The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. 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.

Follows a group of kids called the "Losers Club" that encounter a creature called It, which preys on children and whose favorite form is that of a sadistic clown. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. The Tomatometer rating – based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and television critics – is a trusted measurement of movie and TV programming quality. The Tomatometer rating – based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and television critics – is a trusted measurement of movie and TV.

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 that 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 find the swimming- hole dried up but hear a generator running in the distance.

They stumble upon a nearby house. Kirk calls out, asking for gas, while Pam waits on a swing in the yard. After Kirk receives no answer, he enters through the unlocked door, whereupon Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) appears and kills him with a hammer. Pam enters soon after and trips into a room filled with furniture made from human bones. 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 finds the couple's blanket outside the nearby house.

He investigates and finds Pam, still alive, inside a freezer. Before he can react, Leatherface kills him and stuffs Pam back into the freezer. 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 in an upstairs room. She escapes from Leatherface by jumping through a second- floor window and flees to the gas station. Leatherface disappears into the night.

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. When the pair bring Sally inside, the hitchhiker recognizes her 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 Grandpa (John Dugan), one of the desiccated bodies seen earlier, down from upstairs. He is revealed to be alive when he sucks blood from a cut in Sally's finger.

During the night, 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 semi- trailer 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. He was a young man who recruited victims for an older homosexual man. I saw some news report where Elmer Wayne.. 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. His intentional misinformation, that the .

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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. 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.

To research his character in preparation for his role, Hansen visited a special needs school and watched how the students moved and spoke. The environment was humid. 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 . The crew covered its walls with drops of animal blood obtained from a local slaughterhouse. 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. Romance Films Man Underground (2017) on this page.

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. After telling Vail to stay still lest he really be killed, Hansen brought the running chainsaw to within 3 inches (8 cm) of Vail's face. However, the actor playing Grandpa was aiming for the floor rather than his victim's head. He stated that . Years later Bozman stated, . A court judgment instructed Bryanston to pay the filmmakers $5. In 1. 98. 3 New Line Cinema acquired the distribution rights from Bryanston and gave the producers a larger share of the profits. It screened nationally in the United States as a Saturday afternoon matin.

After several minutes were cut, it was resubmitted to the MPAA and received an . A distributor apparently restored the offending material, and at least one theater presented the full version under an .