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Chain Saw Confidential: How We Made The World's Most Notorious Horror Movie
The in-depth look at the making of making of the most notorious film of all time, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , written by its chainsaw wielding star, the beloved, Gunnar Hansen, is finally back in print!
When The Texas Chain Saw Massacre first hit movie screens in 1974 it was both reviled and championed. To critics, it was either "a degrading, senseless misuse of film and time" or "an intelligent, absorbing and deeply disturbing horror film." However it was an immediate hit with audiences. Banned and celebrated, showcased at the Cannes film festival and included in the New York MoMA's collection, it has now come to be recognized widely as one of the greatest horror movies of all time.
A six-foot-four poet fresh out of grad school with limited acting experience, Gunnar Hansen played the masked, chain-saw-wielding Leatherface. His terrifying portrayal and the inventive work of the cast and crew would give the film the authentic power of nightmare, even while the gritty, grueling, and often dangerous independent production would test everyone involved, and lay the foundations for myths surrounding the film that endure even today.
In Chainsaw, Hansen here tells the real story of the making of the film, its release, and reception, offering unknown behind-the-scenes details, a harrowingly entertaining account of the adventures of low-budget filmmaking, illuminating insights on the film's enduring and influential place in the horror genre and our culture, and a thoughtful meditation on why we love to be scared in the first place.
When The Texas Chain Saw Massacre first hit movie screens in 1974 it was both reviled and championed. To critics, it was either "a degrading, senseless misuse of film and time" or "an intelligent, absorbing and deeply disturbing horror film." However it was an immediate hit with audiences. Banned and celebrated, showcased at the Cannes film festival and included in the New York MoMA's collection, it has now come to be recognized widely as one of the greatest horror movies of all time.
A six-foot-four poet fresh out of grad school with limited acting experience, Gunnar Hansen played the masked, chain-saw-wielding Leatherface. His terrifying portrayal and the inventive work of the cast and crew would give the film the authentic power of nightmare, even while the gritty, grueling, and often dangerous independent production would test everyone involved, and lay the foundations for myths surrounding the film that endure even today.
In Chainsaw, Hansen here tells the real story of the making of the film, its release, and reception, offering unknown behind-the-scenes details, a harrowingly entertaining account of the adventures of low-budget filmmaking, illuminating insights on the film's enduring and influential place in the horror genre and our culture, and a thoughtful meditation on why we love to be scared in the first place.
226 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2013
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November 8, 2015
R.I.P. GUNNAR HANSEN 1947-2015
He created one of the all time screen icons, starred in one of the all time horror movies and then wrote a great little book all about it.
***
To my surprise The Texas Chain Saw Massacre still stands up as a great horror film. Its power, wild kinetic energy and aura of rot and disgust are intact. Further surprises are found when watching it again after many years – there’s only one scene which has any blood in it, and there’s only one death-by-chainsaw in the whole movie. There’s no nudity, no swearing. Yet still the level of violence, physical and mental, is unremitting. This is the ur-text of slasher movies, and I think also for the torture porn we have been deluged with in recent years. (It’s recognised as the first movie to feature the Final Girl, the one who suffers but survives.)
So now I have to explain, if I hate all those slasher and torture porn movies, why The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is actually good. This will take the kind of fancy footwork Leatherface displays in the last amazing shot.
The answer is that TCSM is it, it’s pretty much all you ever need (should you need a high voltage film of terror in the first place). All the thousands of non-supernatural horror movies since 1974 have been riffs on this movie. Get a bunch of young people in a particular place and chop them up one by one. Make sure there are at least two hot young white women. (Essential.) That’s the plot. There are a handful of other non-supernatural horror movies of merit (The Fly, District 9, Calvaire) and they are the ones which aren’t riffs. So this is me saying – Dracula by Bram Stoker is a masterpiece, all the other vampire novels can be shredded (sorry Ann Rice). And this is true, unless you’re a genre fan. If you actually like the thousands of tiny variations of place, tone, character, ambience, costume, then you like your slasher or vampire or torture porn movies and novels, just like I like a lot of old blues, which are all variations on a single theme too. But for non-fans, all you need is the one good one.
What did Johann Sebastian Bach do with Goldberg? He wrote 30 variations on a theme for him. Goldberg didn’t say hey Johann, I only need one, thank you very much. He was glad to have all 30. He was a fan.
O UNHAPPY LEATHERFACE
Gunnar Hansen played Leatherface and his book is charm-charm-charming. His account reveals that the movie was made by a bunch of film students who were all trying to get some kind of career going, only one actor had any experience, and they basically made up how to do a movie as they went along. No props manager, no stuntmen, no health and safety advisor. This meant that the actors were flinging themselves about and accreting numerous minor injuries, and coming far too close to actual real whirring chainsaws, so that by the end of the 8 week shoot, in the 100-plus degree heat of Texas summer, they were beat, battered, bruised and abused and they never wanted to hear another word about chainsaws. They limped home!
The abuse didn’t stop there either – the movie, which none of them expected to do anything other than play a few Texas drive-ins, made let’s say between 50 and 100 million over the next 20 years, and they didn’t see any of that. Including Tobe Hooper, the director. So they had a horrible time making the movie, saw it become a top hit, and then got no pay for their pains. It’s one of many sad movie stories, all variations on another theme - the theme “what did we sign?”. This particular version features a company which was a front for the mafia. So, I guess, that’s where the money went.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
The movie had several strokes of dumb luck which made it the thing of wonder it is. The only person to get a big career out of it was Tobe Hooper, the director, so was its brilliance down to him? Tobe or not Tobe, that is the question. The answer is that without the great cinematography, terrific musique concrete soundtrack, without Leatherface’s genius masks and unique character, and especially without the set design in the cannibal family home – all those mobiles and artworks made of bones, the furniture made of skeletons, the odd carcass lying around, sourced from the local unwittingly-generous Texas farmers and from one of the women whose day job was a veterinary assistant (the set stank to high heaven, what with the 100 degree heat, and the actors were in there for 16 hours a day) then of course, it would have been weird and watchable but not the unrelenting pit of stomach fall down an unsuspected manhole experience it is.
