20 Mind-Blowing Facts About The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Some forty years ago a group of relative unknowns headed by then newbie director Tobe Hooper convened in the city of Austin and battled with the extreme Texan summer heat, a shoestring budget and some rather unsavoury working conditions to make one of the most important horror films of all time – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

As controversial as it was praised the movie helped shape the horror genre and although it’s been succeeded by some rather subpar sequels (we’re looking at you, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation) its legacy – from its gritty, pared-down approach to terror to its iconic villain Leatherface – lives on today.

Sadly, Tobe Hooper died last year and though the rest of his career never quite lived up to the heady heights of his early filmmaking days, he did gift with one of most memorable horror films we’ve ever seen.

So, in celebration of Hooper and his seminal horror we take a look at some of the most mind-blowing facts we could find about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, from its festive inspiration to its mob connections.

Contrary to its opening narration and marketing, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre wasn’t based on a true story at all. No hippy teens were brutally butchered by a family of chainsaw-wielding maniacs which is kind of reassuring and disappointing in equal measure.

According to Hooper, the old ‘based on a true story’ gimmick was a response to the political climate of America in 1973 and a criticism of government untruths about events like the Vietnam War and Watergate.

Despite its fictional roots, moviegoers back in the 70s were nevertheless convinced it was real and actor Gunnar Hansen even had people claim they knew his character Leatherface in real life. Poor naifs – they didn’t have Snopes back then.