Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s original title would've ruined the franchise
Topics: Horror, Film and TV
Katherine Sidnell
Featured Image Credit: Bryanston Distributing / Lionsgate
Topics: Horror, Film and TV
It’s hard to know what makes a good franchise, whether it’s the cast, the plot or just the way films make audiences feel.
However, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll need a strong title for your film to have a chance of making bank at the box office.
Despite this, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s original title was so bad that it could have ruined the entire franchise. Check out the trailer below:
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If you’ve not watched any of the cannibal-based horror, here’s a quick rundown of the original 1974 film.
As the title would suggest, the film is set in rural Texas with a group of unwitting teens on a road trip during summer break.
Taking the road less travel proves deadly though, as they encounter iconic cannibal Leatherface and his family – all of whom are hungry for human flesh.
Though it has become a classic, with countless sequels and parodies over the decades, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre might not have been so successful had it used its original title.
According to Screen Rant, the horror movie was initially called Head Cheese.
If you are wondering what could have inspired the laughably bad title, it actually refers to a type of cold cut made from a calf’s or pig’s head along with other undesirable organs - grim.
We’d recommend you don’t Google this, as the food is pretty unappetising looking with the chunky ingredients packed together in a jelly.
While we get the connotation of the naïve teens ending up on a plate, we are rather glad filmmakers passed up on this unpleasant title.
Just like the unpalatable dish, it’s just a little too gross and gives too much away before audiences have had the chance to watch.
Understandably, Head Cheese wasn’t the only alternative title that was considered, with Saturn in Retrograde, Stalking Leatherface and Leatherface all in the running.
It’s not the only surprising fact about the slasher though, as the set turned out to be just as horrific as the 1974 film.
To make the movie as realistic as possible, filmmakers littered the set with dead animal parts – making shooting almost intolerable due to the putrid smell.
Not only that, but some actors hadn’t changed their clothes in weeks as they were filming the iconic dinner scene.
As the temperature soared to 115 degrees, the cast would have to stop for vomit breaks according to film critic Joseph Lanza.
We guess it all worked out for the best though, as the film went on to spawn a decades-long franchise.