Leatherface is a nightmare. Gunnar was 6 feet 4 and they made him wear boots with three inch heels so he is enormous. But he moves fast, and he wears the horrible dried-human-face mask. And he doesn’t speak, except in pig-like squeals, very high pitched. Just when you are used to him as the lunatic chainsawyer, there’s a scene where he’s in the kitchen and he’s wearing a different dried-human-face mask, with make-up on it, and a wig of bountiful grey curls, and he’s puttering around with his apron on, and he’s MOTHER!
My other favourite scene is after Leatherface has grabbed and sledgehammered the first kid and meat-hooked and freezered the second kid, we see him go to the front window and draw the curtain, he looks out anxiously, right, left, right again, he’s very worried, sits down holding his head, very distressed – WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE COMING FROM? ARE THERE ANY MORE? He’s all on his own and he’s having to cope with a home invasion!
BANNED IN BRITAIN FOR YEARS
Undoubtedly the chef d’oeuvre in the movie’s menu of misery is the suffering of the main female character Sally played by Marilyn Burns. The second half of the movie is all about her running, screaming, jumping through windows, being recaptured, bound, gagged, nearly chainsawed, nearly being brained by Grandpa, running, running, with Leatherface in hot pursuit, screaming. You know, this is not King Lear. Dialogue is at a minimum. This movie is laying out the future of horror right here : the point of these movies is the detailed display of female suffering, "the necessary demise of the female" as my GR friend Jan Rice called it. That’s what we’re here for. The boys may die in horrible ways too (as they do here) but their deaths will take up little screen time. The camera wishes to linger on the bound and gagged and terrified female. So yes, these are sadistic, sexist, probably misogynistic movies. You can’t pretend otherwise, although critics have seen TCSM as a parody of the family or family values or as a comment on Vietnam or as vegetarian agitprop (meat is really murder!).
In the great documentary Video Nasties, there’s a clip of James Ferman, the head of the then British Board of Film Censors, saying why the movie was refused a certificate in Britain. It was according to him the unflinching focus on the suffering and agony of the young woman which takes up the last 25 minutes of the movie. In his opinion, this should not be permitted to be presented as entertainment. Well, naturally, all the movie buffs wrote him off as a stupid dinosaur – TCSM was shown at Cannes and bought by MoMA! It was art!
But maybe the old dinosaur from the 1980s had a point. Not that I’d want to go as far as to ban a movie showing 25 minutes of a female being tortured – I mean, what do you take me for? Banning a movie? That would be barbaric.
He created one of the all time screen icons, starred in one of the all time horror movies and then wrote a great little book all about it.
***
To my surprise The Texas Chain Saw Massacre still stands up as a great horror film. Its power, wild kinetic energy and aura of rot and disgust are intact. Further surprises are found when watching it again after many years – there’s only one scene which has any blood in it, and there’s only one death-by-chainsaw in the whole movie. There’s no nudity, no swearing. Yet still the level of violence, physical and mental, is unremitting. This is the ur-text of slasher movies, and I think also for the torture porn we have been deluged with in recent years. (It’s recognised as the first movie to feature the Final Girl, the one who suffers but survives.)
So now I have to explain, if I hate all those slasher and torture porn movies, why The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is actually good. This will take the kind of fancy footwork Leatherface displays in the last amazing shot.
The answer is that TCSM is it, it’s pretty much all you ever need (should you need a high voltage film of terror in the first place). All the thousands of non-supernatural horror movies since 1974 have been riffs on this movie. Get a bunch of young people in a particular place and chop them up one by one. Make sure there are at least two hot young white women. (Essential.) That’s the plot. There are a handful of other non-supernatural horror movies of merit (The Fly, District 9, Calvaire) and they are the ones which aren’t riffs. So this is me saying – Dracula by Bram Stoker is a masterpiece, all the other vampire novels can be shredded (sorry Ann Rice). And this is true, unless you’re a genre fan. If you actually like the thousands of tiny variations of place, tone, character, ambience, costume, then you like your slasher or vampire or torture porn movies and novels, just like I like a lot of old blues, which are all variations on a single theme too. But for non-fans, all you need is the one good one.
What did Johann Sebastian Bach do with Goldberg? He wrote 30 variations on a theme for him. Goldberg didn’t say hey Johann, I only need one, thank you very much. He was glad to have all 30. He was a fan.
O UNHAPPY LEATHERFACE
Gunnar Hansen played Leatherface and his book is charm-charm-charming. His account reveals that the movie was made by a bunch of film students who were all trying to get some kind of career going, only one actor had any experience, and they basically made up how to do a movie as they went along. No props manager, no stuntmen, no health and safety advisor. This meant that the actors were flinging themselves about and accreting numerous minor injuries, and coming far too close to actual real whirring chainsaws, so that by the end of the 8 week shoot, in the 100-plus degree heat of Texas summer, they were beat, battered, bruised and abused and they never wanted to hear another word about chainsaws. They limped home!
The abuse didn’t stop there either – the movie, which none of them expected to do anything other than play a few Texas drive-ins, made let’s say between 50 and 100 million over the next 20 years, and they didn’t see any of that. Including Tobe Hooper, the director. So they had a horrible time making the movie, saw it become a top hit, and then got no pay for their pains. It’s one of many sad movie stories, all variations on another theme - the theme “what did we sign?”. This particular version features a company which was a front for the mafia. So, I guess, that’s where the money went.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
The movie had several strokes of dumb luck which made it the thing of wonder it is. The only person to get a big career out of it was Tobe Hooper, the director, so was its brilliance down to him? Tobe or not Tobe, that is the question. The answer is that without the great cinematography, terrific musique concrete soundtrack, without Leatherface’s genius masks and unique character, and especially without the set design in the cannibal family home – all those mobiles and artworks made of bones, the furniture made of skeletons, the odd carcass lying around, sourced from the local unwittingly-generous Texas farmers and from one of the women whose day job was a veterinary assistant (the set stank to high heaven, what with the 100 degree heat, and the actors were in there for 16 hours a day) then of course, it would have been weird and watchable but not the unrelenting pit of stomach fall down an unsuspected manhole experience it is.
Leatherface is a nightmare. Gunnar was 6 feet 4 and they made him wear boots with three inch heels so he is enormous. But he moves fast, and he wears the horrible dried-human-face mask. And he doesn’t speak, except in pig-like squeals, very high pitched. Just when you are used to him as the lunatic chainsawyer, there’s a scene where he’s in the kitchen and he’s wearing a different dried-human-face mask, with make-up on it, and a wig of bountiful grey curls, and he’s puttering around with his apron on, and he’s MOTHER!
