Most Horrifying Texas Chainsaw Massacre Furniture

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is filled with horrifying costumes, effects, props and furniture.  Some of the wretched home decor is scarier than the rest…however, almost all of the home furnishings found throughout the Sawyer (or Hewitt) residence is absolutely unnerving. After wreaking decades of havoc on travelers through Texas, the wicked killers have collected a number of creepy artifacts.  Analyzing any of the furnishings in Leatherface’s home during any film will reveal the true sadistic nature of the family of cannibals.

List of Scary Furniture Found in Texas Chainsaw Movies

These are some of the scariest horror decor and flesh inspired furniture found throughout the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films.

Furniture Made of Bone

A lot of the furniture throughout the Sawyer (or Hewitt depending upon the movie in the franchise) residence are outfitted with bone or actually made from human bones. The lamps are sometimes made from bones.  All types of bones are used in the furniture, rib cages, ribs, knees, arms, legs, skulls…just about everything.

Bone Chandelier

A bone chandelier like the one in the dinner scene of Texas Chainsaw Massacre III instill real fear in the audience.  This chandelier is comprised of so many bones (arms or legs it looks like), that it implies many victims have seen the dinner table before.

Animal Skull Centerpieces

The dinner table is can be seen affixed with an animal skull or two.  This is a very respectable dinner table centerpiece in the house of a cannibal family.

Filthy Antiques

There is a lot of fear to be had in old, antique, rusty and filthy pieces of furniture.  Not to mention a chainsaw collection including the chainsaw he used to saw up all those unfortunate teenagers. Old, unkempt furnishings and horror decor are everywhere in a Texas Chainsaw movie.

Human Flesh and Face Lamps

There are lamps seen throughout the films that are made using human flesh. Sometimes, they are made using the flesh of a human face.

Standing Skeletons

The cannibals have claimed many victims and have an array of skeletons littered throughout the residence along with them. Many of the skeletons are fixated in a standing position.

Hanging Bones and Skulls

As if full size human skeletons weren’t enough, there are always all types of weird fixtures hanging from the ceilings in select rooms.  These are presumably Leatherface’s idea of home decor, however, they are horrifying and made of skulls and bones and dead animals.

Final Notes About Texas Chainsaw Massacre Decor

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a terrifying franchise and often all the credit goes to Leatherface and the chainsaw, and maybe his cannibalistic family. People hardly attribute any of the fear to the furnishings and horror decor throughout the Sawyer/Hewitt residence, but these furnishings play an important role in the buildup of fear. And the collection of Ed Gein-style furniture and horror decor show that Leatherface and family have been doing this for a while.

Interesting Facts About The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The beloved flesh-wearing favorite, Leatherface, has been responsible for some of the most gruesome kills on screen of all time.  He is a terrifying monster to encounter, especially if you’re traveling in a Volkswagen bus from the 70s!  With that being said, many horror movie fans wonder, how did the Texas Chainsaw Massacre get so gruesome? What were the deciding factors in determining the scariest look and feel to this horror classic?  Horror Enthusiast has searched deep through the horror and ‘macabre’ that was witnessed throughout the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies to find the most interesting and amazing Leatherface and Texas Chainsaw facts!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Movie Trivia

Two Family Names: Hewitt and Sawyer

The sadistic, cannibalistic family that stars throughout the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies actually had two different last names, depending upon the movie in the franchise.  The first, third and fourth movies did not give the family a last name.  The second film refers to the family as the “Sawyers.”  The fifth and sixth Texas Chainsaw installments use the last name “Hewitt.” And the seventh and eighth movies return to using last name “Sawyer.” No clear reason has been given for the name change.

Tobe Hooper Has Hooks In Place

Director of the original 1974 horror masterpiece, has been somehow involved in literally every single Texas Chainsaw Massacre project.  He directed and helped write the first two films. He helped write the 3^rd and 4^th films. And he helped write and/or produce the 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th films. 

