The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre[note 1] is a 1. American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and written and co- produced by Hooper and Kim Henkel.

It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the hitchhiker, the proprietor, and Leatherface. The film follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. Although it was marketed as a true story to attract a wider audience and as a subtle commentary on the era's political climate, its plot is entirely fictional; however, the character of Leatherface and minor plot details were inspired by the crimes of real- life murderer Ed Gein.

Hooper produced the film for less than $3. Texas, where the film was shot. The limited budget forced Hooper to film for long hours seven days a week, so that he could finish as quickly as possible and reduce equipment rental costs. Due to the film's violent content, Hooper struggled to find a distributor. Louis Perano of Bryanston Pictures eventually purchased the distribution rights. Hooper limited the quantity of onscreen gore in hopes of securing a PG rating, but the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rated it R.

The film faced similar difficulties internationally. Upon its October 1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was banned outright in several countries, and numerous theaters later stopped showing the film in response to complaints about its violence. While it initially drew a mixed reception from critics, it was enormously profitable, grossing over $3. It has since received a positive reappraisal and gained a reputation as one of the best and most influential horror films in cinema history.

It is credited with originating several elements common in the slasher genre, including the use of power tools as murder weapons and the characterization of the killer as a large, hulking, faceless figure. The popularity of the film led to a franchise that continued the story of Leatherface and his family through sequels, remakes, one prequel, comic books and video games. Plot. Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), travel with three friends, Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail), and Pam (Teri Mc. Minn), to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather to investigate reports of vandalism and grave robbing. Afterwards, they decide to visit the old Hardesty family homestead. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) who talks about his family who worked at the old slaughterhouse.

He borrows Franklin's pocket- knife and cuts himself, then takes a Polaroid picture of the others and demands money for it. When they refuse to pay, he burns the photo and slashes Franklin's arm with a straight razor.

The group forces him out of the van and drive on. They stop at a gas station to refuel, but the proprietor (Jim Siedow) tells them the pumps are empty. They continue toward the homestead, intending to return to the gas station once it has received a fuel delivery. When they arrive, Franklin tells Kirk and Pam about a local swimming- hole and the couple head off to find it. They stumble upon a nearby house. Kirk calls out for gas, entering through the unlocked door, while Pam waits outside.

Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) appears and kills Kirk with a hammer. Watch Zach Galifianakis: Live At The Purple Onion Online. Pam enters soon after and trips into a room filled with furniture made from human bones.

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She attempts to flee, but Leatherface catches her and impales her on a meathook, making her watch as he butchers Kirk with a chainsaw. Jerry heads out to look for Pam and Kirk at sunset. He sees the house and finds Pam, still alive, inside a freezer. Before he can react, Leatherface kills him.

With darkness falling, Sally and Franklin set out to find their friends. As they near the neighboring house and call out, Leatherface lunges from the darkness and kills Franklin with a chainsaw. Sally runs toward the house and finds the desiccated remains of an elderly couple upstairs. She escapes from Leatherface by jumping through a second- floor window and flees to the gas station. The proprietor calms her with offers of help but then ties her up, gags her and forces her into his truck. He drives to the house, arriving at the same time as the hitchhiker, now revealed as Leatherface's brother. The hitchhiker recognizes Sally and taunts her.

The men torment the bound and gagged Sally while Leatherface, now dressed as a woman, serves dinner. Leatherface and the hitchhiker bring down Grandpa (John Dugan), one of the desiccated bodies from upstairs. He is revealed to be alive when he sucks blood from a cut on Sally's finger. They decide that Grandpa, the best killer in the old slaughterhouse, should kill Sally. He tries to hit her with a hammer but is too weak. In the ensuing confusion, she breaks free, leaps through a window, and flees to the road.

Leatherface and the hitchhiker give chase, but the latter is run over and killed by a passing truck. Armed with his chainsaw, Leatherface attacks the truck when the driver stops to help; the driver knocks down Leatherface with a pipe wrench, causing the chainsaw to cut his leg. The driver flees, and Sally escapes in the back of a passing pickup truck as Leatherface dances maniacally in the road with his chainsaw. Production. Development. The concept for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre arose in the early 1. Tobe Hooper was working as an assistant film director at the University of Texas at Austin and as a documentary cameraman.[3] He had already developed a story involving the elements of isolation, the woods, and darkness.[4] He credited the graphic coverage of violence by San Antonio news outlets as one inspiration for the film[5] and based elements of the plot on serial killer Ed Gein in 1. Wisconsin; [6] Gein inspired other horror films such as Psycho (1.

The Silence of the Lambs (1. During development, Hooper used the working titles of Headcheese and Leatherface.[1. I definitely studied Gein.. 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 an older homosexual man. I saw some news report where Elmer Wayne..

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.— Kim Henkel[1. 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", including Watergate, the 1. Vietnam War".[5] 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".[8] 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.[9]Hooper and Kim Henkel cowrote the screenplay and formed Vortex, Inc.[1. Henkel as president and Hooper as vice president.[1.

They asked Bill Parsley, a friend of Hooper, to provide funding. Parsley formed a company named MAB, Inc.

In return, MAB owned 5. 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. The cast and crew were not informed that Vortex owned only 5.