Editing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (section)

==Production==
===Development===
The concept for ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' arose in the early 1970s while [[Tobe Hooper]] was working as an assistant film director at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] and as a documentary cameraman.<ref name=":0">[[#Allon02|Allon 2002, p. 246]]</ref> He had already developed a story involving the elements of isolation, the woods, and darkness.<ref name="AustinChronicle">{{cite news|first=Marjorie|last=Baumgarten|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2000-10-27/79177/ |title=Tobe Hooper Remembers ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' |newspaper=[[The Austin Chronicle]] |publisher=Austin Chronicle Corp.|location=Austin, Texas|date=October 27, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605111113/http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2000-10-27/79177/ |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |access-date=June 10, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He credited the graphic coverage of violence by [[San Antonio]] news outlets as one inspiration for the film<ref name="HooperInterview">{{cite video |people= Hooper, Tobe |date=2008 |title= Tobe Hooper Interview |medium=DVD |publisher=Dark Sky Films |time=00:00:58–00:01:14; 00:01:38–00:02:00}}</ref> and based elements of the plot on murderer [[Ed Gein]], who committed his crimes in 1950s [[Wisconsin]];<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/caseclosed/gein.shtml|title=BBC Crime Case Closed – Ed Gein |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040204231159/http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/caseclosed/gein.shtml|archive-date=February 4, 2004|last=Summers|first=Chris|year=2003|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=October 16, 2009}}</ref> Gein inspired other horror films such as ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]'' (1960) and ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]'' (1991).<ref>[[#Allon02|Allon 2002, p. 248]]</ref><ref name="Bowen 2004, p. 17">[[#Bowen04|Bowen 2004, p. 17]]</ref><ref name="theshockingtruth">{{cite video|people=Gregory, David (Director and Writer)|date=2000|title=Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth|medium=Documentary|publisher=Blue Underground}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Joseph W.|title=The Psycho File: A Comprehensive Guide to Hitchcock's classic shocker|year=2009|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=978-0-7864-4487-8|page=12}}</ref> During development, several names for the film were considered, including ''Saturn in Retrograde'', ''Head Cheese'', ''Stalking Leatherface'', and ''Leatherface''.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Man Hollywood Trusts|magazine=[[Texas Monthly]]|volume=17|issue=9|page=185|publisher= Genesis Park, LP|location=Austin, Texas|date=September 1989|issn=0148-7736}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Herrera |first=Andrés |date=10 October 2024 |title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-1974 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]]}}</ref>

{{Quote box
|quote = I definitely studied Gein&nbsp;... but I also noticed a murder case in [[Houston]] at the time, a serial murderer you probably remember named [[Elmer Wayne Henley]]. He was a young man who recruited victims for [[Dean Corll|an older homosexual man]]. I saw some news report where Elmer Wayne&nbsp;... said, "I did these crimes, and I'm gonna stand up and take it like a man." Well, that struck me as interesting, that he had this conventional morality at that point. He wanted it known that, now that he was caught, he would do the right thing. So this kind of moral schizophrenia is something I tried to build into the characters.
|source = — [[Kim Henkel]]<ref>[[#Bloom04|Bloom 2004, p. 2]]</ref><ref name="HenkelInterview">{{cite video |people= Henkel, Kim (Writer) |date=2008 |title= Kim Henkel Interview |medium=DVD |time=00:01:16–00:03:19|publisher=Dark Sky Films}}</ref>|bgcolor=#e6f6df|align = left|width = 35%
}}
Hooper has cited changes in the cultural and political landscape as central influences on the film. His intentional misinformation, that the "film you are about to see is true", was a response to being "lied to by the government about things that were going on all over the world".<ref name="HooperInterview" /> It reflected the skepticism against the [[Richard Nixon]] administration in the wake of the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]], the [[1973 oil crisis]], the [[1973–1975 recession|1973 economic recession]], and "the massacres and atrocities in the [[Vietnam War]]".<ref name="HooperInterview"/><ref name=":2" /> The "lack of sentimentality and the brutality of things" that Hooper noticed while watching the local news, whose graphic coverage was epitomized by "showing brains spilled all over the road", led to his belief that "man was the real monster here, just wearing a different face, so I put a literal mask on the monster in my film".<ref name="Bowen 2004, p. 17"/> The idea of using a chainsaw as the murder weapon came to Hooper while he was in the hardware section of a busy store, contemplating how to speed his way through the crowd.<ref name="theshockingtruth"/>