A Director Fired and Then Rehired

The third movie in the installment, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III 1990), lost it’s director, Jeff Burr, when he was fired near the beginning of production.  After looking for a new director and finding no one else would accept the job, he was rehired.

The True Inspiration for Leatherface Wasn’t Ed Gein

A lot of people instantly assume that Ed Gein was the primary inspiration for a flesh-mask-wearing killer. However, Tobe Hooper reveals in an interview that the true inspiration for Leatherface was a story he heard from a doctor once about his time in medical school.  The doctor was taking a cadaver class and decided to creep into the morgue at night and skin one alive to create a scary Halloween mask for himself.

…and thus Leatherface was born…

Top Grossing Chainsaw Films

Other than the original movie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), only the 5^th installment has not been a flop.  The 5^th movie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) was slated to be a loose remake of the original, with Jessica Biel leading the cast.  The original movie made a profit of more than $30 million dollars (US domestic box office), while the 2003 remake raked in a whopping profit of more than $70 million (again, US domestic)!  No other chainsaw movie has come close to a profit even close to the original film!

The Worst Grossing Texas Chainsaw Massacre Movie

Most people recognize the second movie as the worst (probably because they go to see a horror film and wind up seeing a comedy). However, truthfully, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 doubled it’s budget in US domestic gross.  The worst movie in the franchise was the 4^th in the franchise, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994).  Despite this flop making less than $150,000 in the United States, this film featured some of the cast most famous today from any of the Texas Chainsaw movies. The fourth installment will showcase both Renee Zellweger and also Matthew McConaughey.  In fact, Sony would try to re-release this flop a few years later after McConaughey and Zellweger would rise to fame.  After they threatened to bail on all future Sony projects, the re-release was halted.

A Damaged Soul

Most horror fans do not realize that Leatherface did not start out so evil.  He was injured and suffered facial damage, as revealed by director Jeff Burr in an interview following the third movie, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.  Burr also speculated his vocal cords could have been damaged as a result of the injury, hence his inability to talk.  However, other sources have indicated a mental deficiency and that Leatherface was born a little slow (also providing a possible explanation as to why he is mute).  Regardless, plenty of the movies and/or the comic series give the audience ample reason to feel badly for Leatherface, despite his murders.

Cameo Appearance: Marilyn Burns

A lot of fans seem to miss Marilyn Burns’ cameo appearance in the fourth film, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994). In one of the final scenes in the hospital, she is a patient that is on the gurney. In the credits, this role is listed as “Anonymous.”

Real Chainsaws

While theme parks around the world hosting their version of “Halloween” mode feature a ton of fake chainsaw-wielding actors…the real Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies used real chainsaws. They were scary and intimidating.  Actor Renee Zellweger commented in multiple interviews that the experience was dangerous, and she wasn’t sure it was all legal.  She explained that a real chainsaw behind you made for incredible motivation!

A Narrator to Remember

Almost any Texas Chainsaw Massacre fan can recall the eerie feeling they get when the original movie begins with a crude film strip and narrator voicing an introduction about the “terror and macabre” that the young persons would experience that day.  What most people do not realize, is the same narrator was hired to record the narration for the 2003 remake! It is the same voice folks!

The Original Film Title

There were a number of choices for the original film title. Two of the most notable runner-ups to the eventually-selected “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” included “Head Cheese” and “Leatherface.”  Leatherface would later be used in a couple of film titles…making it’s debut; however, Head Cheese would only appear in the script of the first movie, serving as some Volkswagen butchery small talk.

Final Words About the Making of the Texas Chainsaw Franchise

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has set the bar quite high for slasher movies in the similar horror sub-genre of “getting stranded in a remote place.”  The truly horrifying results of long-term gore and carnage by Leatherface and his family has left their properties riddled with human remains and flesh, creating an immensely terrifying movie setting. Ultimately, Leatherface is one of the scariest, careless and most viscous killers of all horror movie slashers. He will likely go on to mutilate many more victims and remains one of the most feared killers of all time!