Welcome back to Behind The Scenes Saturday!! This week is all about the underrated horror sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2! I’ll admit, I didn’t like this film when I watched it the first time, but I’m glad I gave it a second chance and learned to appreciate it for all it had to offer. So, make sure to check the contents of your chili, always grab 2 chainsaws when defending yourself, and enjoy these fun pictures and bits of trivia!!

(Trivia provided by IMDb.com)

(Pictures provided by facebook.com, google.com, and IMDb.com)

(WARNING!! PICTURES MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC SPECIAL EFFECTS!!)

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

• The corpse that Chop-Top (Bill Moseley) and Leatherface (Bill Johnson) carry around and refer to as Nubbins is the body of The Hitchhiker (played by Edwin Neal in the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre), also known as Nubbins Sawyer.
• The film’s director, Tobe Hooper and the original film’s writer, Kim Henkel came up with a completely different story for the sequel. It was originally titled Beyond The Valley Of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and it featured an entire town of cannibals. It was going to be a satire of the film, Motel Hell, which was a satire of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre film. The studio forced all of the changes to the story and even replaced Henkel with L.M. Kit Carson.
• The family group shot on this film’s poster is an obvious reference to the poster for The Breakfast Club.

• Bill Moseley created a short parody film called The Texas Chainsaw Manicure, where he played a small role as the hitchhiker. It ended up getting shown to Tobe Hooper and he loved it so much, he kept Moseley in mind for a part if he ever made a sequel. When this film was finally ready to be cast, Moseley was contacted for the role of Chop-Top, Nubbins’ twin brother.
• Dennis Hopper (Lefty) once said that this was the worst movie he’d ever been in. He later said the same thing about Super Mario Bros.
• Caroline Williams (Stretch) was determined to make a strong impression at her audition. When it was her turn, she went to the end of the hallway and ran screaming into the room. She yanked Tobe Hooper and L.M. Kit Carson out of their seats and barricaded the doors with the seats before she started reading for her scene.

• The film’s makeup artist, Tom Savini once said that the makeup effects that he used for Grandpa (Ken Evert) was his most proud accomplishment.
• This was Jim Siedow’s (Cook) final film.
• Tobe Hooper was originally going to just produce the film. However, because of the film’s low budget, the filmmakers were unable to track down an affordable director, so Hooper eventually stepped in.

• Many fans of the original film disliked this sequel due to its emphasis on gore and wacky humor. Tobe Hooper argued that those elements were present in the original film, but viewers did not acknowledge it because of the shocking content overshadowing it.
• There were quite a few scenes that had to be deleted due to the film’s pacing. One scene involved the Sawyer family heading out at night to hunt for prime meat for their chili by slaughtering movie patrons and a group of rowdy, rioting fans. The scene included a lot of Tom Savini’s elaborate special effects. Another deleted scene featured the American film critic, Joe Bob Briggs.
• In the original screenplay, Stretch was Lefty’s illegitimate daughter.

• Caroline Williams considers her character in this film and her character, Amanda Palmer in Hatchet III to be the same person. She said that, “(Hatchet III’s director) BJ McDonnell told me, ‘She’s Stretch. That’s what we’re doing here.’ I played the character of Amanda precisely as she would be. Stretch grew up, she changed her name, she married a law enforcement guy played by Zach Galligan, and she split from him because she is a woman who is obsessed with pursuing these legends… these myths, which in her mind are NOT myths.”
• In the Sawyer family’s lair, a skeleton is seen hanging from the ceiling. It’s riding a bomb and waving a cowboy hat above its head. This is an homage to the end of the film Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb.
• When Caroline first read the scene where Leatherface rubs his chainsaw against Stretch’s crotch, she thought to herself, “Oh my God, my mom is going to see this!” When later talking about it in an interview, she stated, “At the time we shot it, it was considered incredibly daring. We didn’t even get a rating. Today it looks sedate.”

• When Gunnar Hansen was offered to reprise his role as Leatherface, he claimed to turn it down because the money he was offered was too low. Unit publicist, Scott Holton claimed that the real reason he didn’t come back was because he vacillated about the part and the offer was rescinded. Holton didn’t believe the average viewer was even aware of who the original actors were, saying, “Who are Neal, Hansen, or Burns?”
• Right after Stretch plays the tape of the chainsaw killing, she puts on the same Star Spangled Banner theme that’s played in Poltergeist, another Tobe Hooper film.
• In contrast to the majority of horror films, all the victims who die in this film are men.
• Tobe Hooper makes a brief cameo in this film, “frolicking” in a party scene.