edwin Neal (the Hitchhiker) lying face down on the road having fake blood poured onto him. Edwin has said that he was burnt by the black asphalt while having to lay there in the 100+ degree weather.

Teri McMinn (Pam) was put through a great deal for the infamous "Hook Scene" during the filming. She was strung up on wire that was padded with Maxi-Pads between her legs, despite the padding, it was still quite painful.

William Vail (Kirk) was accidentally struck in the head with a hammer by Gunnar while filming a scene.

Well, let's see here. Check out their IMDb pages.

Marilyn Ann Burns: http://imdb.com/name/nm0122782/

Paul Allen Partain: http://imdb.com/name/nm0663935/

William Bill Vail: http://imdb.com/name/nm0883211/

Allen Danzinger: http://imdb.com/name/nm0200758/

Teri McMinn: http://imdb.com/name/nm0573374/

Edwin Neal: http://imdb.com/name/nm0623605/

Jim Siedow: http://imdb.com/name/nm0796842/

Gunnar Hansen: http://imdb.com/name/nm0360815/

John Dugan: http://imdb.com/name/nm0240811/

These are the main characters. Click on the link and you can find all their previous and upcoming films. Apparently, Gunnar is going to be in The Forrest, which also has Andrew Bryniarsky, Edwin Neal, and Kane Hodder. Gunnar and Andrew played Leatherface in previous films, Edwin played The Hitchhiker, and Kane Hodder plays Jason Voorhees and also plays in TCM 3. Sounds like a good film for fans to look for! Here's the The Forest: http://imdb.com/title/tt0385706/

On the back of the box of the 25th Anniversary, it reads, "Restored from the original 16mm ECO negatives." With that said, it must've been shot on Kodak 16mm Ektachrome.

Pioneer released the movie on a basic DVD in all regions with a standard picture quality. DarkSky then released The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 2 Disc Ultimate Edition DVD Set with exceptional image quality for this movie, the movie's best quality upgrade and Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. The Ultimate Edition also includes the original track for the movie which is a must have feature for all fans, 2 Audio Commentaries which include Director Tobe Hooper, Actors Gunner Hanson, Marilyn Burns and many more. Also included are two 70 minute Featurettes "The Shocking Truth" and "Flesh Wounds" two very extremely insightful documentaries into the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a 7 minute Featurette with a tour of the original TCM House. Something regarded very highly by TCM fans are the Deleted Scenes and Blooper Reel from this movie, which are very rare for a movie of this age.

Although certainly the best available DVD at the time, Second Sight released The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Three-Disc Seriously Ultimate Edition. As well as porting all extras from DarkSky's Blu Ray release, it includes two extra interviews, previously exclusive to the R2 Universal release, and corrects previous audio glitches. It is the definitive DVD release of the film.