My other favourite scene is after Leatherface has grabbed and sledgehammered the first kid and meat-hooked and freezered the second kid, we see him go to the front window and draw the curtain, he looks out anxiously, right, left, right again, he’s very worried, sits down holding his head, very distressed – WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE COMING FROM? ARE THERE ANY MORE? He’s all on his own and he’s having to cope with a home invasion!
BANNED IN BRITAIN FOR YEARS
Undoubtedly the chef d’oeuvre in the movie’s menu of misery is the suffering of the main female character Sally played by Marilyn Burns. The second half of the movie is all about her running, screaming, jumping through windows, being recaptured, bound, gagged, nearly chainsawed, nearly being brained by Grandpa, running, running, with Leatherface in hot pursuit, screaming. You know, this is not King Lear. Dialogue is at a minimum. This movie is laying out the future of horror right here : the point of these movies is the detailed display of female suffering, "the necessary demise of the female" as my GR friend Jan Rice called it. That’s what we’re here for. The boys may die in horrible ways too (as they do here) but their deaths will take up little screen time. The camera wishes to linger on the bound and gagged and terrified female. So yes, these are sadistic, sexist, probably misogynistic movies. You can’t pretend otherwise, although critics have seen TCSM as a parody of the family or family values or as a comment on Vietnam or as vegetarian agitprop (meat is really murder!).
In the great documentary Video Nasties, there’s a clip of James Ferman, the head of the then British Board of Film Censors, saying why the movie was refused a certificate in Britain. It was according to him the unflinching focus on the suffering and agony of the young woman which takes up the last 25 minutes of the movie. In his opinion, this should not be permitted to be presented as entertainment. Well, naturally, all the movie buffs wrote him off as a stupid dinosaur – TCSM was shown at Cannes and bought by MoMA! It was art!
But maybe the old dinosaur from the 1980s had a point. Not that I’d want to go as far as to ban a movie showing 25 minutes of a female being tortured – I mean, what do you take me for? Banning a movie? That would be barbaric.
August 16, 2019
I honestly thought I knew the juiciest gossip from the set of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I was totally wrong. This book is full of fascinating info, and I really had a hard time putting it down. Sadly, it's now out of print, but if you search around you can find a good copy for a decent price. And if you are a big fan of the movie this is a book you are definitely going to want to read.
I love that it was written by someone who was not only on the set every day but also in the movie. Leatherface is so terrifying, so it's nice to hear from the actor who played him, and get into his mind a little. In 1973 Gunnar Hansen was taking poetry classes as a graduate student at the University of Texas in Austin. He had done some poetry readings and student films as an undergrad and he needed a job, so he thought he would try acting again. He heard about a horror film that would be shooting nearby, and the next thing he knew he was meeting with the director Tobe Hooper and he had a job.
The majority of the book is Gunnar relating his memories of shooting the film in the order they occurred, occasionally filled in with info from the cast and crew who offered to add what they remembered about shooting the film. I was absolutely horrified at how dangerous the entire production was. This was a new fact for me, but they used a real operational chain saw during the entirety of the movie. So Gunnar Hansen actually ran through the woods in cowboy boots with heels, a mask that prevented him from seeing practically anything, and a fully functional chainsaw. I'm sincerely amazed that there were no deaths during the shoot.
Something else that stood out to me was that Gunnar was not permitted to talk to the victim actors while on set. This isn't uncommon in filmmaking, but for most of the first half of the movie, Gunnar was the only antagonist on set. So most days he sat alone in the brutal Texas heat. I just keep picturing Leatherface sitting all alone on set, and it's funny how bad I feel for him. I truly feel bad for Gunnar.
CHAIN SAW CONFIDENTIAL is full little bits of information that I previously had never heard. This book is a quick read and one that sucks you in right from the very beginning. I enjoyed this one a lot, and recommend it to any fan of the film.
I love that it was written by someone who was not only on the set every day but also in the movie. Leatherface is so terrifying, so it's nice to hear from the actor who played him, and get into his mind a little. In 1973 Gunnar Hansen was taking poetry classes as a graduate student at the University of Texas in Austin. He had done some poetry readings and student films as an undergrad and he needed a job, so he thought he would try acting again. He heard about a horror film that would be shooting nearby, and the next thing he knew he was meeting with the director Tobe Hooper and he had a job.
The majority of the book is Gunnar relating his memories of shooting the film in the order they occurred, occasionally filled in with info from the cast and crew who offered to add what they remembered about shooting the film. I was absolutely horrified at how dangerous the entire production was. This was a new fact for me, but they used a real operational chain saw during the entirety of the movie. So Gunnar Hansen actually ran through the woods in cowboy boots with heels, a mask that prevented him from seeing practically anything, and a fully functional chainsaw. I'm sincerely amazed that there were no deaths during the shoot.
Something else that stood out to me was that Gunnar was not permitted to talk to the victim actors while on set. This isn't uncommon in filmmaking, but for most of the first half of the movie, Gunnar was the only antagonist on set. So most days he sat alone in the brutal Texas heat. I just keep picturing Leatherface sitting all alone on set, and it's funny how bad I feel for him. I truly feel bad for Gunnar.
CHAIN SAW CONFIDENTIAL is full little bits of information that I previously had never heard. This book is a quick read and one that sucks you in right from the very beginning. I enjoyed this one a lot, and recommend it to any fan of the film.
August 6, 2019
An absolute must-read for any fan of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but also a fascinating behind-the-scenes story for anyone interested in film in general!
July 22, 2022
"Chain Saw changed something fundamental in horror- good no longer always overcomes evil. The monster was not destroyed."
Texas Chain Saw Massacre was one of those movies that changed my life. When we think slasher, we think gore and ultra-violence. With Chain Saw, we got to use our imaginations and let it run wild. They used a very unique technique to make us squirm without actually seeing much of the horrific scenes. It’ll forever be one of my favorites and this book was a must-read.
Gunnar with the help of some of the cast and crew takes us back to the year of 1974. Nixon got himself into a little bit of trouble, there was a rumble in the jungle, and a little horror film was being released in small-town Texas. In that film, a chainsaw wielding maniac added fresh new faces to his collection. Who will survive and what will be left of them?
