He played one of the most fearsome and intense characters to ever slice into the silver screen in Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but in real life, Gunnar Hansen could not have been more different than his legendary role as the terrifying Leatherface. Nearly ten years after his passing, Gunnar's legacy as a kind and humble person lives on through the countless friends he made while working on film sets and conversing with fans and peers at horror conventions.
One such friend is writer/director Michael Kallio, who celebrates and pays tribute to Gunnar's life in the new documentary Dinner with Leatherface. Featuring insightful interviews with fellow actors, filmmakers, and friends of Gunnar, Dinner with Leatherface celebrates the man behind the mask of one of cinema's most iconic cannibals, exploring not just his vital role in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but also spotlighting his work as an author and a supporter of indie cinema with roles in movies such as Mosquito, Chainsaw Sally, and Kallio's own Hatred of a Minute.
With Dinner with Leatherface now available on Blu-ray and DVD via Anchor Bay Entertainment ahead of its theatrical release this month, Daily Dead had the pleasure of catching up with Kallio in a new Q&A feature to discuss the making of Dinner with Leatherface, including the documentary's nearly nine-year-long journey to the finish line, the ambitious undertaking of interviewing so many people who knew Gunnar, teaming up with Anchor Bay to release the film, and what he hopes people will take away from "the Gunnar Hansen playbook of life."
Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us, Michael, and congratulations on your new documentary, Dinner with Leatherface, which takes an informative, entertaining, and altogether heartfelt look back on the legacy of Gunnar Hansen, who brought one of the most iconic cinematic characters to life in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. What inspired you to celebrate Gunnar’s life with this documentary?
Michael Kallio: Thank you for your interest in me and more importantly your interest in this here film. There were a few factors that inspired this documentary. The main one was spending time with Gunnar, I would always hear something new or interesting that he had done or was preparing to do. He was a worldly guy... He did a lot of things. He had many adventures and had stories to tell, so many that I don’t think I ever heard the same story twice and that was one of the fascinating aspects of Gunnar. I would often say, we should make a documentary about you and he would always say that no one would be that interested. He was a very humble guy, so he didn’t think anyone would watch a doc about him.
Another piece of inspiration was all the stories I had heard throughout my knowing Gunnar of others meeting him, working with him, but also hanging out with him and getting to know him on a personal level. Gunnar liked people. He loved conversation, especially if it was intelligent or creative talk, and he loved being social. So, I heard many stories from other people about how they hung with Gunnar, had DINNER, etc. We used to break bread and go out for drinks and conversation quite a bit when he visited the Detroit area back when I lived there.
The other factor was his passing. When he past, I had spent the day going through set photos of my first feature, Hatred of a Minute, that he so graciously let me cast him in. I was putting together an ad-slick/promo piece for the American Film Market so I could hand it off to a friend, who was attending, in hopes he could get some interest in re-releasing Hatred as the rights had recently reverted back to me. It was so great reminiscing about working with Gunnar and making my first feature film with him and the rest of the cast and crew, and I started thinking about the documentary idea again. That same night, I dropped off the ad slicks to my producer friend and shortly after, I received a text from another friend sending her condolences about Gunnar. I hadn’t heard yet, but unfortunately it was true. The word had gotten onto the internet. Gunnar had died. My first thought was “F#&K! There goes the doc idea.” After the initial shock wore off, it clicked that I needed to make the doc anyway, tell his story through the people he had known, worked with, and befriended. I needed to tell his story and his adventures. Most of all, I needed to make a tribute to this man who not only became a friend but also championed me and my career. So... long story... well, long... Gunnar inspired me to make Dinner with Leatherface.
More than 50 years after its initial release, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remains one of the most uncompromising, unforgettable, and unparalleled experiences in cinema, and Gunnar played a huge role in making it such a classic film. Do you remember seeing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for the first time, and why do you think Hooper’s film and Gunnar’s performance continue to make an indelible impression on viewers half a century after The Texas Chain Saw Massacre premiered?
