Since the first part signed by Tobe Hooper in 1974 which recounted the exploits of the Sawyer family and their degenerate son, Leatherface, there have officially been nine films in the saga. And even a 10th in fact, filmed in 1999-2000, but never released!
For 50 years now, the Hewitt family has terrorized and cut into pieces those who had the misfortune to cross their path. Fifty years since their degenerate son, Leatherface, lovingly pampered his chainsaw and made sure to generously provide the family with fresh meat. Human, of course.
Since the seminal masterpiece released by Tobe Hooper in 1974, it is an understatement to say that the public has largely been lost in the face of the slew of films, between Prequel, Sequel, and other Reboot. To date, there are no less than nine films in the franchise; the last being released on Netflix in 2022. A difficulty of apprehension also increased by the fact that all of these works evolve on different chronological lines.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning released in 2006 is a prequel to the powerful Texas Chainsaw Massacre released in 2003 and directed by Marcus Niespel, which was a remake of the 1974 film. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre of 2022 and its aging Leatherface is a following Tobe Hooper’s first film, and not a sequel to Niespel’s film… In short, are you lost? It’s normal !
We are going to add an additional stone to the building, quite astonishing in fact, as almost no one has heard of it. Imagine that there is another Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, called All American Massacre. Already filmed… But never released!
Welcome to Chop Top Sawyer!
It is the Collider website who returns to this story, in a very interesting post. It all starts with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, released in 1986 and directed by Tobe Hooper. In the film, we can see a character named Chop Top Sawyer, who is a brother of Leatherface. Played by Bill Moseley, his skull horribly deformed by a machete blow received while in Vietnam. And, of course, he’s just as degenerate as his brother and the rest of the family.
Directed by William Hooper, the son of the illustrious filmmaker, this All American Massacre was supposed to be a spin off / origin story dedicated to Chop Top, which was to take place 13 years after the events of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
Abominable Entertainment Chop Top Sawyer
Because, unlike his fate in the 1986 film, he is supposed to have survived. Finally captured, he is placed in a mental asylum. During his internment, he recounted his past to a Tabloid journalist who came to question him.
Between flashback sequences, back and forth between the present and the past, Chop Top tells the past of the Sawyer family, and how they became cannibals. Until he ends up escaping from the asylum and in turn commits a small massacre, giving the title of the film.
There is a filmed trailer, here it is…
According to Bill Moseley, who spoke about this project in an interview in 2013, All American Massacre was originally going to be a 5-10 minute short film. Which turned into a 60 min long. However, the film was never distributed and therefore never released. What happened ?
“I think there were big rights problems” says Moseley in the interview, “even though it was his father who created the characters and the original story.” He adds : “There were also various financing problems, which far exceeded the initial ambitions of the project. It was nice in any case, we ended up shooting more scenes than what was initially planned.
It’s the guitarist Buckethead [Brian Patrick Carroll de son vrai nom] who ended up playing Leatherface, which I thought was really funny because he was as dry as a bean, so he had to wear a costume to give him more depth.”
It was also he who signed the soundtrack for this film. According to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre News website, All American Massacre aimed for a release during the Halloween period in 2000, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first film in the saga. It has not happened.
Abominable Entertainment
Crowdfunding Kickstarter launched in 2011 – quite a few years later – specified that it needed $8,000 to complete the film. The appeal for funds was a dismal failure, since only 18 people responded, putting less than $1,270 in the pot… As noted, the film was then in the post-production stage. The film has never been resurfaced since. In 2022, a documentary was dedicated to this lost film, entitled In Search of All American Massacre: The Lost Texas Chainsaw Film.
Here is the trailer…
Too bad, we would have liked to take a look, or even both, at this All American Massacre. Fate has decided otherwise.