This was insightful and very informative. Gunnar takes us behind the scenes of before, during, and after the process of Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I loved his thoughts on playing one of the most notorious killers in film. He was genuine throughout. Nothing was sugarcoated and he shot from the hip. I learned a lot about this film as he put all the rumors to rest. A great read for horror lovers and a must-have for Horror collectors.
RIP Gunnar Hansen
Texas Chain Saw Massacre was one of those movies that changed my life. When we think slasher, we think gore and ultra-violence. With Chain Saw, we got to use our imaginations and let it run wild. They used a very unique technique to make us squirm without actually seeing much of the horrific scenes. It’ll forever be one of my favorites and this book was a must-read.
Gunnar with the help of some of the cast and crew takes us back to the year of 1974. Nixon got himself into a little bit of trouble, there was a rumble in the jungle, and a little horror film was being released in small-town Texas. In that film, a chainsaw wielding maniac added fresh new faces to his collection. Who will survive and what will be left of them?
This was insightful and very informative. Gunnar takes us behind the scenes of before, during, and after the process of Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I loved his thoughts on playing one of the most notorious killers in film. He was genuine throughout. Nothing was sugarcoated and he shot from the hip. I learned a lot about this film as he put all the rumors to rest. A great read for horror lovers and a must-have for Horror collectors.
RIP Gunnar Hansen
November 8, 2015
[RIP Gunnar Hansen 1947-2015]
Gunnar is often too reliant on quotes from his colleagues to flesh out his narrative, but this is a fun and revealing descent into the making of one of the world's freakiest movies by a group of completely normal people. His quote about a chainsaw-swingin' mishap later in the filming could well describe the entire process: "It was pure luck -- dumb, idiotic, inbred-toothless-country-boy-banjo-twangin' beginner's luck. I'll never do anything like that again."
Hansen concludes the memoir with some meditations on the nature of horror and violence, and in many ways he's a bit too simplistic on that front (I was hoping his inner poet would emerge here), but it's quite revealing so see how much dander gets raised by the flick 40 years later.
Gunnar is often too reliant on quotes from his colleagues to flesh out his narrative, but this is a fun and revealing descent into the making of one of the world's freakiest movies by a group of completely normal people. His quote about a chainsaw-swingin' mishap later in the filming could well describe the entire process: "It was pure luck -- dumb, idiotic, inbred-toothless-country-boy-banjo-twangin' beginner's luck. I'll never do anything like that again."
Hansen concludes the memoir with some meditations on the nature of horror and violence, and in many ways he's a bit too simplistic on that front (I was hoping his inner poet would emerge here), but it's quite revealing so see how much dander gets raised by the flick 40 years later.
November 8, 2018
*listened to audiobook*
I loved this book! Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my favorite horror movies, one of the first. I loved Leatherface.. and this book is written and narrated by Leatherface himself, Gunnar Hansen. After all these years I still learned so many things about TCM that I never knew before. Everything was so gritty. If you're a TCM fan, or a horror fan in general I highly recommend this book.
I loved this book! Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my favorite horror movies, one of the first. I loved Leatherface.. and this book is written and narrated by Leatherface himself, Gunnar Hansen. After all these years I still learned so many things about TCM that I never knew before. Everything was so gritty. If you're a TCM fan, or a horror fan in general I highly recommend this book.
November 21, 2015
Texas Chainsaw Massacre has always been one of my all time favorite movies. So reading about Gunnar and his portrayal of Leatherface I found to be an unforgettable and fascinating biography on so many levels. Having studied film in college I was impressed at discovering the story behind how this film got made on such a low budget with a minimal crew. I imagined this could've been a film I would've loved to have worked on in college if only I had gone to film school in Texas in the 1970's! Besides the revealing and entertaining stories about how the film was made and what took place on set, the final chapters discuss a bit of film theory around common ideas associated with the horror genre and the mainstream and critical responses violent slasher films tend to generate with the public. But most of all I was surprised to find out what the "man behind the Leatherface mask" was really like. I'm so glad I got to get to know Gunnar Hansen by hearing him narrate this audiobook himself and tell his own story. I have become so inspired by this story that I want to someday don my own version of the Leatherface costume and be a "female Leatherface" some Haloween in the future! And after this story I have come to appreciate one of my most favorite films of all time EVEN MORE.
June 18, 2020
A fun book for fans of this horror film, written by the actor who was the original Leatherface.
February 25, 2014
I have vivid memories of viewing THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Chief among them was that I spent the last 30-minutes of the movie clutching the armrests of the chair. I have not seen anything before or since with such extended, unrelieved tension. I left the theater thinking that I couldn't imagine who would ever watch this a second time. Today, I believe I've seen it 4 times, and I own a striking Blu-ray copy.
Love it or hate it, it is not a film that one sees and forgets about. All of the elements seemed to come together to create something more visceral than what was usually experienced on the screen.
Through the years, I've had the opportunity to learn a good amount about the making of this film, so I was looking forward to reading this book with great anticipation. If you know little about the background story, it is an excellent introduction. If you have done some research, it is hit and miss.
The writer is someone who definitely knows the details. For the most part, the information unfolds like a DVD commentary, with someone being reminded of things that occurred while they watch the show on a screen. For the slower parts of the movie, that means the commentary is less interesting.
It was Chapter 9 when the details really crackled for me. From that point on, I found keen observations, and descriptions of details that were bordering on the insane. I became nervous just reading about some of the stunts, especially those live effects with the chain saw. I also have a healthier respect for the film. The writer gives excellent detail regarding commitment to acting, the care in setting up shots, and the many rewrites to hone the story into something more than the usual horror movie.
It falls very short of the mark for me when the writer discourses on whether or not watching violent films encourages violence, and a chapter dedicated to the history of horror in drama, which reads like a class lecture. Yes, I suppose that the points made have value, but I doubt that anyone who would pick up this book would be drawn to such discussions.
The bottom line is that if you have an interest in what happened behind the scenes and you haven't heard much more than the rumors, this is an excellent book for you. If you have mined the Blu-ray supplements for all they are worth, this book will fill in some blanks, but will mostly be a review.
Love it or hate it, it is not a film that one sees and forgets about. All of the elements seemed to come together to create something more visceral than what was usually experienced on the screen.
Through the years, I've had the opportunity to learn a good amount about the making of this film, so I was looking forward to reading this book with great anticipation. If you know little about the background story, it is an excellent introduction. If you have done some research, it is hit and miss.
