My family's always been in meat.
November 8, 2015 7:23 AM Subscribe
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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:32 AM on November 8, 2015
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:32 AM on November 8, 2015
/spins around in street futilely waving leafblower* in the air.
* closest thing to a chainsaw I have to hand.
posted by Artw at 7:37 AM on November 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
* closest thing to a chainsaw I have to hand.
posted by Artw at 7:37 AM on November 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
Really sad to read this. I just read his book about the making of the movie; a very good read and an amazingly terrifying movie. RIP.
posted by OolooKitty at 7:40 AM on November 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by OolooKitty at 7:40 AM on November 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Crap. I knew Gunnar Hansen. I was on a BBS with him back in the mid/late 80s, played Operation Overkill II against him, discussed political and social issues with him and even had dinner at Miguel'so in Bar Harbor, ME with him in what we would now call a meetup. I was in like 6th or 7th grade.
He was awesome. He was insightful, soft spoken, and genuinely friendly. A buddy of mine asked him why he didn't do the other movies and he said that he had done the first really for the paycheck and it was really pretty tough to handle the one he was in.
He was a large man, with a big bushy beard - really if he spoke with even the slightest British accent you'do have all thought that he would have made a good Haggrim.
I have always talked fondly of him when someone brings up horror and or weird dinner parties that you find yourself at... I can say, while I did not know him well, he will be missed. He certainly has had an impact on my life and my philosophy.
posted by Nanukthedog at 8:01 AM on November 8, 2015 [29 favorites]
He was awesome. He was insightful, soft spoken, and genuinely friendly. A buddy of mine asked him why he didn't do the other movies and he said that he had done the first really for the paycheck and it was really pretty tough to handle the one he was in.
He was a large man, with a big bushy beard - really if he spoke with even the slightest British accent you'do have all thought that he would have made a good Haggrim.
I have always talked fondly of him when someone brings up horror and or weird dinner parties that you find yourself at... I can say, while I did not know him well, he will be missed. He certainly has had an impact on my life and my philosophy.
posted by Nanukthedog at 8:01 AM on November 8, 2015 [29 favorites]
I actually came to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre relatively late (I think it was probably on Moviedrone) after seeing it grouped among the video nasties in the video shop for years. Not as notorious as it's reputation as there's very little actual gore in it... but the skuzzy atmosphere and cinematography are amazing and obviously highly influential. Hansen is amazing in it, a real physical presence.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:12 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:12 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
He was a large man, with a big bushy beard - really if he spoke with even the slightest British accent chuckle you'do have all thought that he would have made a good Haggrim Santa Claus.
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posted by Smart Dalek at 8:42 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by Smart Dalek at 8:42 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nanukthedog: "Crap. I knew Gunnar Hansen. I was on a BBS with him back in the mid/late 80s, played Operation Overkill II against him, discussed political and social issues with him and even had dinner at Miguel'so in Bar Harbor, ME with him in what we would now call a meetup. I was in like 6th or 7th grade.
He was awesome. He was insightful, soft spoken, and genuinely friendly. A buddy of mine asked him why he didn't do the other movies and he said that he had done the first really for the paycheck and it was really pretty tough to handle the one he was in.
He was a large man, with a big bushy beard - really if he spoke with even the slightest British accent you'do have all thought that he would have made a good Haggrim.
I have always talked fondly of him when someone brings up horror and or weird dinner parties that you find yourself at... I can say, while I did not know him well, he will be missed. He certainly has had an impact on my life and my philosophy."
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And, as an aside, having met Angus Scrimm (among other actors) more than once, it is amazing how many actors that play terrifying villains can end up being genuinely very nice people. Makes you wonder about the psychology.
posted by Samizdata at 8:43 AM on November 8, 2015 [8 favorites]
He was awesome. He was insightful, soft spoken, and genuinely friendly. A buddy of mine asked him why he didn't do the other movies and he said that he had done the first really for the paycheck and it was really pretty tough to handle the one he was in.
He was a large man, with a big bushy beard - really if he spoke with even the slightest British accent you'do have all thought that he would have made a good Haggrim.
I have always talked fondly of him when someone brings up horror and or weird dinner parties that you find yourself at... I can say, while I did not know him well, he will be missed. He certainly has had an impact on my life and my philosophy."
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And, as an aside, having met Angus Scrimm (among other actors) more than once, it is amazing how many actors that play terrifying villains can end up being genuinely very nice people. Makes you wonder about the psychology.
posted by Samizdata at 8:43 AM on November 8, 2015 [8 favorites]
Being an actor playing a terrifying villain in a movie means you spend most of your time sitting in a trailer or someplace waiting for a shot to be set up, and then for maybe 5 or 10 minutes you do this thing that is a pretend thing that people take pictures of, and then you go and sit again while you wait for the next shot to be set up.
Especially if you're playing someone like Leatherface where you basically don't have any lines and you're just lumbering around.
It's all just pretend, and they've hired you for your physical presence, not your personality.
Marc Maron interviews actors all the time who basically say "look it's all just pretend, there is no psychology behind it".
posted by hippybear at 8:48 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Especially if you're playing someone like Leatherface where you basically don't have any lines and you're just lumbering around.
It's all just pretend, and they've hired you for your physical presence, not your personality.
