DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE opens with friends and colleagues of Gunnar Hansen discussing meals they shared. As someone who not only enjoys watching documentaries about films I love, but who is also fascinated by how food connects us both in real life and in storytelling, this immediately grabbed me.
Fans of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE are no stranger to Hansen’s Leatherface. However, in the documentary, viewers learn that there was so much more to Gunnar Hansen than just Leatherface. Hansen was not only a horror actor, but a poet, writer, and even a documentarian. He would even say that he used acting to support his writing. Heck, he even turned down a role in Wes Craven’s THE HILLS HAVE EYES because he didn’t think acting was his thing.
Something I found really interesting about this documentary was how much of an impact Hansen had on those around him in all aspects of life, not just surrounding THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. This made the documentary not feel like your standard fare of talking heads. Sure there are celebrities, but there are also friends, former roommates, and colleagues from his various projects. I challenge you not to cry at the end when hearing those folks discuss his death. Let’s just say, I needed several tissues.
While it isn’t the sole focus, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE’s legacy isn’t omitted. It is discussed and how without him, the film would have been very different. Other actors who portrayed Leatherface talked about how they would mimic his movements and try to do the character justice.
When watching DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE, I knew it was something special, so I reached out to the director, Michael Kallio, with the hope of asking some questions. Fortunately, he was kind enough to take the time to answer, giving me and you, the readers, some deeper insight into how the documentary came about and what he hopes audiences will take away from it.
DG: As someone who is deeply interested in the way food connects us and intersects with pop culture, I loved the way you started and ended the documentary with people talking about the meals they’d had with Gunnar. How did this idea come to fruition?
Michael Kallio: Having dinner with Leatherface… LOL. When Gunnar was making the movie Mosquito in Michigan (where I’m from), he asked me to pick him up from the airport quite often and, usually it would end up with us having dinner and drinks and a good hang out session. This happened pretty much when he’d come to Detroit.
One time… I played him a song by one of my favorite Detroit area bands (who also wrote the title track to my second film, the 50’s sci-fi spoof, MUTANT SWINGER FROM MARS), The 3-D Invisibles. They wrote a song I loved called… wait for it… “Dinner with Leatherface” (You can listen to it HERE). He loved it. After Gunnar passed, I was driving around one day, trying to figure out what I was going to call this Untitled Gunnar Hansen Documentary Project (The original working title). I connected an old .mp3 player to my car stereo, hit random and this song started playing. That’s how the name came about.
The idea was from hearing many stories throughout the years of people breaking bread with Gunnar. It was something he enjoyed doing… Hanging out, sharing a meal, drinks, conversation, etc. He loved people and doing that very thing… Dinner with Leatherface.
DG: When and how did the idea for the documentary come about?
MK: I had been friends with Gunnar for a while and after hearing all of his stories and adventures, and never hearing the same story twice, I made a comment about him being a walking documentary. He didn’t think anyone would be interested in watching a documentary about him so, he’d always kind of laugh it off but, literally the day after he past, I decided to pull the trigger on the doc. Bruce Campbell was my first interview. BC had produced my first movie, HATRED OF A MINUTE, that starred Gunnar. I figured, seeing as I didn’t have a dime to start this project, people who saw that Bruce was in it would take me more seriously and want to be involved even if I couldn’t compensate them. LOL. We started and finished, pretty much with no money. Almost 10 years later and here we are… a finished documentary. I’m proud of it. It was and is a passion project. Gunnar was a world and very interesting man. He was and is worthy of a documentary. That’s how it started.
DG: What are some of your favorite memories of working on DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE?
MK: Meeting the people… Hearing the stories… Being steeped in the memory of Gunnar as I worked on it. I didn’t get to meet everyone; seeing that we had no money for me to travel all over, at times, we hired people in other states to help us film interviews based on questions I would send them. Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures, who was also a friend of Gunnar’s and a friend of the remaining living cast, was a tremendous help. He interviewed everyone from the original movie at Cinema Wasteland, a convention in Ohio, when they had a 50th anniversary reunion a couple years back.
They had a 50th anniversary screening at the Egyptian here in Hollywood last year. I had just seen a 30th anniversary screening of the Tim Burton movie, ED WOOD. When I walked out, everyone from the cast and crew from TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE were outside, signing these really cool 50th anniversary posters… so, I introduced myself to everyone and I got to tell them the documentary was almost done. That was cool.