The writer is someone who definitely knows the details. For the most part, the information unfolds like a DVD commentary, with someone being reminded of things that occurred while they watch the show on a screen. For the slower parts of the movie, that means the commentary is less interesting.
It was Chapter 9 when the details really crackled for me. From that point on, I found keen observations, and descriptions of details that were bordering on the insane. I became nervous just reading about some of the stunts, especially those live effects with the chain saw. I also have a healthier respect for the film. The writer gives excellent detail regarding commitment to acting, the care in setting up shots, and the many rewrites to hone the story into something more than the usual horror movie.
It falls very short of the mark for me when the writer discourses on whether or not watching violent films encourages violence, and a chapter dedicated to the history of horror in drama, which reads like a class lecture. Yes, I suppose that the points made have value, but I doubt that anyone who would pick up this book would be drawn to such discussions.
The bottom line is that if you have an interest in what happened behind the scenes and you haven't heard much more than the rumors, this is an excellent book for you. If you have mined the Blu-ray supplements for all they are worth, this book will fill in some blanks, but will mostly be a review.
August 19, 2019
4.5⭐
"Whether or not you believe that "real" horror must have a supernatural element, Chain Saw unquestionably evokes the emotions that define horror, that are horror--the sense of dread, oppression, and emptiness, the loss of control, the glimpse of the unfathomable."
Chain Saw Confidential is fascinating look behind the scenes of the original TCM written by Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface. I buddy read this one with my friend Mindi, and we both really enjoyed it. It's such a wild story, and it's insane that this movie actually got made (and was eventually incredibly successful). The conditions of the set and costumes were kind of horrifying to read. It never should have worked, and it's amazing that it did.
If you're a TCM fan, I highly recommend picking this up if you can get your hands on it (it's out of print right now). This was a fun read, and this is definitely a memorable book.
"Whether or not you believe that "real" horror must have a supernatural element, Chain Saw unquestionably evokes the emotions that define horror, that are horror--the sense of dread, oppression, and emptiness, the loss of control, the glimpse of the unfathomable."
Chain Saw Confidential is fascinating look behind the scenes of the original TCM written by Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface. I buddy read this one with my friend Mindi, and we both really enjoyed it. It's such a wild story, and it's insane that this movie actually got made (and was eventually incredibly successful). The conditions of the set and costumes were kind of horrifying to read. It never should have worked, and it's amazing that it did.
If you're a TCM fan, I highly recommend picking this up if you can get your hands on it (it's out of print right now). This was a fun read, and this is definitely a memorable book.
June 30, 2025
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my all-time favourite horror films; I've seen it over and over and it still gives me goosebumps every time. So, this book written by Leatherface himself, Gunnar Hansen was a must-have for me.
Thankfully Hansen was nothing at all like his most famous character, but was instead a well-read, intelligent man who kind of fell into acting and was only offered this role due to his impressive size.
Texas Chainsaw was a low budget horror and apparently most of the cast and crew had little idea how popular it would become; in fact, most expected it to end up in someone's basement never to see the light of day.
Hansen's anecdotes about making the film were really interesting; it sounds like a stressful yet once-in-a-lifetime experience. With such a small budget, the crew had to get creative with camerawork, blood spatter effects and props, with many of the skeletons featured in the film being genuine human skeletons. Even some of the blood was real due to the cast running through dense areas of trees and bushes.
It wasn't all bad though and contains some amusing anecdotes about a popular plant growing behind the house used for Leatherface and his family.
Not only do we get Hansen's firsthand experience of making a horror classic, we also get his take on why the film was panned and then loved by critics, and what constitutes a horror.
This was an interesting and immensely enjoyable read. I want to watch the film yet again now.
Thankfully Hansen was nothing at all like his most famous character, but was instead a well-read, intelligent man who kind of fell into acting and was only offered this role due to his impressive size.
Texas Chainsaw was a low budget horror and apparently most of the cast and crew had little idea how popular it would become; in fact, most expected it to end up in someone's basement never to see the light of day.
Hansen's anecdotes about making the film were really interesting; it sounds like a stressful yet once-in-a-lifetime experience. With such a small budget, the crew had to get creative with camerawork, blood spatter effects and props, with many of the skeletons featured in the film being genuine human skeletons. Even some of the blood was real due to the cast running through dense areas of trees and bushes.
It wasn't all bad though and contains some amusing anecdotes about a popular plant growing behind the house used for Leatherface and his family.
Not only do we get Hansen's firsthand experience of making a horror classic, we also get his take on why the film was panned and then loved by critics, and what constitutes a horror.
This was an interesting and immensely enjoyable read. I want to watch the film yet again now.
March 6, 2017
I picked this book up at a half-off sale on a whim after attending a late-night screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - my first time seeing the sequel. Across the board, that film was a very weak follow up to one of my favorite horror movies. Still, seeing Leatherface on the big screen inspired me to learn more about the making of the original film. I had some trepidation about the writing skills of the actor who played Leatherface and worried the book would be painful to read. Thankfully, his skills on-screen and off were very up to par. This behind-the-scenes memoire proved to be a fascinating, page-turning, perfectly detailed look at the VERY low-budget struggle to make a film that plays like a nightmare and was a nightmare to make. The penultimate chapter makes the perfectly stated point about the subjectiveness of horror and how our reactions to it are driven by what we bring with us while watching the movie - "the horror movie is not...defined by its overt content...but by the viewer's emotional reaction to what the movie creates. ...horror is more than just the scare...it is about glimpsing what we fear - that is, gaining some small sense of what we fear, not just the feeling of fear itself."
Unexpected parallels emerged during the chapters analyzing horror and its role in society. Each day, I find myself worrying that four years from now, just like the ending of Chainsaw, the monster our democracy may become might be "the monster [that] goes unpunished. ...still there, still capable of returning. The normality, the predictability of the world is gone. There is no punishment. There is no relief from suffering. There is no justice. There is no order. Without justice and order, how can we have meaning? It is all nothing. This is the real horror."
Unexpected parallels emerged during the chapters analyzing horror and its role in society. Each day, I find myself worrying that four years from now, just like the ending of Chainsaw, the monster our democracy may become might be "the monster [that] goes unpunished. ...still there, still capable of returning. The normality, the predictability of the world is gone. There is no punishment. There is no relief from suffering. There is no justice. There is no order. Without justice and order, how can we have meaning? It is all nothing. This is the real horror."
