TIL because ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was filmed on a microscopic budget of $60,000, the cast and crew had to work 7 days a week, 12-16 hours a day in 115°F heat in a poorly ventilated farmhouse amid rotting roadkill being used as props to finish the film.

I don't think so. When you examine what is actually shown on the screen, there isn't much gore. Part of the reason is because there weren't special effects like that in 1974, and another reason is because this was a low scale, low budget, independent film. Pam is never shown being put on a hook; you don't see a hook enter her. You see Leatherface carrying her in; you see a hook; you see Pam being placed down on it cur-chunk, but Pam being impaled on a hook actually isn't shown. It's the same with Franklin's death: you see Leatherface go at him with a chainsaw; you see Franklin scream and writhe and Sally screaming, but Franklin actually being attacked with a chainsaw isn't shown, only implied. One of the goriest scenes is Leatherface accidentally hitting his leg with the chainsaw at the end of the movie. Most of the rest of it is just how shots are angled, atmosphere, set, and acting. You even say this when you say the butchering of the boyfriend is off frame. A lot of the whole movie is an illusion that uses the viewers' imaginations much, much more than special effects or gore.

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