The only person I got to interview myself was the director of photography, Daniel Pearl. The remake director, Marcus Nispel, was kind enough to get me in touch with Mr. Pearl. He also shot the remake for Marcus. He was my only Covid interview. We talked via Zoom but, he filmed himself with his fancy camera. It all worked out well. Some other highlights were getting to interview and hear great stories from Kane Hodder and just… the whole experience was great.
DG: Was there anything you wanted to add the documentary that either didn’t make the final cut or was unable to be filmed?
MK: Gunnar… I wished I could have gotten Gunnar in front of the camera before he past. The interview I DID get was from the director of a movie Gunnar did called REYKJAVIK WHALE WATCHING MASSACRE (HARPOON, in the states) shot in his home country of Iceland. It was given to me by the director, Julius Kemp. It was a never-used interview. When I got it, there was about 2/3rds that was amazingly usable so, we used it. It was the next best thing seeing as I wasn’t able to get an interview from the big guy himself. We got LUCKY with that particular “never-before-seen” footage.
DG: What’s next? Are there any upcoming projects you’re working on that you can/want to share?
MK: Lots… LOL. I’m finishing up a wacky Christmas movie/rom-com/fantasy/ comedy (NOT a Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movie… more outside of the box and weird) called AN LA CHRISTMAS STORY. It’s my homage to the Steve Martin movie, LA STORY and my love letter to Los Angeles. It’s one of three in my “Los Angeles” trilogy. Anchor Bay will be releasing that for this year’s holiday season.
I’m finishing up a remastering of my first film that starred Gunnar and was produced by Bruce Campbell, HATRED OF A MINUTE. That will be coming out on Blu-ray via Synapse Films soon. My second feature, MUTANT SWINGER FROM MARS, will be coming out on Blu-ray from Anchor Bay later this year, as will a recent horror film I made called INNER DEMONS. Another documentary I helped produce called HOWARD THE DOC (another Anchor Bay release), a doc about the duck, mainly the movie’s strange following is coming soon, as well.
Let’s see… I’m gearing up to shoot a couple more features here soon… A vampire flick, a crazy weird vampire flick, actually, and a sci-fi/comedy which I will announce soon… And helping release cool movies being the director of acquisitions at Anchor Bay Entertainment.
DG: What’s one thing you hope folks take away from DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE?
MK: Hope… Kindness… Being more like Gunnar… a “why not” kind of attitude. Gunnar was a kind of guy who loved life and lived life. He was a kind man. He was a warm man. He was a friend. He was a guy who championed me and my career. He didn’t have to… he wanted to. He liked me enough to have my back and to encourage my art and my vision. I’m hoping people see this doc and see what kind of a person Gunnar was… He was one of a kind… An amazing person. I’m hoping people take a page or two out of his playbook of life. I know I’ve been trying to be a little kinder, a little smarter. I also hope they enjoy it has a retrospective on a man who was grounded, worldly and as John Dugan says in the doc… “Just a nice F*#ING guy.”
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DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE can be streamed on Tubi. However, physical media collectors do not fear! There is a Blu-ray release of DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE which includes:
- 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
At the end of the day, as both a Gastro Horror enthusiast and a horror fan, I think DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE is an important archive of history about Gunnar Hansen that is worth seeing and even owning. Understanding the man behind Leatherface is as important as understanding the history of the film he helped make famous, and this documentary is one step closer to just that.
Tags: An LA Christmas Story, anchor bay, Bruce Campbell, Cinema Wasteland, Daniel Pearl, Danielle Harris, Dinner with Leatherface, Ed Wood, Gastro Horror, Gunnar Hansen, Harpoon, Hatred of a Minute, Howard the Doc, Inner Demons, John Dugan, Josh Wagner, Julius Kemp, Kane Hodder, LA Story, Marcus Nispel, Michael Felsher, Michael Kallio, Mutant Swinger from Mars, Red Shirt Pictures, Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre, Sarah Stubbs, Steve Martin, Synapse Films, The 3-D Invisibles, The Hills Have Eyes, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tim Burton, Tubi, Wes Craven
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