Hooper and Kim Henkel cowrote the screenplay and formed Vortex, Inc.<ref>{{cite book|last=Armstrong|first=Kent Byron|title=Slasher Films: An International Filmography, 1960 through 2001|year=2003|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|page=316|isbn=978-0-7864-1462-8}}</ref> with Henkel as president and Hooper as vice president.<ref name="Cinefastique">{{Cite magazine|first1=Ellen|last1=Farley|first2=William Jr.|last2=Knoedelseder|title=The Chainsaw Massacres|magazine=[[Cinefantastique]]|publisher=Fourth Castle Micromedia|location=New York City|pages=28–44|volume=16|issue=4/5|date=October 1986}}</ref> They asked Bill Parsley, a friend of Hooper, to provide funding. Parsley formed a company named MAB, Inc. through which he invested $60,000 in the production. In return, MAB owned 50% of the film and its profits.<ref name="Bloom3">[[#Bloom04|Bloom 2004, p. 3]]</ref> [[Unit production manager|Production manager]] Ron Bozman told most of the cast and crew that he would have to defer part of their salaries until after it was sold to a distributor. Vortex made the idea more attractive by awarding them a share of its potential profits, ranging from 0.25 to 6%, similar to [[Point (mortgage)|mortgage points]]. The cast and crew were not informed that Vortex owned only 50%, which meant their points were worth half of the assumed value.<ref name="Cinefastique"/><ref name="Hansen">{{cite magazine|first=Gunnar|last=Hansen|author-link=Gunnar Hansen|date=May 1985|title=A Date with Leatherface|magazine=[[Texas Monthly]]|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/a-date-with-leatherface/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114171141/https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/a-date-with-leatherface/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2024-01-14|publisher= Genesis Park, LP|location=Austin, Texas|volume=13|issue=5|pages=163–4, 206|issn=0148-7736}}</ref>

===Casting===
Many of the cast members at the time were relatively unknown actors—Texans who had played roles in commercials, television, and stage shows, as well as performers whom Hooper knew personally, such as [[Allen Danziger]] and [[Jim Siedow]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Robin|title=Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan|year=1986|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-05777-6|page=80|chapter=5: The American Nightmare}}</ref><ref name="TCMCompanion"/><ref>[[#Macor10|Macor 2010, pp. 24–25]]</ref> Involvement in the film propelled some of them into the motion picture industry. The lead role of Sally was given to [[Marilyn Burns]], who had appeared previously on stage and served on the film commission board at UT Austin while studying there.<ref name="TCMCompanion"/> Teri McMinn was a student who worked with local theater companies, including the [[Dallas Theater Center]].<ref name="TCMCompanion"/> Henkel called McMinn to come in for a reading after he spotted her picture in the ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Teri McMinn Talks Meathooks, Chainsaws, and Massacres |url=https://dreadcentral.com/news/31995/teri-mcminn-talks-meathooks-chainsaws-and-massacres |website=[[Dread Central]]|date=June 24, 2009|access-date=August 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610060830/https://dreadcentral.com/news/31995/teri-mcminn-talks-meathooks-chainsaws-and-massacres |archive-date=June 10, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> For her last call-back he requested that she wear short shorts, which proved to be the most comfortable of all the cast members' costumes.<ref name="TCMCompanion"/>

