Strange Things That Happened On The Set Of Serial Killer Movies

1974's "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" changed the face of both horror and independent film. Its pseudo-documentarian narration byJohn Laroquette, over the top brutality, and completely fabricated, as per Pop Matters, "based on a true story" mythology elevated it (or plunged it, depending on how you look at it) to a visceral, primal place in

1974's "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" changed the face of both horror and independent film. Its pseudo-documentarian narration by John Laroquette, over the top brutality, and completely fabricated, as per Pop Matters, "based on a true story" mythology elevated it (or plunged it, depending on how you look at it) to a visceral, primal place in the cultural zeitgeist.

Filming was a low-budget nightmare, for two reasons that are right there in the title. First, shooting took place in Texas, in summer, and inside the dilapidated, ancient murder-house temperatures reached up to 115 degrees, noted Texas Monthly. Second was the chainsaw, which they didn't have the budget to fake or put a guard on. Actor Gunner Hansen, while boiling alive in a rubber suit with impaired visibility and also on drugs during at least one scene, as per The Telegraph, was waving around a very real running chainsaw the entire time. At one point, he slipped, losing hold of the chainsaw, which crashed down and only by some miracle didn't massacre him for real.

Near the end of the film, one of the most intense and nearly unwatchable parts of the movie is the dinner scene, partially because at this point, even the actors themselves were beginning to lose touch with reality. The scene was shot over the course of 27 hours inside the unbearably hot house, with the actors taking Dramamine breaks to get over the smell of blood and rancid meat. A prop busted, which led to Hansen slicing actress Marilyn Burns' finger open on camera. In fact, by then even Hansen had lost track of the difference and thought he was really there to murder Burns. The screams, the deranged laughter, and terror of that scene is significantly more realistic than most would prefer when they know the background. It led to some truly unforgettable cinema, but for everyone involved, "unforgettable" was probably the last thing they wanted.

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