- [Narrator] The story which you are about to see is an account of the making of a low budget movie, which befell a cast and crew of UT students.

For them, a strenuous summer shoot would lead to the creation of what's considered the greatest horror film of all time, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

(chainsaw whirring) (Sally screaming) - [Laura] You can stop holding your breath, she gets away.

(chainsaw whirring) (Sally screaming) Even people who've never seen the movie can probably tell you this scene is from 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

But Sally here is not just driving away from certain death, but straight into the annals of film history.

- When we were making this movie, nobody had any idea that this would happen.

- Let me get this straight, I'm on the same damn shelf as "Gone with the Wind"?

- [Laura] That shelf being at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is credited by film historians as pioneering the slasher genre.

- It was so unique and so unlike anything else Hollywood was producing at the time.

- [Laura] We follow a group of ill-fated friends on a road trip, when they run into a family of murderous cannibals, including Leatherface.

The cutting edge, gritty realism made many wonder if the massacre were real.

- It's because it's believable.

You know, we weren't like actors, it was almost like a documentary.

- [Laura] But just to be clear, it was not real.

"Chainsaw"'s original budget was $60,000, but it went on to gross around a whopping 30 million.

Kim Henkel wrote the movie with the late director, Tobe Hooper.

- It's absolutely unimaginable that it's achieved what it has, and that it's endured as it has.

- [Laura] Fellow Longhorn, David Blue Garcia, directed the 2022 installment.

- The first "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was made by a group of Texans from Austin, without any Hollywood connection, went out and made a movie that everyone still talks about.

- [Laura] But for the folks in front of the camera, like Edwin Neal, the hitchhiker, the real horror happened behind the scenes.

- We didn't have no damn CGI, they said, "Jump out the window."

We jumped out the window, bad news is it was on the second floor.

- [Laura] The production was fraught with injuries.

Gunnar Hansen, the man behind the mask of human skin, nearly impaled himself on his own chainsaw, and Marilyn Burns, who played Sally, (glass shattering) (Sally screaming) well, she got hit and hammered by just about everything.

- Gunnar was supposed to be making a little nick in her hand, and then the blood comes out, well he pressed too hard with the real knife and really cut her.

(Sally screaming) - She was so light on the first take, I picked her up and threw her into the roof of the truck, wham!

- [Laura] On top of that, they used real animal parts that rotted and created a nauseating stench on set.

- We were at a house in the middle of summer with the windows blacked out, hot lights inside, so it was steaming.

Not only was the bones and the flesh smelling, but the actors by that time were.

- [Laura] Along with a real human skeleton that was reportedly cheaper to buy than a plastic one.

The film narrowly escaped an X rating, and was even banned in some countries.

Teri McMinn, who played Pam, you may know her as the girl on the hook, (Pam screaming) says she actually chose to stay anonymous about her role in the film until 2008.

- I mean, at that time, horror wasn't a genre, it was considered one step below porn.

It was.

And Marilyn, Bill, and I took it off of our resumes.

- [Laura] However, today.

- Thank God for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

- [Laura] This month, to commemorate the film's 50th anniversary, the city of Austin made a special declaration on the very day the film came out.

- Do hereby proclaim October 11th, 2024 as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" Day in Austin, Texas.

(crowd cheering) - I got two Masters degrees, and my legacy is I get whacked by Leatherface.

- [Laura] And to put Austin on the map, inspiring a boom in Texas productions.

- If you look at, you know, the horror industry as a whole, you're like, before "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", it didn't exist, and after it did.

And you can say the same thing about the Austin film scene, really.

- [Laura] Today, Austin has hosted some 300 major film and TV productions.

50 years later, it still draws in the Leatherface faithful from all over the world.

- "Texas Chainsaw" is the one where we always get calls and they're asking, you know, "Hey, I'm coming from Japan or from Scotland."

- That includes pilgrimages to places like Leatherface's house turned Hooper's in Kingsland outside of Austin, named for director Hooper.

Now this iconic set piece is a restaurant, but the lore of Leatherface lives on, even if his victims don't.

- So right now- - The stairs, right?

The stairs are so iconic, and I think it's awesome that it's fully restored, like this is original.

- I had a father and a daughter come in one time, the father was dressed up as Leatherface and the daughter was Grandpa.

They just, they come out of the woodwork, especially around Halloween.

- Hooper's helps preserve the Leatherface legacy.

So this isn't real blood, is it?

- No.

- No?

- No.

- [Laura] For every future generation wanting to come face-to-face with some Texas-sized evil, bloodshed has never been so beloved.

- Well, we've become respectable, it's kind of like old madams of bawdy houses when they become wealthy and elderly, you know, and I think we've gained respect in our old age.

- So we see a brand new audience every single year, that's amazing, you know how many films can say that?

Not a lot of 'em.

(chainsaw whirring)