Icelandic-American actor [[Gunnar Hansen]] was selected for the role of Leatherface.<ref name="TM2">{{cite magazine|first=Richard|last=West|title=Scariest Movie Ever?|magazine=[[Texas Monthly]]|publisher= Genesis Park, LP|location=Austin, Texas|volume=2|issue=3|date=March 1974|page=9|issn=0148-7736}}</ref> He regarded Leatherface as having an [[intellectual disability]] and having never learned to speak properly. To research his character in preparation for his role, Hansen visited a [[special needs]] school and watched how the students moved and spoke.<ref name="theshockingtruth"/><ref>[[#Jaworzyn04|Jaworzyn 2004, p. 30]]</ref> [[John Larroquette]] performed the narration in the opening credits,<ref>{{cite web|first=Nathan|last=Rabin|url=https://avclub.com/articles/john-larroquette,2331/ |title=John Larroquette |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |publisher=Onion, Inc.|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=June 8, 2008 |access-date=May 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509174405/https://avclub.com/articles/john-larroquette,2331/ |archive-date=May 9, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> for which he was paid in marijuana.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/john-larroquette-paid-marijuana-narrate-texas-chainsaw-massacre|title=John Larroquette was paid in marijuana to narrate 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' talks 'Night Court' reboot|first=Tracy|last=Wright|date=January 16, 2023|website=Fox News}}</ref>

===Filming===
[[File:Chain Saw Massacre House3.jpg|thumb|left|The farmhouse used for ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' was moved from [[La Frontera (Round Rock, Texas)|La Frontera]] to [[Kingsland, Texas]], and restored as a restaurant.<ref name="KillingFields">{{cite news|title=The Killing Fields: A culinary history of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' farmhouse |first=MM |last=Pack |newspaper=[[The Austin Chronicle]] |date=October 23, 2003 |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/food/2003-10-31/184100/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629192458/http://www.austinchronicle.com/food/2003-10-31/184100/ |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |access-date=February 2, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
The primary filming location was an early 1900s farmhouse located on Quick Hill Road near [[Round Rock, Texas]], where the [[La Frontera (Round Rock, Texas)|La Frontera]] development is now located.<ref name="KillingFields"/> The crew filmed seven days a week, up to 16 hours a day. The environment was hot<ref name="Hansen"/><ref>{{cite news |author=Staff |title=The calm, peaceful life of Leatherface |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/10/film.leatherface.ap/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040611042642/http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/10/film.leatherface.ap/index.html |date=June 10, 2004 |archive-date=June 11, 2004 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=July 26, 2009}}</ref> and the cast and crew found conditions tough; temperatures peaked at 110°[[Fahrenheit|F]] (43&nbsp;°C) on July 26.<ref>{{cite video |people=Hansen, Gunnar (Actor)|date=2008|title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre audio commentary |medium=DVD |publisher= Second Sight Films |time=0:04:20  |quote=it was 110 degrees or whatever in the sun }}</ref> Hansen later recalled, "It was 95, 100 degrees every day during filming. They wouldn't wash my costume because they were worried that the laundry might lose it, or that it would change color. They didn't have enough money for a second costume. So I wore that [mask] 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for a month."<ref>[[#Jaworzyn04|Jaworzyn 2004, p. 63]]</ref>

