‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’: 10 Things You May Not Know

Originally, Tobe Hooper reteamed with his Texas Chain Saw Massacre co-writer Kim Henkel to conceive a story idea when the time came to make a sequel. Their initial concept was to feature an entire town full of cannibals rather than just the demented Sawyer family. The film was tentatively titled Beyond the Valley of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In addition to bringing back Leatherface (of course), Hooper and Henkel also wanted final girl Sally Hardesty to return. The Hitchhiker would also have been revealed to have survived his wounds suffered in the original, but the accident left him paralyzed with the Sawyers leaving him tied to a tree.

So, what happened? For whatever reason, the studio wanted to take the story in another direction, ultimately bringing in L. M. Kit Carson for major rewrites to the screenplay. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, as we know it is certainly a lot of fun, but it’s hard not to wonder what Beyond the Valley of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre would have been like.

Before becoming a part of the franchise, Bill Moseley was a huge fan of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. He even created a short film parody called The Texas Chainsaw Manicure, where he spoofed Edwin Neal’s role as the Hitchhiker from the 1974 movie. Through mutual friends, Moseley was able to get a copy of the video to Hooper, who apparently loved the parody and let Moseley know he would keep him in mind if he ever made a sequel.

Related: ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (2003): 10 Things You May Not Know

Two years later, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 went into production, and Hooper stayed true to his word. Remembering Moseley’s impersonation of the Hitchhiker, Hooper had the actor cast as the Hitchhiker’s twin brother Chop Top.

By 1986 standards, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was especially shocking – so much so that the MPAA wanted to give it an X rating when the film was submitted to them. The producers responded by releasing an unrated version of the film, with its marketing brandishing warnings that no one under 17 would be admitted to any screenings. This unrated cut would also be the one used for the VHS when the sequel made its way to home video.

Eventually, however, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 would finally be given its official rating. When the movie was released on DVD in 2000, it was officially rated R by the MPAA.

While Jim Siedow reprised his Texas Chain Saw Massacre role as Drayton Sawyer for the film, the returning Leatherface character was not played by original actor Gunnar Hansen. According to Hansen, years later, he could have played the part as producers approached him about the role at the time. However, Hansen says he was only offered scale to return, which led to him passing on the offer for being too low.

Hansen eventually made his way back into the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise in a cameo appearance as a Sawyer family member in the 2013 sequel Texas Chainsaw 3D. Marilyn Burns and John Dugan, two of his co-stars from the original film, also appear in the sequel, while TCM2 star Bill Moseley takes on the late Jim Siedow’s role as Drayton Sawyer.

Despite the title of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, not many people died by chainsaw in the film. Similarly, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 also features minimal deaths regarding the chainsaw. However, a particularly messy chainsaw massacre scene was shot for the movie that wound up getting cut before the sequel was released in theaters.

In the cut scene, sports fans riot in an underground parking garage when the Sawyer family approaches. Drayton offers the rioters some croissants from the back of his van, but all they find back there is Leatherface with a roaring chainsaw. Featuring some pretty gnarly FX work from Tom Savini, the scene features Leatherface slicing open faces and flinging blood, guts, and body parts all over the garage. The scene was said to be cut for pacing reasons, but it can be seen in the bonus features of the film’s home video release.

A few other scenes were also axed from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, with one of them featuring an amusing cameo from a familiar horror host from television. In a movie theater stairwell, a man descends the steps with two women as he speaks about the horror film they just saw. At the bottom of the stairs, they’re greeted by Leatherface, and as he saws the women to pieces, the man can’t help but admire his handiwork.

At this point, you’ve probably surmised that the guy in the scene is Joe Bob Briggs. Though the scene was deleted from the movie, Briggs is still featured in the credits as “Gonzo Moviegoer.” Like the parking garage massacre, the scene is included in the bonus features of modern home video releases of the film.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 has built a cult following of big fans in the years since its release. Among them are the members of the band Primus, who went so far as to sample a quote from the sequel for one of their songs. In the song “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver,” Chop Top’s classic “Dog will hunt!” line can be heard along with the sounds of a chainsaw and the character’s wicked laughter.

You can listen to the song on YouTube.

Dennis Hopper hit a special milestone during the production of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, as the actor celebrated his 50th birthday on the movie’s set. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll know how his character, Lefty Enright, has a particularly memorable scene wielding double chainsaws. With this in mind, the actor came up with the perfect way to cut his birthday cake when the time came on the set to honor Hopper for reaching the big 5-0.

“His 50th birthday was on the set, and we brought in a big cake, and Dennis disappeared,” explains screenwriter L. M. Kit Carson in a TCM2 documentary. He then explains how the actor cut the cake in the most appropriate way possible given the film they were working on, adding, “He came back, and went [chainsaw sounds]! He had a chainsaw and cut the cake with a chainsaw. In the spirit of things.”

Caroline Williams leads The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as the disc jockey Stretch, who turns out to be the film’s final girl. Although Stretch survives, it would seem that the character’s story had come to a close at the end of the sequel. However, Williams has since said she has secretly reprised the role of Stretch not once but twice, with one of those appearances coming in a separate horror franchise.

In Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3, Williams has an uncredited cameo appearance as a TV reporter. While this may have seemed to be just an ordinary Easter egg with the star of TCM 2 appearing in a new role, Williams later told Dread Central the reporter actually is Stretch, who has since switched her trade from radio to television. “Jeff Burr, director of Part III, called me on the phone and said, ‘Look, I don’t know how long this Chainsaw franchise will carry on, but I want to keep your character alive,'” Williams regaled, adding that the cameo was meant to keep Stretch around in the event TCM 4 wanted to revisit the character.

Related: 20 Years Later: ‘Jason X’ is Still the King of the Space Slashers

As interesting as that is, that’s still not the last we’ve seen of Stretch. According to Williams, her role as reporter Amanda Fowler in the slasher sequel Hatchet III is the same Stretch from the second (and third, apparently) TCM movies.”I played the character of Amanda precisely as she would be. Stretch grew up, she changed her name, she married a law enforcement guy played by Zach Galligan, and she split [from him] because she’s a woman who is obsessed with pursuing these legends… these myths, which in her mind are NOT myths,” Williams said, also noting that director BJ McDonnell told her straight up to play the character like Stretch.

Oddly enough, Williams also plays a character called Stretch in Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens, but this is not meant to be the same Stretch from TCM2 (and TCM3 and Hatchet III).

Bill Moseley has always wanted to reprise the role of Chop Top, but the character has only ever appeared in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. However, in the late ’90s, Tobe Hooper’s son William Hooper sought to bring him back with Moseley in the role for the short film All American Massacre. The concept was that it would serve as both a prequel and sequel to TCM2, touching on the character’s origins while also following his breakout from prison to embark on a new bloody killing spree.

Unfortunately, the project is said to have died in development hell when Hooper ran out of money to complete the film during post-production. However, a trailer would later leak online, revealing Moseley in character as Chop Top wearing prison garb behind bars. Hopefully, fans of the franchise can one day see the completed film to give us more of Bill Moseley killing it once again as his most iconic character.