Michael Kallio: I saw Texas Chain Saw Massacre sometime in the mid-’80s. I wasn’t a fan of horror films when I was younger. I remember walking out of the theatre with my mom after seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark back in 1981. We passed a Poltergeist poster hanging in the hallway. My mom pointed at it and said,” Oh! That looks fun. Let’s go see THAT when it comes out.” I was like, “NO WAY, LADY.” I was too nervous to see a movie produced by Steven Spielberg, so I was not a fan of being scared. My extent of my horror movie love was the classic Universal monster movies and anything Roger Corman did with Vincent Price in the Edgar Allan Poe stage of his career. Those monsters didn’t scare me. They were tragic figures... loners... and being somewhat of a brooding artist type loner (LOL), I related to those types of horror stories but nothing that might “scare” me. That was the case UNTIL I was at a friend’s birthday party...
I think I was a sophomore in high school and we were going to eat pizza, have cake, and go into his Michigan basement and watch a horror movie. I was going to bail after cake but was reminded that a young lady, who rumor had it, had a crush on me, was there and she was looking forward to us watching a spooky movie in a dark basement. Needless to say, I stayed. I was NOT happy about it, but I was also a fan of this particular girl and I didn’t want to look like a wimp. The movie was the original Evil Dead. The VHS tape was put into the machine and the movie started. The girl death-gripped my arm as if I could save her if a Deadite crawled out of the screen. Soon, people yelped and screamed, but I was laughing... a lot. It was like all the fear had left me and I had a blast, more so watching everyone squirm, especially the girl who eventually started hurting my arm hiding behind it and using it as a makeshift shield.
The next day, I went hog-wild at the video store. I rented all the horror classics, and one of those classics was The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It was like I was desensitized from the fear of horror. I started buying Fangoria. I delved into reading Stephen King and Clive Barker books. For some unknown reason, I was obsessed with horror after that night in the basement watching Evil Dead. I really remember being some what upset after my first viewing of the original TCM. I wanted it to be gory and it certainly isn’t. I remember it making me laugh a bit because, although I didn’t QUITE “get it” right away, I sensed that it was somewhat satirical. When I rewatch it to this day, I definitely consider it a masterpiece in both horror and satire. Gunnar’s multi-level performance is both beautiful and terrifying. The grittiness and documentary feel gives the film a visceral tone and atmosphere. You can feel the heat and grime and sweat. Hooper’s direction is impeccable. It’s definitely beyond just watching a movie. It’s an experience and holds up strongly no matter how many times I see it.
You interviewed many people who knew Gunnar, including Barbara Crampton, Betsy Baker, Del Howison, Bruce Campbell, Danielle Harris, Bill Johnson, Kane Hodder, and so many more. How did you go about interviewing everyone for this documentary, and how much time did it take to edit the footage and choose what to include in the final cut?
Michael Kallio: Well, I made the decision to make the doc less than a week after Gunnar’s death. My first interview was Bruce Campbell’s. Bruce helped produce my first feature film, Hatred of a Minute, which Gunnar starred in, and he has been a mentor and another champion of my career for over 30 years now. I figured if I got Bruce’s interview, it was a legit doc. People would take me more seriously because he is one of the classic faces of horror now and I was starting this project with literally no money. I owned a camera, I owned sound equipment, and I owned lights. I figured I could do a lot with little to no funding, so I pulled the trigger on the project. I called Bruce up, he agreed to be my first interview subject, and I was off to the races. My second interview was Del Howison, owner of Dark Delicacies, a horror-centric bookstore located in Burbank, CA. He helped produce also and got others interested in the project and helped put the word out, got me emails, etc. for people who knew Gunnar because of the many, many book, movie, and record signings with horror folks from the signing events he had in his store. People like my producing partner James Wilderhancock, friend Mike Estes, and others helped me get in touch with people.