February 20, 2019
A while ago, I made the admission that I love horror. I can blame Ivan for introducing me to horror movies, but even before that, I loved the horror genre in books. The scarier the better! Ivan and our friend, Adam, have talked about Texas Chainsaw Massacre before and I had begged Ivan to watch it with me. He included the soundtrack from the remake on his Halloween playlist and that theme is seriously the scariest score I have ever heard, but I couldn’t watch the remake until I watched the original, so I asked Ivan again to watch it with me. Finally, FINALLY, we sat down to watch it . . . blew my friggin mind! I jumped, I squealed, I shut my eyes, I asked why . . . but what shocked me was that a week afterward, I was still pondering. Ivan has a habit of asking me what I’m thinking about while we’re driving, and that week, I answered “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” He got so excited and we ended up having conservation after conversation about this dang movie! I have to say, I really love Chainsaw! It’s violent and graphic and horrible, but it’s riveting! I was so intrigued and continue to be so! Audible had a Halloween sale and look! A book by the man who played Leatherface all about the filming of the movie!!! I bought it, and listened to it, and now I want to watch Chainsaw again!! I learned so much; the people behind this movie were just as crazy as you’d expect. Reading about the dinner scene was enlightening and I was surprised at how horrible the filming was for the cast and crew. I am so sad that Gunnar Hansen is dead and I can never meet him. Toby Hooper, the director, is also dead . . . I was born in the wrong decade. This book isn’t for everybody, but if you are a horror fan, then this book is for you! I absolutely recommend it and the original movie!
September 29, 2014
Despite its slow, ponderously detailed first half, which provides a near shot for shot retelling of the entire process of making the film, which would be better suited to a making of documentary on a future DVD release of the film in question, Gunnar Hansen's memoir/cultural history/critical analysis of one of the world's most well known and notorious horror films is a delight for the film buff in all of us.
Watching the film in which Hansen made his cinematic debut is disturbing to say the least, and an experience that I for one was not entirely sure I wished to revisit, but in reading Hansen's personal account of the people who made the film with him, in addition to his well informed and researched insights into the implications of horror as a collective force for creative expression and entertainment, the staying power of the horror genre is expounded upon in such depth and detail that even its darkest elements are brought forth into the light, converting even the most timid reader to gaze more closely into the face of the monster inside each and every one of us.
While Hansen's prose is inconsistent, often weakened and expunged by the book's overlong transcripts of conversations and interviews culled from over the years since the film's initial release, the portions that deal with Hansen's own life story are immediately compelling, shedding light on what being Leatherface means to the monster himself, and why a well written, directed, and edited horror film still matters to this day, critics and censors be damned.
Watching the film in which Hansen made his cinematic debut is disturbing to say the least, and an experience that I for one was not entirely sure I wished to revisit, but in reading Hansen's personal account of the people who made the film with him, in addition to his well informed and researched insights into the implications of horror as a collective force for creative expression and entertainment, the staying power of the horror genre is expounded upon in such depth and detail that even its darkest elements are brought forth into the light, converting even the most timid reader to gaze more closely into the face of the monster inside each and every one of us.
While Hansen's prose is inconsistent, often weakened and expunged by the book's overlong transcripts of conversations and interviews culled from over the years since the film's initial release, the portions that deal with Hansen's own life story are immediately compelling, shedding light on what being Leatherface means to the monster himself, and why a well written, directed, and edited horror film still matters to this day, critics and censors be damned.
July 17, 2019
An excellent look at the making of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre from the perspective of its most famous star. Gunnar Hansen (who played Leatherface) is an excellent writer—not surprising considering he is a poet and highly educated—who not only takes the reader through the filming of the movie but has some exceptionally well-written commentary about the horror genre toward the end of the book. One chapter that was an unexpected gem was where he recounts experiences from encounters with people who are convinced that the movie is a true story or that they were somehow part of its production in some way (despite there only being perhaps a dozen crew members on set), the highlight being the guy trying to get Hansen to *wink wink* play along with the story that he was part of the filming so he can impress his girlfriend. Hansen handles it admirably and justly.
I really just picked the book up out of curiosity. I mean, it is written by Leatherface himself. And the Texas Chain Saw Massacre (I know, we don't separate "chain" and "saw" in modern type but they did then) is often imitated but never duplicated. Well, it scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid and I was delighted to gain access to the artistry (and insane ramshackle tomfoolery at times) that went into its creation. Mr. Hansen is an excellent guide through the process and his thoughts on its cultural impact are equally interesting. Perhaps there is good reason Joe Bob Briggs loves this movie so much...
I really just picked the book up out of curiosity. I mean, it is written by Leatherface himself. And the Texas Chain Saw Massacre (I know, we don't separate "chain" and "saw" in modern type but they did then) is often imitated but never duplicated. Well, it scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid and I was delighted to gain access to the artistry (and insane ramshackle tomfoolery at times) that went into its creation. Mr. Hansen is an excellent guide through the process and his thoughts on its cultural impact are equally interesting. Perhaps there is good reason Joe Bob Briggs loves this movie so much...
December 15, 2023
This would’ve been a solid 4 star read, except for the fact that the last 20% or so is basically filler. By which I mean, for example, that you’ve got an entire section that’s just Gunnar Hansen’s semi-scholarly history of the horror genre, dating back to Gilgamesh and the freakin Castle of Otranto. And then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, he proceeds to discuss Freud. At length. So yeah, if that’s your thing, you’ll probably enjoy the entire book, but I definitely would’ve preferred it if he had stuck to just discussing what the title says he’s going to discuss. Because the behind-the-scenes look at how the movie was made was some fascinating shit! The rest, particularly his opinions on how applicable Freud is to the horror genre, not so much.
February 24, 2014
I first knew of Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I stole peeks from my bedroom door while my mother was watching it on the VHS. She loved watching horror and the video rental guy told her this would be right up her street. Boy, was she (and I) surprised.
30 years later, I'm reading a memoir on the making of the movie by Leatherface himself. Gunnar Hansen, a poet (Leatherface's a poet!), joined the cast because he thought acting in a small budget horror movie would be fun. Little did anyone involved in the movie dreamed that it would still be talked about today.
