Cult classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre used real human remains for simple reason in 1974 movie

1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most iconic horror movies and is still, to this day, ranked high by millions of horror fans worldwide.

The movie itself made viewers so distraught that it was banned in various countries around the world, including several countries in Europe, such as the UK, Finland, France, and more.

Although the movie states it was based on a true story, it didn’t depict actual events as it was just loosely inspired by Ed Gein, the serial killer and grave robber who collected human organs and made clothing out of human skin.

The same killer who Charlie Hunnam is set to play in Monster’s upcoming third season.

It’s not uncommon for movies to be made on such a low budget.

Texas Chainsaw was one of those made on a small budget of $60,000, which required the team behind the movie to find cheaper alternatives.

According to The Daily Star, art director Robert A. Burns searched the countryside for real-life animal carcasses, including eight cows, three goats, two dogs, two deer, one chicken, a cat, and even an armadillo.

“Some of the skeletons were real,” Director Tobe Hooper confirmed to Interview Magazine.

“When he’s impaled on the tombstone in the beginning. It’s a real human skeleton underneath it.”

He added that it was a “practical, budgetary thing ” to decide to use real bones: “It was less expensive to get real human skeletons from India than to buy plastic reproductions.”

Although that wasn’t quite the grossest thing about making the cult slasher movie, Hooper discussed how it was very difficult to shoot a movie back then.

“You needed a lot more light back then to shoot a film.”

“So the lights would cook the [bones],” he explained.

Hooper was asked whether it resulted in it being quite smelly on set to which he replied, “Oh, it was!”

Marilyn Burn, the lead actress who played Sally, recalled to Terror Trap that “it was awful” to film because of the smell.

“Somebody thought about getting dead cats and dogs from the pound and using formaldehyde on them.”

“Everybody agreed that was a terrible idea.”

“So they had to decide they’d burn them and give them a burial.”

“The smell of burning flesh just enhanced the feeling around the movie.”

One of the most iconic scenes is the dinner table scene, which featured a chicken head, leaving the actors with a bad taste.

“We just didn’t formaldehyde that right,”

“You know how chicken can smell … imagine that in the lights, under the heat.”