Over the years, I also reached out via social media trying to connect with people in the genre who had worked with Gunnar or saw him at the numerous conventions he attended. So, Dinner with Leatherface ended up being a huge passion project for me. I never really spent any money, simply because I didn’t have it. After those first few interviews, filming started to snowball and we got more and more interviews. For about six-ish years of this project, I was filming interviews with who I could, when I could, when it was convenient for them. There were times where I would hire (very inexpensively) a person or a small crew in other states (and a few times, in other countries), to film interviews. I’d send them questions, some generic, some specific, to the subject being interviewed and they’d film remotely and send it back to me. Many of these small crews or people did it out of love for Gunnar as well, donating their time, which was beyond kind of them. During those six years, we had a pandemic which slowed the process down tremendously but I still managed to get an interview in the can here and there. One of those interviews was with director of photography of both the original TCM and the remake, Daniel Pearl. Over the last two-ish years, a producer and friend, Lowell Northrop, stepped in and helped me get the remaining cast of the original Chain Saw Massacre, Barbara Crampton, Kane Holder, and a few other people I was having a bit of trouble tracking down.
When we finally made the decision to stop interviewing and really start editing (I was more focused on interviews than editing during the process, though I edited a bit), Anchor Bay had come on board to help me finish it, so the new founders Tom Zambeck and Brian Katz came on as executive producers, hired a couple of editors, Josh Wagner and Julia David, to start going through over 60 interviews, B-roll, film clips, etc., to cobble together what had become the completed doc. I jumped in and helped cut too, but Josh and Julia really did a lot of the heavy lifting. It took about four months to get it to the finish line... maybe longer (LOL). It’s all a big blur. It was a lot of hard, around-the-clock work for my edit team, but they did an amazing job. Honestly, you could have made a series out of all the footage we had. When it was all said and done, Dinner with Leatherface took almost nine years to make. I locked picture on the film, November 7th, 2024, the ninth anniversary of Gunnar’s death.
Gunnar Hansen’s book Chain Saw Confidential: How We Made the World's Most Notorious Horror Movie is a very insightful look into the making of Tobe Hooper’s classic film, and it’s one of several books that Gunnar wrote. Did you utilize Chain Saw Confidential in your own research for this documentary?
Michael Kallio: No. Not at first. I really wanted to make the movie about Gunnar and not about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which I feel like I have. I wanted to focus less on the thing that made him so famous and more on the OTHER stuff he had accomplished and about him personally... his passions, his hobbies, his friends outside of the “biz,” which he kept very separate. I read the book. I listened to the audio version he reads. At one point, I thought about taking quotes from the book and start every chapter with an excerpt from the book within the doc. Ultimately, I realized, Chainsaw was PART of Gunnar. There was no real way around it. It was the catalyst to everything that made him who he was within the reality (if there is such a thing) of showbiz... HIS showbiz world... the horror world, so Chainsaw Massacre stories and people and the situations that happened are IN the doc because they had to be but, I wanted to keep Gunnar’s book separate and the original movie as separate as I could. I consider Dinner with Leatherface as a companion piece to Chainsaw Confidential. Sure, there are TCM stories and such within my doc, but we also plug the book he wrote about the experience of making that movie and in turn, hopefully lead those who see the doc who haven’t read the book to the written material. They can then expand their knowledge about Gunnar and certainly expand the story of how the movie was made and received.
I love that in addition to celebrating his role as Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, you also highlight Gunnar’s other performances in films such as Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Mosquito, and Chainsaw Sally. How important was it for you to explore Gunnar’s film career beyond The Texas Chain Saw Massacre?
Michael Kallio: I was a fanboy of Gunnar’s before I knew him, so I had seen some of his other work. Hell, I poached like four or five actors from Mosquito for Hatred of a Minute (Gunnar included, LOL). Mosquito was coming out the same time I was ramping up pre-production on Hatred, so that movie was very important to include in Dinner with Leatherface. I had known Gary Jones, the director of Mosquito, years prior. We are both from Michigan. He shot his film in Michigan. I was getting ready to shoot my first movie in Michigan. So, Gary’s movie was definitely on my radar and needed to be part of the doc. I used to pick Gunnar up at the airport sometimes when he had to come to town to shoot extra scenes or pick-ups for Jones’ killer bug flick. So, it was really important to get all those other film projects, or at least as many of them as I could, in the doc, as they were part of Gunnar’s love for filmmaking and how he picked projects not just based on the script but also how he had a love for creative people and being involved with that kind of folk. Like I previously said, I wanted to focus more on everything else that Gunnar had been a part of, both in the movie world but also in his personal life, his documentary world, his writing world, his hobbies, etc.