It gets very interesting and somewhat sad at the end when Hansen discusses the money that none of them made despite the movie's popularity and the angry letters from alleged survivors of the crime that the movie was supposedly based on. Hansen wishes that these letters were satire. So do I.
All in all, a very good read on how one of the famous 'splatter' movies of all time was made and received by moviegoers and critics alike.
30 years later, I'm reading a memoir on the making of the movie by Leatherface himself. Gunnar Hansen, a poet (Leatherface's a poet!), joined the cast because he thought acting in a small budget horror movie would be fun. Little did anyone involved in the movie dreamed that it would still be talked about today.
It gets very interesting and somewhat sad at the end when Hansen discusses the money that none of them made despite the movie's popularity and the angry letters from alleged survivors of the crime that the movie was supposedly based on. Hansen wishes that these letters were satire. So do I.
All in all, a very good read on how one of the famous 'splatter' movies of all time was made and received by moviegoers and critics alike.
August 27, 2016
Who knew Leatherface was a poet? When I discovered this book, I had no idea Gunnar Hansen (Mr. Leatherface himself) was also a writer. Hansen brings a professional yet conversational style to the accounts (both his own and those of actors and crew) of the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" production. I really dug this book. There were a few things about the making of the movie that I did not know - little tidbits of info for any aspiring filmmaker - that were quite enlightening. Some of the most interesting stories involved Marilyn Burns (aka Sally) and what she went through all in the name of movie making. Hansen describes the rough shooting conditions with an almost nostalgic voice. It's clear he remembers his part in "Massacre" history fondly. While "Massacre" isn't my favorite horror film, it definitely leaves a lasting impression with its raw style. If you're even remotely interested in the movie itself or low budget filmmaking, this is a fun, enjoyable read.
January 24, 2015
This book was interesting behind the scenes look at a movie that freaks me out when I see it. I haven't seen it in a long time so I may feel differently now.
From what Mr Hanson writes the shooting of this very low budget, sophomore effort by Tobe Hooper, film was brutal by anyone standards from start to finish. Intense heat, grueling schedule and really horrible odors.
Some interesting stories in this book regarding production and development of this horror classic. All was good until Mr Hansen begins to wax poetic about what is horror and the book last chapter turns from the movie into a text about horror which wasn't really that interesting in its philosophy.
Worth a read if you are a fan of the film or love the behind the scenes and inner workings of a film production. If you are looking for a text about horror read Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.
From what Mr Hanson writes the shooting of this very low budget, sophomore effort by Tobe Hooper, film was brutal by anyone standards from start to finish. Intense heat, grueling schedule and really horrible odors.
Some interesting stories in this book regarding production and development of this horror classic. All was good until Mr Hansen begins to wax poetic about what is horror and the book last chapter turns from the movie into a text about horror which wasn't really that interesting in its philosophy.
Worth a read if you are a fan of the film or love the behind the scenes and inner workings of a film production. If you are looking for a text about horror read Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.
February 22, 2017
A literal scene-by-scene analysis of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, told from the viewpoint of the actor who played the original Leatherface. I'd have to say this is an account strictly for rabid fans of the movie. As a horror film historian, I found this mostly boring with occasional interesting anecdotes interspersed throughout; but then again, I don't think I'd even have TCSM in my top ten, so maybe I'm not its target audience. Hansen regales us with stories of everything you could possibly want to know about TCSM, from the weather conditions to the way things smelled at various stages of the shoot. He takes the role (and the movie) pretty seriously. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but there were parts where I was so bored I almost started crying.
September 12, 2018
This is a solid production history for one of the greatest horror movies ever made, written by the actor who played its star villain. Gunnar Hansen was a smart and capable writer, and as well as offering his own memories he has interviewed many other cast and crew members to get their thoughts (as well as John Landis, who seems to represent the movie's fan base). Hansen doesn't linger too long over any aspect of production, and unlike a lot of these sorts of books he doesn't skimp on post-production even though he obviously was not present for it.
March 26, 2014
Gunnar Hansen details the exhauting shooting of the film under the Texas heat (and a pot plantation in the yard). This was a very fun and interesting read.
October 11, 2015
Good read
Enjoyed "Leatherface's" tale of the making of my favorite horror film. The details and revelations shared are priceless for a fan. A must read for genre fans, too.
Enjoyed "Leatherface's" tale of the making of my favorite horror film. The details and revelations shared are priceless for a fan. A must read for genre fans, too.
May 31, 2018
4 out of 5! a book about one of my favorite horror movies written and narrated by Leatherface himself! yes, please! full review to come.
September 24, 2021
Loved this! Excited to rewatch this classic with my newfound knowledge of this crazy backstory.
April 9, 2022
Any fan of the original TCM movie will enjoy the insights and scene by scene breakdown provided by the actor who played Leatherface.
December 22, 2022
Reflections and lessons learned:
“The monster is us…”
I’ll set the scene - tweeny and teeny me - always been a bit naive looking - cut my own hair but didn’t feel psychologically tortured by this or by being dressed in hand me down and market chosen clothes; read whatever I wanted that I could get access to as that sparked imagination, but my parents wouldn’t always let me put visual moving images to the stories - essentially an easy but odd kid to be able to grill on certain things in school conversations including horror in pop culture - “have you seen Candyman?”, “ooo, do you want to come round and watch “the People Under the Stairs?”, “let’s watch Hellraiser!”. Early on in this book I was thinking about the films that have most chilled and intrigued me in life, and it was this and Deliverance that I found truly terrifying in a completely different way to the above seemingly daft films. Not laughing on the sofa in the light of day at the ludicrous leg grabbing scares, but deeply, psychologically scared by what humans can do without anything else but being human and having the choice to choose how to live… films that I can’t watch time and time again as it really is too intense an experience, but it’s simply the characterisation against the backdrop of an isolated setting and how it’s not always two people falling in love under a palm tree. This book had me nodding along with simultaneous thoughts about it all as it really was, the start of an extreme horror genre.