Marc Maron interviews actors all the time who basically say "look it's all just pretend, there is no psychology behind it".
posted by hippybear at 8:48 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
hippybear: "Being an actor playing a terrifying villain in a movie means you spend most of your time sitting in a trailer or someplace waiting for a shot to be set up, and then for maybe 5 or 10 minutes you do this thing that is a pretend thing that people take pictures of, and then you go and sit again while you wait for the next shot to be set up.
Especially if you're playing someone like Leatherface where you basically don't have any lines and you're just lumbering around.
It's all just pretend, and they've hired you for your physical presence, not your personality.
Marc Maron interviews actors all the time who basically say "look it's all just pretend, there is no psychology behind it"."
Not strictly true. People involved = human minds = psychology.
posted by Samizdata at 8:56 AM on November 8, 2015
Especially if you're playing someone like Leatherface where you basically don't have any lines and you're just lumbering around.
It's all just pretend, and they've hired you for your physical presence, not your personality.
Marc Maron interviews actors all the time who basically say "look it's all just pretend, there is no psychology behind it"."
Not strictly true. People involved = human minds = psychology.
posted by Samizdata at 8:56 AM on November 8, 2015
Not everyone needs to be Klays Kinski and be a jackoff all of the time though.
posted by Artw at 8:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 8:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've often wondered if sometimes, when it was dark and quiet, if he could feel the weight of all the terrified dreams he inspired.
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posted by Mooski at 8:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by Mooski at 8:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The're plenty of actors who are, or sound like they are, utterly miserable / wacko - especially those who, more by luck than anything else, end up playing one iconic character years back and, not doing much else since, end up having to schlep round the convention / autograph circuit in later years. So it's nice to hear about one of the good guys (as I've also heard on twitter as well as here)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:14 AM on November 8, 2015
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:14 AM on November 8, 2015
Going to hotel to have coffee and a toast.
posted by bjgeiger at 9:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bjgeiger at 9:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Seriously the greatest FADE TO BLACK ever.
It's an amazingly crazy ending... tension off the hook and even that famous final shot doesn't really dissapate it
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:36 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's an amazingly crazy ending... tension off the hook and even that famous final shot doesn't really dissapate it
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:36 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Shocking Truth - documentary on the making of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:41 AM on November 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:41 AM on November 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
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posted by Fuzzy Monster at 11:42 AM on November 8, 2015
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 11:42 AM on November 8, 2015
He was insightful, soft spoken, and genuinely friendly.
Yes indeed. He lived a few miles away, and I knew him for over 25 years. We were not really friends, but friendly, and always happy to run into each other from time to time. Once, right after having a conversation with him at a party, I drove past his house (pictured here), which I had to stop and photograph because, with no one home, it did look like a crazed chainsaw maniac might live there. As Nanukthedog says, the role he played was nothing like Gunnar in real life.
As he wrote in his highly entertaining book about the movie: “I certainly did not want to be Leatherface, or even feel his emotions. For me he was a shell, a set of behaviors and postures.”
And although that made him famous, there was a lot more to the man than homicidal mania. When I first stopped by Gunnar’s office, he was writing a lot for boating magazines like Sail and Yachting. His book about America’s coast from Texas to North Carolina, Islands at the End of Time (1993) is well worth checking out. He also wrote many scripts like this one for a local film company, and edited a history of his town on our Maine island.
they've hired you for your physical presence, not your personality.
Exactly. He told me he got the role because he was the largest person the filmmakers in Texas could find.
posted by LeLiLo at 11:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
Yes indeed. He lived a few miles away, and I knew him for over 25 years. We were not really friends, but friendly, and always happy to run into each other from time to time. Once, right after having a conversation with him at a party, I drove past his house (pictured here), which I had to stop and photograph because, with no one home, it did look like a crazed chainsaw maniac might live there. As Nanukthedog says, the role he played was nothing like Gunnar in real life.
As he wrote in his highly entertaining book about the movie: “I certainly did not want to be Leatherface, or even feel his emotions. For me he was a shell, a set of behaviors and postures.”
And although that made him famous, there was a lot more to the man than homicidal mania. When I first stopped by Gunnar’s office, he was writing a lot for boating magazines like Sail and Yachting. His book about America’s coast from Texas to North Carolina, Islands at the End of Time (1993) is well worth checking out. He also wrote many scripts like this one for a local film company, and edited a history of his town on our Maine island.
they've hired you for your physical presence, not your personality.
Exactly. He told me he got the role because he was the largest person the filmmakers in Texas could find.
posted by LeLiLo at 11:57 AM on November 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
"look it's all just pretend, there is no psychology behind it"
Tell that to Heath Ledger.
posted by raider at 3:28 PM on November 8, 2015
Tell that to Heath Ledger.
posted by raider at 3:28 PM on November 8, 2015
Another really nice guy gone. No chainsaw jokes necessary.
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posted by Faint of Butt at 4:03 PM on November 8, 2015
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posted by Faint of Butt at 4:03 PM on November 8, 2015
"...it is amazing how many actors that play terrifying villains can end up being genuinely very nice people..."
The same thing with horror directors. They tend to be very nice and not creepy at all.
Except for Argento.
posted by brundlefly at 4:04 PM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The same thing with horror directors. They tend to be very nice and not creepy at all.
Except for Argento.
posted by brundlefly at 4:04 PM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by Token Meme at 6:03 PM on November 8, 2015
posted by Token Meme at 6:03 PM on November 8, 2015
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posted by On the Corner at 2:29 AM on November 10, 2015
posted by On the Corner at 2:29 AM on November 10, 2015
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posted by brevator at 7:25 AM on November 8, 2015