I consider myself very fortunate to see this in the way of you tube clips(what a valuable tool that can provide horror buffs much in the way of hard-to-find treasures), "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait" is a desired documentary many TCM fans had been wanting to check out. Edwin Neal provides an anecdote which shows the temperament many of the cast had working for Tobe Hooper during the making of the film. He produced a truth about being clunked over and over again across the head by Jim Siedow's Cook with real hard wood(it's that great scene in front of the truck head lights as dirt scattered about them)and in this we can sense it wasn't a fond experience. Of course, the (in)famous dinner scene is explained to us by Neal in detail, the dead animals and the sickening smell. We hear from Siedow, foretelling his notorious scene bashing poor Marilyn Burns over the noggin with a club in the barbecue shack..he mentions how he was very hesitant at first, only to get into the act as his character tormented Burns. Gunnar Hansen talks about visiting a home for retarded persons in preparation for his role, and the reason he got the part in the first place(talk about being in the right place at the right time!). John Dugan tells us of a Russian producer of a children's show he was quitting in order to take the role of the blood sucking Grandpa(the one who the family tries to get to bludgeon Burns across the head with a hammer)and how she claimed to have been responsible for Roddy McDowell's success. Lots of little tidbits for TCM fans which should be of interest to all who are fascinated with the back story before the big documentary shot for the DARK SKY DVD release.
7 Reviews
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre A Family Portrait: Bland documentary
Platypuschow15 November 2017
Despite not liking much of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise I went into this looking forward to some background on the film, some behind the scenes factoids and a further look into the movie.
After this hour long documentary had finished I wasn't really much wiser.
Essentially the same couple of stories are repeated, the titbits provided are really quite petty and the cast do not come across well.
What I mean by that is they aren't exactly good interviews, most of the cast come across as pretentious and make out that TCM was the greatest movie ever made.
I would say this is for huge fans only, the likelihood of learning anything new however is pretty remote.
The Good:
Gunnar Hansen
The Bad:
Hugely repetitious
Some poor audio recording quality
Shoddily made
Rather dull
Things I Learnt From This Documentary:
For appearance sake it's probably best you don't admit to enjoying hitting a woman on set
Admitting you wrote a topless scene just because you wanted to see an actresses boobs isn't much better
After this hour long documentary had finished I wasn't really much wiser.
Essentially the same couple of stories are repeated, the titbits provided are really quite petty and the cast do not come across well.
What I mean by that is they aren't exactly good interviews, most of the cast come across as pretentious and make out that TCM was the greatest movie ever made.
I would say this is for huge fans only, the likelihood of learning anything new however is pretty remote.
The Good:
Gunnar Hansen
The Bad:
Hugely repetitious
Some poor audio recording quality
Shoddily made
Rather dull
Things I Learnt From This Documentary:
For appearance sake it's probably best you don't admit to enjoying hitting a woman on set
Admitting you wrote a topless scene just because you wanted to see an actresses boobs isn't much better
Interesting dialogue, insanely boring presentation
BitterMan2322 February 2004
The things the actors say are interesting, too bad Shellady didnt film them in any sort of interesting way. talking head, talking head, talking head... Ed Neal's shot is blurry, Seidow comes off like hes in a nursing home, and Dugans cat steals his scenes from him. Would have been nice to get comments from Henkel or someone else behind the scenes. a lot of stuff got repeated (OK! IT WAS HOT WHEN YOU FILMED THE DINNER SCENE!!!) but otherwise it was interesting. See if someone transcripted it, it'll beat watching it.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait (4/10)
skybrick73613 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
About fifteen years after the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre film came out, Brad Shellady filmed a simplistic documentary of actors accounts, looking back to their horror hit. Shellady could have spent some more resources interviewing the entire cast but purposely only wanted to talk to the family. This consisted of Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface, Jim Siedow as the Old Man, Edwin Neal as Hitchhiker and John Dugan as Grandpa. Shellady's filmmaking was unbearable trying to set a tough Texas tone set in random places. It's cool that the audience only hears the actors speak throughout but there is a disconnection and repetitiveness to some of the stories. Edwin Neal was the true bright spot of the documentary, having a Jim Carry type A personality, while Siedow was rather dull and Hansen seemed almost bitter about the role. It's a neat little documentary to search out, the doc has aged in a good way and something the fans would really love.
Great Stories
suspiria1017 April 2004
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait is a documentary interviewing the `Family' of actors who played the cannibal clan in the classic 1974 film.
Plainly presented by director Brad Shellady featuring interviews of Gunnar Hansen, Edwin Neal, John Dugan and the late Jim Siedow we see them tell many fun and interesting tales of their experiences during the filming of and after the release of the influential film. Shot on video the documentary really lacks many things. They should have included more behind-the-scenes details from all the actors and crew but then I guess it wouldn't be a `family portrait'.
Suspiria10 give it a C+.
Plainly presented by director Brad Shellady featuring interviews of Gunnar Hansen, Edwin Neal, John Dugan and the late Jim Siedow we see them tell many fun and interesting tales of their experiences during the filming of and after the release of the influential film. Shot on video the documentary really lacks many things. They should have included more behind-the-scenes details from all the actors and crew but then I guess it wouldn't be a `family portrait'.
Suspiria10 give it a C+.
good extra
megansman12 November 2001
This is sort of a hard one to find now but well worth the trouble. Here are interviews with the actors that portrayed the maniacal family in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I was amazed at how the disturbing character of the hitchiker is now a comedian! He's actually quite funny as he goes into detail about the rigors of filming. Gunnar also recounts scenes such as the dinner scene and how horrible it was to shoot. See it.
Good Take on the Film
Michael_Elliott10 February 2012
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait (1988)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
John Dugan (Grandpa), Jim Siedow (The Cook), Edwin Neal (The Hitchhiker) and Gunner Hansen (Leatherface) are interviewed for this rather interesting documentary that takes a look at the making of THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and gives us the stories from the actual cannibal family seen in the movie.
This documentary was quite popular when it was first released and it's even better today since two of the members have sadly passed away. Getting to hear these stories is certainly something special and I especially like the fact that all of the attention is given to the family. Each man talks about how they ended up getting their roles and then we get into the production of the film. A lot of discussion goes towards how brutal the shooting was and this includes the horrid smells during the dinner scene as well as the abuse that they had to put on the actress.
At just a hour there are plenty of great stories told here so fans of the film will certainly enjoy this.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
John Dugan (Grandpa), Jim Siedow (The Cook), Edwin Neal (The Hitchhiker) and Gunner Hansen (Leatherface) are interviewed for this rather interesting documentary that takes a look at the making of THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and gives us the stories from the actual cannibal family seen in the movie.
This documentary was quite popular when it was first released and it's even better today since two of the members have sadly passed away. Getting to hear these stories is certainly something special and I especially like the fact that all of the attention is given to the family. Each man talks about how they ended up getting their roles and then we get into the production of the film. A lot of discussion goes towards how brutal the shooting was and this includes the horrid smells during the dinner scene as well as the abuse that they had to put on the actress.
At just a hour there are plenty of great stories told here so fans of the film will certainly enjoy this.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