The colour palate, the visuals, the wardrobe choices on all of the characters, the almost laughable title, the sheer lumbering size of leatherface, the ultra violence with traditional and modern tools, the claustrophobic feel in a wide setting, the odd music soundtrack, the white picket fence style idealism. The first time that I properly watched it outside of dodgy vcr versions as a teenager (literally video nasties) was in my boyfriends flat, in the middle of nowhere, whilst he was out at work during the day. I remember having to get closer to the telly, and sitting by the corner near the off button for most of the film! Even though I knew what was coming, it was still the chance that the people may not be tortured if I didn’t play the next clip… but as with anything like this - sometimes the brain needs to be tested and stretched in these odd and awful ways to not sugarcoat life. I was genuinely sad when I read that Hansen had died in 2015 as his insights and reading into this, and the wider subject was fascinating. And, as ever, he may not have directly referenced this, but it must be remembered as one of the top 100 life mantras…
‘Scooby Doo taught us that the real monsters are humans…’
“The monster is us…”
I’ll set the scene - tweeny and teeny me - always been a bit naive looking - cut my own hair but didn’t feel psychologically tortured by this or by being dressed in hand me down and market chosen clothes; read whatever I wanted that I could get access to as that sparked imagination, but my parents wouldn’t always let me put visual moving images to the stories - essentially an easy but odd kid to be able to grill on certain things in school conversations including horror in pop culture - “have you seen Candyman?”, “ooo, do you want to come round and watch “the People Under the Stairs?”, “let’s watch Hellraiser!”. Early on in this book I was thinking about the films that have most chilled and intrigued me in life, and it was this and Deliverance that I found truly terrifying in a completely different way to the above seemingly daft films. Not laughing on the sofa in the light of day at the ludicrous leg grabbing scares, but deeply, psychologically scared by what humans can do without anything else but being human and having the choice to choose how to live… films that I can’t watch time and time again as it really is too intense an experience, but it’s simply the characterisation against the backdrop of an isolated setting and how it’s not always two people falling in love under a palm tree. This book had me nodding along with simultaneous thoughts about it all as it really was, the start of an extreme horror genre.
The colour palate, the visuals, the wardrobe choices on all of the characters, the almost laughable title, the sheer lumbering size of leatherface, the ultra violence with traditional and modern tools, the claustrophobic feel in a wide setting, the odd music soundtrack, the white picket fence style idealism. The first time that I properly watched it outside of dodgy vcr versions as a teenager (literally video nasties) was in my boyfriends flat, in the middle of nowhere, whilst he was out at work during the day. I remember having to get closer to the telly, and sitting by the corner near the off button for most of the film! Even though I knew what was coming, it was still the chance that the people may not be tortured if I didn’t play the next clip… but as with anything like this - sometimes the brain needs to be tested and stretched in these odd and awful ways to not sugarcoat life. I was genuinely sad when I read that Hansen had died in 2015 as his insights and reading into this, and the wider subject was fascinating. And, as ever, he may not have directly referenced this, but it must be remembered as one of the top 100 life mantras…
‘Scooby Doo taught us that the real monsters are humans…’
October 16, 2025
I've wanted to read this for years and I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed. Gunnar Hansen comes across as the most modest, down-to-Earth guy you'd ever meet—the guy you'd want to have a beer with and talk to for an hour, not the guy who played Leatherface in the greatest horror movie ever made.
Not only do we get the story of filming, but we get lots of other good information too: a little bit of Hansen's life before he was offered the role, the absolutely tragic series of events that led to basically the entire crew making no money off the film (the short version is, distributors fucking over the filmmakers; Hansen writes that at the time of his writing the book—early 2010s—his residuals from the movie, released in 1974, equalled about $8,000), and cultural/critical response and the lasting impact of the film (for my money, the most intriguing part of the whole thing.)
I can't give this book five stars for of one reason: Why do we spend so much time summarizing the plot of the movie? It's one thing to say, "Shooting the dinner scene was something because...", but I can only assume the people interested in reading this book have seen TCM before (if they're anything like me, more than once) and so we don't need paragraphs upon paragraphs of plot summary.
That said, this last point did not ruin my enjoyment of the book even if I found it very slightly bloated because of it. This is a must-read for TCM fans.
Not only do we get the story of filming, but we get lots of other good information too: a little bit of Hansen's life before he was offered the role, the absolutely tragic series of events that led to basically the entire crew making no money off the film (the short version is, distributors fucking over the filmmakers; Hansen writes that at the time of his writing the book—early 2010s—his residuals from the movie, released in 1974, equalled about $8,000), and cultural/critical response and the lasting impact of the film (for my money, the most intriguing part of the whole thing.)
I can't give this book five stars for of one reason: Why do we spend so much time summarizing the plot of the movie? It's one thing to say, "Shooting the dinner scene was something because...", but I can only assume the people interested in reading this book have seen TCM before (if they're anything like me, more than once) and so we don't need paragraphs upon paragraphs of plot summary.
That said, this last point did not ruin my enjoyment of the book even if I found it very slightly bloated because of it. This is a must-read for TCM fans.
October 22, 2024
Absolutely magnetic! This is the true story that Paul Trembly wanted to co-op into Horror Movie.
As a casual fan of the Chainsaw franchise, I didn't know too much about the origins of the movie. Hansen's telling and quotes from former cast mates and production team paints a wild picture that I couldn't put down. I am sorry to learn Hansen passed away in recent years, but we are so lucky to have his book left behind. Who would have thought a poetry student in Texas would go on to embody the beloved monster that will forever be thought of when someone brings up chainsaws? At less than 300 pages this was a quick read, but packed full of information.
Low-budget film making truly is its own art form, but what elevates it to the timeless classic is the script and the people that believed in it.
5 stars! I loved it! Now I'm off to rewatch the film.
As a casual fan of the Chainsaw franchise, I didn't know too much about the origins of the movie. Hansen's telling and quotes from former cast mates and production team paints a wild picture that I couldn't put down. I am sorry to learn Hansen passed away in recent years, but we are so lucky to have his book left behind. Who would have thought a poetry student in Texas would go on to embody the beloved monster that will forever be thought of when someone brings up chainsaws? At less than 300 pages this was a quick read, but packed full of information.
Low-budget film making truly is its own art form, but what elevates it to the timeless classic is the script and the people that believed in it.
5 stars! I loved it! Now I'm off to rewatch the film.
April 21, 2023
I saw this book being released years back, and I had to have it! Gunnar Hansen tells the real story of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, debunking myths, details about what went on behind the scenes, and more. TCM is a horror classic. And so is the book now! If you like to know fun facts about movies or what went on behind the scenes, then definitely read this book.
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