''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' was mainly shot using an [[Eclair (camera)|Eclair NPR]] 16mm camera<ref name="TCMDVD">{{cite video |title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [DVD commentary] |date=2008 |medium=DVD |publisher=Dark Sky Films |time=00:01:00–00:01:22 |people=Hooper, Tobe (Director)}}</ref><ref name="MovieGoing"/> with fine-grain, low-speed [[Ektachrome|Ektachrome Commercial]] film that required considerably more light than modern digital cameras and even most filmstocks of the day.<ref name="GadFly">{{cite web|url=http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive-texaschainsaw.html |title=Bone of My Bone, Flesh of My Flesh |last=Kraus |first=Daniel |date=October 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608082606/http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive-texaschainsaw.html |archive-date=June 8, 2011 |publisher=Gadfly |access-date=October 17, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This allowed more mobility and cost savings over shooting on the standard theatrical 35mm format of the time, without significant sacrifices to image quality. Most of the filming took place in the farmhouse, which was filled with furniture constructed from animal bones and a latex material used as upholstery to give the appearance of human skin.<ref name="NewsOK">{{cite web|url=http://www.newsok.com/article/2951550/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320112840/http://www.newsok.com/article/2951550/|archive-date=March 20, 2007 |title=First 'Chain Saw' madman remains fond of grisly role |last=Triplett |first=Gene |date=October 6, 2006 |work=NewsOk/[[The Oklahoman]] |access-date=November 22, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The house was not cooled, and there was little ventilation. The crew covered its walls with drops of animal blood obtained from a local slaughterhouse.<ref name="HooperInterview"/> [[Art director]] [[Robert A. Burns]] drove around the countryside and collected the remains of cattle and other animals in various stages of decomposition, with which he littered the floors of the house.<ref name="NewsOK"/>

The special effects were simple and limited by the budget.<ref>[[#Freeland02|Freeland 2002, p. 241]]</ref> The on-screen blood was real in some cases,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,100135,00.html |title='Chainsaw' Cuts Up the Screen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024220252/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,100135,00.html |archive-date=October 24, 2012 |last=Weinstein |first=Farrah |date=October 15, 2003 |publisher=[[Fox News]] |access-date=July 12, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> such as the scene in which Leatherface feeds "Grandpa". The crew had difficulty getting the stage blood to come out of its tube, so instead Burns's index finger was cut with a razor.<ref>{{cite video |people=Hansen, Gunnar (Actor)|date=2008|title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre audio commentary |medium=DVD |publisher= Second Sight Films |time=1:08:17 |quote=we couldn't get the blood out of the tube onto the knife edge and so after the fourth or fifth take... I turned away from everybody... and just cut her}}</ref> Burns's costume was so drenched with stage blood that it was "virtually solid" by the last day of shooting.<ref name="TCMCompanion">[[#Jaworzyn04|Jaworzyn 2004, pp. 8–33]]</ref> The scene in which Leatherface dismembers Kirk with a chainsaw worried actor William Vail (Kirk). After telling Vail to stay still lest he really be killed, Hansen brought the running chainsaw to within {{convert|3|in|cm|0}} of Vail's face.<ref name="MovieGoing">[[#Haines03|Haines 2003, pp. 114–115]]</ref> A real hammer was used for the climactic scene at the end, with some takes also featuring a mock-up. However, the actor playing Grandpa was aiming for the floor rather than his victim's head.<ref name=SXSWTexas/> Still, the shoot was quite dangerous, with Hooper noting at the wrap party that all cast members had obtained some level of injury. He stated that "everyone hated me by the end of the production" and that "it just took years for them to kind of cool off."<ref name=SXSWTexas>{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Nigel M|title=SXSW: Tobe Hooper On Why Audiences Get 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' Better Now Than When It Was First Released|date=March 14, 2014|url=https://indiewire.com/article/sxsw-tobe-hooper-on-why-audiences-get-texas-chainsaw-massacre-better-now-than-when-it-was-first-released|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904012702/https://indiewire.com/2014/03/sxsw-tobe-hooper-on-why-audiences-get-texas-chain-saw-massacre-better-now-than-when-it-was-first-released-28993/|archive-date=September 4, 2017|work=[[IndieWire]]|access-date=September 3, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Twitch>{{cite web|last1=Gayne|first1=Zach|title=SXSW 2014 Interview: THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE Director Tobe Hooper Talks His Legacy of Unspeakable Horror|url=http://screenanarchy.com/2014/03/sxsw-2014-interview-texas-chainsaw-massacre-director-tobe-hooper-talks-his-legacy-of-unspeakable-hor.html#ixzz3Fsd4ZI5M|date=March 18, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903211244/http://screenanarchy.com/2014/03/sxsw-2014-interview-texas-chainsaw-massacre-director-tobe-hooper-talks-his-legacy-of-unspeakable-hor.html|archive-date=September 3, 2017|website=[[Screen Anarchy]]|access-date=October 15, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The gas station featured in several scenes of the film is located in [[Bastrop, Texas]]. It now operates as a horror-themed attraction, Texas barbecue restaurant, and motel. To maintain its resemblance to the film, the owners preserved various antiques, including the vintage sign that reads "We Slaughter Barbecue".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Herrera |first=Andrés |date=July 24, 2024 |title=The Gas Station |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/the-gas-station |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240725014818/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/the-gas-station |archive-date=25 July 2024 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]]}}</ref>

