History Trivia / TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974

* ReferencedBy: Sally's line "Kirk, help!" is sampled in Music/NineInchNails' song "Reptile" from their album ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral''.

* ReferencedBy:

* DuelingMovies: With ''Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile'', another 1974 movie that was inspired by the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein Ed Gein case]] from the 1950s.

** For the scene where Pam was hung up on a meathook, Teri [=McMinn=] was held there by nylon rope tied between her legs. The position ending up being ''extremely'' painful for her, and the screaming Pam does in the scene is genuine pain on the part of Teri.
** When Leatherface cuts Sally's finger so Grandpa can drink her blood, the device attached to the knife that was ''supposed'' to squirt stage blood broke. Creator/GunnarHansen, already [[SanitySlippage breaking down from having to film the scene]], proceeded to cut Marilyn Burns' finger open for real in order to get the scene done.
** Most of the actors didn't actually meet Creator/GunnarHansen, let alone see him in costume, before their first (which is also usually their last) scene with him. Additionally, there was only one Leatherface outfit and they didn't dare wash it, so Hansen was in the same outfit for weeks in hot Texas weather, making the other actors physically repulsed by his, um, aroma. His smell reportedly got so bad that no one wanted to eat lunch with him, further isolating him from the rest of the cast, even his own "family."

* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/TobeHooper credited the graphic coverage of violence by San Antonio news outlets as one inspiration for the film and based elements of the plot on murderer Ed Gein. 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.

** When Leatherface cuts Sally's finger so Grandpa can drink her blood, the device attached to the knife that was ''supposed'' to squirt stage blood broke. Creator/GunnarHansen, already breaking down from having to film the scene (see SanitySlippage), proceeded to cut Marilyn Burns' finger open for real in order to get the scene done.

* ActorInspiredElement: Creator/GunnarHansen came up with a backstory for Leatherface - saying that he was handicapped and never learned to talk properly. He tried to make his portrayal as non-offensive as possible, and got positive reactions from fans.

* ChannelHop: The film was produced and released independently by Bryanston Pictures. The home video rights are currently with MPI Media Group, under their Dark Sky Films banner. They also licensed it to Pioneer Home Entertainment (better known for their anime releases) back in the 90s/early 2000s.

** When Leatherface cuts his leg on the chainsaw, the friction of the blade caused the protective plate on Creator/GunnarHansen's leg to heat up and burn his leg. So his scream of pain is real.

** Gunnar also improvised swinging the chainsaw around when [[spoiler: Sally gets away]]. He was scripted to just stamp his feet in frustration, but he did it to scare Tobe Hooper as payback for the TroubledProduction.

** It was also banned in the UK for having [[Main/InsaneTrollLogic "Chain Saw" in the title]]. It was never on the official VideoNasties list, though it has at times been reported as such.

* UrbanLegends: A persistent urban legend is that the movie's popularity was due to including [[SubliminalSeduction subliminal messages]] telling viewers they loved the film.

* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/TobeHooper credited the graphic coverage of violence by San Antonio news outlets as one inspiration for the film[8] and based elements of the plot on murderer Ed Gein. 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.

* WordOfDante: Teri [=McGinn=] has said in interviews that she feels Pam escaped from the freezer and made it out alive, as she thought of her as TheDeterminator.

* ActorInspiredElement: Gunnar Hansen came up with a backstory for Leatherface - saying that he was handicapped and never learned to talk properly. He tried to make his portrayal as non-offensive as possible, and got positive reactions from fans.

** When Leatherface cuts Sally's finger so Grandpa can drink her blood, the device attached to the knife that was ''supposed'' to squirt stage blood broke. Gunnar Hansen, already breaking down from having to film the scene (see SanitySlippage), proceeded to cut Marilyn Burns' finger open for real in order to get the scene done.
** Most of the actors didn't actually meet Gunnar Hansen, let alone see him in costume, before their first (which is also usually their last) scene with him. Additionally, there was only one Leatherface outfit and they didn't dare wash it, so Hansen was in the same outfit for weeks in hot Texas weather, making the other actors physically repulsed by his, um, aroma. His smell reportedly got so bad that no one wanted to eat lunch with him, further isolating him from the rest of the cast, even his own "family."

