The post you are about to read is an account of the frustration which befell a group of filmmakers, in particular Tobe Hooper and his disgruntled cast and crew. It is all the more hilarious that they didn't see any of these problems coming.

But had they had a much, much easier production, they would not have comprehended nor would they have been able to achieve as much of the mad and macabre masterpiece as they were to make in that time. For them a horrible experience making a cheap exploitation movie became totally worth it. Maybe.

The events of that production would lead to the creation of one of the most important films in the annals of horror history: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Best Slasher Flick That isn't a Slasher Flick.

- Director Tobe Hooper got the idea for the film when he got  stuck in a crowded department store and was determining what was the most effective way out of the crowd. He settled on a chainsaw.

- So, no, the film is not based on a true story. It was, however, partially inspired by Ed Gein, a serial killer who, unbeknownst to his neighbors, had been killing people and using their body parts to make furniture, crafts, tools, and yes, a couple of leather masks. He also served as an inspiration for Norman Bates (he had mother issues).

- Filmed practically in chronological order.

- The title "Head Cheese" was considered.

- Gunnar Hansen, the actor who played Leatherface, was allowed to interpret the killer anyway he wanted. He decided he was mentally retarded and incapable of intelligible speech, so Hansen observed a class for the mentally challenged and modeled his behavior after what he saw. But with a dash of crazy, of course.

- Actor John Dugan preferred not to undergo the makeup process to become Grandfather Sawyer a second time, so very scene with him was filmed at once. Unfortunately, this took 36 hours, and wearing a full suit and necktie during the hottest heatwave Texas had seen for a while was most likely horrendous.

- That mentioned heatwave made the dinner scene practically inhumane to sit through. The stench of rotten mean and body odor actually made a few crew members pass out. Actor Edwin Neal, a Vietnam vet, said it was the worst experience of his life, and that if he ever meets Tobe Hooper again, he will probably kill him.

- Speaking of stench, Gunnar Hansen had one shirt to wear the whole production, and because it was dyed, it couldn't be washed. Four weeks, in a heat wave. In Texas.

- And did I mention there was no AC? Basically, what you should be taking from this is that the production of this film was literally hell. Like, if the Fire Nation attacked, literally nothing would have changed.

- A lot of the blood on actress Marilyn Burns's clothes and body was real; she cut herself up several times during the chase through the woods. And because they couldn't get the fake blood pump to work, her fingers really were cut in the dinner scene. So yeah, pretty hard core.

- The soundtrack consists of sounds animals hear in a slaughterhouse. In particular, the unsettling flash bulb noise is the sound of a tuning fork scraping against a piano string.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gdqsNBQ1ibM

- The arguing between Sally and Franklin is authentic, but mostly because the actors couldn't stand each other.

- Gunnar Hansen, even with those heavy boots, apron, and Stinky Shirt of Death 3000, was a faster runner than Marilyn Burns. So during the chase in the woods, he actually had to slow himself down so she could stay ahead of him.

- Oddly enough, only one person in the entire movie is killed with a chainsaw, and there's little to no blood and gore shown on screen.

- The guy who did the opening narration was paid with weed.

- At one point, a crew member was accidentally injected with formaldehyde, because why not.

-In 2010, a panel that included John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and George A. Romero declared this the greatest horror movie of all time.

- My friend thinks the remake is better because he doesn't know anything.

[insert NSFW clip of Leatherface killing a guy with a hammer]