===Post-production===
The production exceeded its original $60,000 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|60000|1974|fmt=c|r=-3}} adjusted for inflation) budget during [[film editing|editing]].<ref>[[#Jaworzyn04|Jaworzyn 2004, p. 33]]</ref> Sources differ on the film's final cost, offering figures between $93,000 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|93000|1974|fmt=c|r=-3}} inflation-adjusted) and $300,000 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|300000|1974|fmt=c|r=-5}} inflation-adjusted).<ref name="TM2"/><ref>[[#Bloom04|Bloom 2004, p. 6]]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Halberstam|first=Judith|title=Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters|year=1995|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-1663-3|page=148}}</ref><ref name="Rockoff">[[#Rockoff02|Rockoff 2002, p. 42]]</ref> A film production group, Pie in the Sky, partially led by future President of the Texas State Bar [[Joe K. Longley]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/they-came-they-sawed/|title = They Came. They Sawed| work=Texas Monthly |date = November 2004 | last1=Bloom | first1=John }}</ref>  provided $23,532 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|23532|1974|fmt=c|r=-3}} inflation-adjusted) in exchange for 19% of Vortex.<ref>[[#Bloom04|Bloom 2004, p. 5]]</ref> This left Henkel, Hooper and the rest of the cast and crew with a 40.5% stake.<ref name="Cinefastique"/> [[Warren Skaaren]], then head of the [[Texas Film Commission]], helped secure the distribution deal with [[Bryanston Distributing Company]].<ref name="Bloom3"/> [[David Foster (film producer)|David Foster]], who would later produce the 1982 horror film ''[[The Thing (1982 film)|The Thing]]'', arranged for a private screening for some of Bryanston's West Coast executives, and received 1.5% of Vortex's profits and a deferred fee of $500 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|500|1974|fmt=c|r=-2}} inflation-adjusted).<ref name="Cinefastique"/>

On August 28, 1974, Louis Peraino of Bryanston agreed to distribute the film worldwide, from which Bozman and Skaaren would receive $225,000 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|225000|1974|fmt=c|r=-5}} inflation-adjusted) and 35% of the profits. Years later Bozman stated, "We made a deal with the devil, [sigh], and I guess that, in a way, we got what we deserved."<ref name="Cinefastique"/> They signed the contract with Bryanston and, after the investors recouped their money (with interest),—and after Skaaren, the lawyers, and the accountants were paid—only $8,100 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|8100|1974|fmt=c|r=-2}} inflation-adjusted) was left to be divided among the 20 cast and crew members.<ref name="Cinefastique"/> Eventually the producers sued Bryanston for failing to pay them their full percentage of the box office profits. A court judgment instructed Bryanston to pay the filmmakers $500,000 (about ${{inflation|US-GDP|500000|1974|fmt=c|r=-5}} inflation-adjusted), but by then the company had declared bankruptcy. In 1983, [[New Line Cinema]] acquired the distribution rights from Bryanston and gave the producers a larger share of the profits.<ref name="BozInterview">{{cite video|people= Bozman, Ron (Production manager)|date=2008|title= The Business of Chain Saw: Interview with Ron Bozman from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre|medium=DVD|publisher= Dark Sky Films|time=0:11:40–0:16:25}}</ref>