* ScullyBox: Gunnar Hansen wore three-inch lifts in his boots so that he towered over the rest of the cast.

** When Leatherface cuts his leg on the chainsaw, the friction of the blade caused the protective plate on Gunnar Hansen's leg to heat up and burn his leg. So his scream of pain is real.

** First, lead actress Marilyn Burns proved completely unable to convincingly keep ahead of Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface while he was chasing her through the woods, forcing Hansen to run much slower than he actually could, and even resorting in one shot to pointlessly cutting up tree branches to let Burns widen the gap between them. There was also an incident where Hansen slipped on the wet grass and lost his grip on the still-running chainsaw, which flew up in the air and then came down point-first just inches from his head.

** And then came the worst part of all with the climactic dinner scene. The 110 degree Texas heat plus the filming lights meant all the food on the table quickly rotted, and the room's poor ventilation made the stink even worse, raising it to genuinely health-threatening levels. Filming for 27 straight hours led to several of the actors suffering genuine SanitySlippage and taking Tobe Hooper's direction as meaning they really were their characters, not exactly the result you want when most of them were playing cannibalistic murderers. (The DVD commentary has Gunnar Hansen eerily recounting how he genuinely wanted to kill Marilyn Burns for a few seconds after being ordered to by his "brother.") Edwin Neal, who played the Hitchhiker, had just come home from the Vietnam War and described filming this scene as worse than anything the Viet Cong put him through. After it was all over, the rest of the crew were all furious at Hooper, who said it took years for any of them to cool off.

* PlayingGertrude: There is only twenty years between John Dugan and Jim Sliedow, who play father and son respectively. John wears old age make-up as a result.

* WorkingTitle: ''Stalking Leatherface'' and ''Head Cheese''.

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor:
** In real life, Gunnar Hansen was regarded by many as an [[GentleGiant incredibly nice guy]]. While preparing for the role and trying to develop mannerisms for Leatherface, he became a volunteer for a school for special needs kids.
** Gunnar Hansen strongly disliked Paul A. Partain when they worked together on set, because Partain tried to stay in character as the whiny, complaining Franklin during shooting. When he got to know Partain after filming had wrapped, they became close friends.

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: Inverted. Apparently, the reason why there was little bloodshed in the film was because director Tobe Hooper wanted it to have a PG-rating, but the violence itself and overall frightening imagery was enough to land the film an R-rating.

** For the scene where Sally's finger is cut for the Grandfather to suck on, the device to spurt fake blood wouldn't work. Thus, what you're watching in that scene is Marilyn Burns ''actually'' getting her finger sliced open. Though they thankfully didn't go as far as to make the guy playing Grandfather suck on her real bleeding finger, and there's a quite noticeable edit before he starts sucking.

* TroubledProduction: Happened ''for real'' while filming the infamous dinner scene. The food rotted under the filming lights and created a horrific smell, combined with that scene filming for 27 straight hours in 110 degree Texas weather, actually drove the actors a bit nuts. The DVD commentary has Gunnar Hansen eerily recounting how he genuinely wanted to kill Marilyn Burns for a few seconds after being ordered to by his "brother." Vietnam veteran Edwin Neal (Hitchhiker) even describes it as worse than anything he went through during the war.

** And then came the worst part of all with the climactic dinner scene. All the food on the table quickly rotted under the filming lights, and the room's poor ventilation made the stink even worse, raising it to genuinely health-threatening levels. Several of the actors suffered genuine SanitySlippage and took Tobe Hooper's direction as meaning they really were their characters, not exactly the result you want when most of them were playing cannibalistic murderers. Edwin Neal, who played the Hitchhiker, had just come home from the Vietnam War and described filming this scene as worse than anything the Viet Cong put him through. After it was all over, the rest of the crew were all furious at Hooper and he's said it took years for any of them to cool off.