Throughout your conversations and research for this documentary, what was the most surprising or memorable thing that you learned about Gunnar?
Michael Kallio: Every time I was with Gunnar, I learned something new, weird, or wonderful, so hearing things from all his friends, colleagues, and peers were all pretty memorable and not too surprising. The one thing that pops into my head was told to me by my producer, Lowell Northrop, on the way to film an interview... I believe it was Kane Hodder’s interview, but maybe not... Anyway, he had revealed to me that when he met Gunnar, they ended up talking about horror films and he told Lowell the movie The Exorcist terrified him. Gunnar was freaked out by The Exorcist! This large, burly, mountain of a man was scared of William Friedkin’s classic horror masterpiece. It made me laugh that Gunnar would be weirded out by that film... and yet, I completely understand it. It’s such a well-made movie. It freaks me out, too. Neither Gunnar nor I could or would want to watch that movie... Kinda funny, but I get it.
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been nearly ten years since Gunnar passed away, but his legacy continues to resonate with viewers and those who worked with him. Do you have a favorite memory of meeting Gunnar and talking with him?
Michael Kallio: Every time I hung out with Gunnar was an experience in and of itself. Whether it was going to dinner after picking him up at the airport, having breakfast with him at a convention, driving him to a set or just talking to him on the phone, Gunnar was always a joy to converse and hang with. The first time I met Gunnar was a life-changing experience... one of many. I was a fanboy actually working at a convention. The company I worked for, Gags & Games, a novelty company that also sold masks and makeup and the like, had their own line of horror props and masks created by my boss and friend, Jeff Wehenkel. Jeff and I had a table at the show selling our horror wares alongside the guests, which included Tom Savini, Angus Scrimm, and Gunnar Hansen.
I had already been working on a screenplay and had Gunnar in mind for the main bad guy role. I had even shot a trailer on Super 8 for the film, which we were going to use as a tool to raise money. That film was called Southern Hospitality (the Super 8 trailer is a special feature on the Blu-ray of Dinner with Leatherface), and I really wanted to talk to Gunnar about being in my first feature film. I was nervous. He was intimidating... He was Leatherface, after all. I finally got the guts to approach him when I saw he had a small lull at his table. When I got to his table I asked for an autograph on a photo of the infamous “first kill” of William Vail in the original movie. We started talking about the incredible sound design and music, and how they made that our favorite scene in the movie, so intense. I mentioned the movie I wanted him to be in. He gave me his mailing address and phone number, expressing interest in Southern Hospitality and after about 45 minutes, a line started to form, so I thanked him and left. He was such an incredibly nice guy. I went home after that weekend and sent him the script. A couple weeks later, he called me and after an hour or so of just chit-chat, he said he loved the script, gave me some really great notes and the rest is history. We became friends, had many phone calls, and when he started visiting and working in Michigan, many dinners and great times hanging out.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of my hands, the project fell apart. Soho (as we called it) was dead. This leads up to another one of my FAVORITE memories of Gunnar... a few, actually. My “producers” on Soho went their way and I went mine. I wrote Hatred of a Minute and created a role with Gunnar in mind to star. When I was finished with the script and felt good about it, I sent it to Gunnar with a note on what happened to Southern Hospitality, for which I had paid Gunnar for a letter of intent (to entice investors with a “star” in hopes to raise money for the film). A couple of days later, Gunnar called and I was able to lament of the falling apart of the project, but I was going to do Hatred instead and would he be a part of it. He understood and was kind in comforting me as I was pretty bummed the original project completely crumbling. He said he would read the new script and get back to me ASAP. A few days later, I was out running errands. When I returned home, there was a message on my answering machine from Gunnar. His brief message was, “Read the script and really loved it. Check your mail in a few days.” I called him back, excited about what was coming to me in the mail, but got his machine. Less than a week later, I got an envelope from Gunnar. Inside was a new letter of intent... the only changes that were made was the title of the movie and the date. I HAD GUNNAR FOR MY NEW MOVIE!
