Excellent, Without a doubt!!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait (1988) *** 1/2 (out of 4)John Dugan (Grandpa), Jim Siedow (The Cook), Edwin Neal (The Hitchhiker) and Gunner Hansen (Leatherface) are interviewed for this rather interesting documentary that takes a look at the making of THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and gives us the stories from the actual cannibal family seen in the movie.This documentary was quite popular when it was first released and it's even better today since two of the members have sadly passed away. Getting to hear these stories is certainly something special and I especially like the fact that all of the attention is given to the family. Each man talks about how they ended up getting their roles and then we get into the production of the film. A lot of discussion goes towards how brutal the shooting was and this includes the horrid smells during the dinner scene as well as the abuse that they had to put on the actress.At just a hour there are plenty of great stories told here so fans of the film will certainly enjoy this.

I consider myself very fortunate to see this in the way of you tube clips(what a valuable tool that can provide horror buffs much in the way of hard-to-find treasures), "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait" is a desired documentary many TCM fans had been wanting to check out. Edwin Neal provides an anecdote which shows the temperament many of the cast had working for Tobe Hooper during the making of the film. He produced a truth about being clunked over and over again across the head by Jim Siedow's Cook with real hard wood(it's that great scene in front of the truck head lights as dirt scattered about them)and in this we can sense it wasn't a fond experience. Of course, the (in)famous dinner scene is explained to us by Neal in detail, the dead animals and the sickening smell. We hear from Siedow, foretelling his notorious scene bashing poor Marilyn Burns over the noggin with a club in the barbecue shack..he mentions how he was very hesitant at first, only to get into the act as his character tormented Burns. Gunnar Hansen talks about visiting a home for retarded persons in preparation for his role, and the reason he got the part in the first place(talk about being in the right place at the right time!). John Dugan tells us of a Russian producer of a children's show he was quitting in order to take the role of the blood sucking Grandpa(the one who the family tries to get to bludgeon Burns across the head with a hammer)and how she claimed to have been responsible for Roddy McDowell's success. Lots of little tidbits for TCM fans which should be of interest to all who are fascinated with the back story before the big documentary shot for the DARK SKY DVD release.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait is a documentary interviewing the `Family' of actors who played the cannibal clan in the classic 1974 film. Plainly presented by director Brad Shellady featuring interviews of Gunnar Hansen, Edwin Neal, John Dugan and the late Jim Siedow we see them tell many fun and interesting tales of their experiences during the filming of and after the release of the influential film. Shot on video the documentary really lacks many things. They should have included more behind-the-scenes details from all the actors and crew but then I guess it wouldn't be a `family portrait'. Suspiria10 give it a C+.

This is sort of a hard one to find now but well worth the trouble. Here are interviews with the actors that portrayed the maniacal family in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I was amazed at how the disturbing character of the hitchiker is now a comedian! He's actually quite funny as he goes into detail about the rigors of filming. Gunnar also recounts scenes such as the dinner scene and how horrible it was to shoot. See it.