A year-ish or so later, we were shooting Hatred. Here I was, acting with Gunnar Hansen... Leatherface himself, on the set of my feature debut. Spoiler alert! We were shooting a scene where I was going to kill Gunnar’s character... I was about to KILL LEATHERFACE! Who would have thought a film-loving kid from Michigan would get to meet not one but two of his horror heroes: Bruce Campbell, who was helping produce Hatred, and Gunnar Hansen the OG Leatherface, working on my first movie. I was (and still am) over the moon. That doesn’t happen every day and it was happening to me. It was definitely a thing to remember.
Ultimately, what do you hope viewers take away from Dinner with Leatherface?
Michael Kallio: The knowledge of this great man and how he lived. How he was kind and passionate about art and writing and film and sailing and LIFE! I hope people see what an incredible human he was and try and be just a little bit kinder, nicer... to love life, even if it’s just a little bit more. I want people to see that, like Gunnar did for me and so many, he was an example of decency and how he had such an impact on others in the most positive way. I hope people take a page or twelve from the Gunnar Hansen playbook of life. I know I’m trying as best as I can. Wow... That’s the shortest answer I’ve given... LOL!
When can horror fans look forward to sitting down for Dinner with Leatherface, and what platforms will it be released on?
Michael Kallio: The Blu-ray with a bunch of fun special features drops February 25th, 2025. It will be playing in theaters around the country (and hopefully, soon the world) starting in March and will keep playing theaters until we run out of them (at least through June or July... maybe longer). Streaming? I currently don’t know when or what platforms it will stream on. We are focusing on physical media and theatrical first, but keep those eyeballs peeled and your ears to the grindstone. We, as in Anchor Bay and myself, will be updating you all when something new happens with Dinner with Leatherface.
In addition to Dinner with Leatherface, do you have any other upcoming projects that you can tease for our readers?
Michael Kallio: I DO... There’s some stuff I can’t really talk about as they are in the preliminary stages BUT, they are exciting. I’m re-releasing my first film starring Gunnar, Hatred of a Minute, on Blu-ray and streaming soon. I have a ’50s sci-fi spoof (featuring the TRUE acting debut of musician and actor Jack White) called Mutant Swinger from Mars that Anchor Bay will be releasing physically and on streaming this year. I have some other documentaries I’m directing and a few I’m helping produce... one called Howard the Doc, a doc about the fanbase of the movie Howard the Duck, which will be dropping from Anchor Bay this year as well. One last thing I have in development is a sci-fi/horror/comedy called Rednecks Vs. Aliens, so hopefully we will be filming that soon.
Thank you very much for your time, Michael!
Michael Kallio: THANK YOU! And thank you to everyone who got through my long-windedness! Thanks for watching!
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To learn more about Dinner with Leatherface, visit:
Dinner with Leatherface: Documentary about Gunnar Hansen, the actor who portrayed Leatherface in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974). Friends, colleagues, filmmakers, and fellow actors share personal stories and discuss the dichotomy between the maniacal chainsaw-wielding character he played on-screen and the very intelligent, creative, soft-spoken man he actually was in real life.
Bonus Materials
- Audio commentary with writer/director Michael Kallio and editor Josh Wagner
- Extended Interview with filmmaker and historian MIchael Felsher
- Convention Chat with actress Danielle Harris
- Southern Hospitality Trailer - 2022 Remastered, Recut, HD
- Tales of Gunner Hansen
Cast & Crew
Actors:
- Barbara Crampton
- Danielle Harris
- Bruce Campbell
- Gunnar Hansen
- Edwin Neal
- R.A. Mihailoff
- Kane Hodder
- Dave Sheridan
- Felissa Rose
- Michelle Bauer
- Tiffany Shepis
- Brian O'Halloran
- Debbie Rochon
- Fred Olen Ray
- Brett Wagner
- Betsy Baker
- Allen Danziger
- Kim Henkel
- Daniel Pearl
- Joe R. Lansdale
- Jeff Burr
- Tony Timpone
- Michael Sonye
- Del Howison
Director: Michael Kallio
Producer: Lowell Northrop
Trailer via JoBlo Horror:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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