The Lost Texas Chainsaw Massacre Sequel You'll Probably Never See

As of this writing, there have been nine film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. Tobe Hooper's 1974 original, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," remains one of the best horror films of all time, dredging the audiences through violence and filth that has rarely been matched on the big screen. Hooper's film feels dingy and oily, and if it was made and edited by the cannibal hillbillies it features. 

The many sequels are of dubious canonical value. The series features multiple reboots and reshaping of the continuity, with at least three that restart/reboot the franchise, or that serve as direct sequels to the original. Only the central concept remains: In the wilds of rural Texas, a remote Sawyer clan has been cut off from civilization, relying on cannibalism (and possibly incest) to survive, and a group of unsuspecting cityfolk drive through the Sawyer family's property and are attacked, killed, and eaten. A lot of the crimes on display in "Texas Chain Saw" were directly inspired by the crimes of Ed Gein, a Wisconsin serial killer who liked to make furniture out of human bones. 

Hooper made his first sequel, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2," in 1986. It was wilder and more cartoonish than the gritty original, but still featured plenty of blood and death for the gorehounds in the audience. "Massacre 2" starred Bill Moseley as one of the cannibal hillbillies, Chop Top. There were additional sequels in 1990 and 1995, but Hooper didn't direct those ("Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III" was made by Jow Burr, and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" was made by Kim Henkel). 

According to the Lost Media Wiki, however, Hooper's son William began making his own direct sequel to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" in 1999. Intended for release on the franchise's 25th anniversary, "All American Massacre" was to feature Moseley in a central role, and actor Brian Patrick Carroll — better known as the guitarist Buckethead — was to play Leatherface.

In 2025, the footage is mostly lost.

One can find the teaser trailer for "All American Massacre" easily enough online and see that William Hooper intended to shoot the sequel on the cheap, using high-end digital video cameras (a novelty at the time, and favored by low-budget genre filmmakers). One can also find a 96-second clip of Buckethead as Leatherface on YouTube, although little happens in the clip beyond Leatherface fiddling with a chainsaw and moaning in panic. 

That clip, according to the Lost Media Wiki, is the only known footage from the actual movie (apart from the trailer) that has survived. The Wiki also notes that a full 35mm print of "All American Massacre" — the print that once belonged to producer Eric H. Lasher — was once up for sale on eBay. But that was way back in 2013, and researchers haven't been able to locate the person who might have purchased the print. 

No other footage has ever surfaced, but a lot of information about "All American Massacre" has been shared over the years. According to a 2004 interview that Dread Central conducted with Moseley, the Chop Top character was re-named to Bloody Bobby for copyright reasons, and Moseley was only on set for one 16-hour filming day. Moseley said he agreed to be in "All American Massacre" because he wanted to be on good terms with Hooper. He described the scene he shot as a tabloid-like interview that Bloody Bobby had with a Geraldo Rivera-type character, and that it would provide the bookend material for the film. It seems that "All American Massacre" was going to take place mostly in flashback.

There was some press about "All American Massacre" in the horror community as well, and one can find old Geocities pages talking about it. 

The press releases and Geocities pages are a fascinating look at how hype is driven, and how it doesn't always explode into the mainstream consciousness. The publicist for the film went by the name of Stu Carney, although that was just a pseudonym for Lasher. 

The press release noted that "All American Massacre" was to be quite short, and it reinforced Moseley's description of the project. It read: 

"'All American Massacre' is a roughly 60-minute featurette shot entirely in high-resolution digital video, conceived as a tribute to 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and its sequel,'TCM2.' The story centers on the fond memories of a notorious serial killer, incarcerated for over a dozen years, as he is interviewed by a tabloid TV journalist. He flashes back to 'happier times' and we join him for an over-the-top killing spree."

The press release continued: 

"The cast features Bill Moseley (Chop-Top from 'TCM2') as the demented but lovable killer, Todd Bates (make-up artist and prop-maker for 'Fight Club,' 'Hollow Man,' and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' among others) playing the killer as a young man, and Stephan Lokotsch ('The Hook-Armed Man') and Danielle Burgio ('Blade' and John Carpenter's 'Vampires') as a pair of hapless victims, along with a talented cast of newcomers and relative unknowns. Also, the musical score is by Buckethead, the guitar wizard who has toured with Primus and is currently the guitarist for Guns 'N Roses." 

Moseley also mentioned the project in a 2001 interview with a website called Arachnia, but he offered no new information. The full known cast was compiled by the Lost Media Wiki, but no major celebrities will be found, unlike Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey in "The Next Generation," which /Film once ranked as the fourth best Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. 

The bookend material in "All American Massacre" was to take place 12 years after "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2," catching up with Chop Top, a.k.a. Bloody Bobby, as he was thrown into a mental hospital. The flashback sequences would take place before the original "Texas Chain Saw," and follow the travails of a young Top/Bobby (Todd Bates). According to Lasher, the film cost a very tiny $15,000 to make, which is certainly in the spirit of the inexpensive original. He also claims that Buckethead did indeed play Leatherface in certain scenes, but that he took over the role at some point during production. "All American" ignored the events of "Leatherface" and "Next Generation." (Most people ignore "Next Generation," including its stars.) 

And why is the film missing? No one knows for sure. Even though "All American Massacre" was made by Tobe Hooper's son, it still wasn't sanctioned by any studio, leading one to assume that the film never secured the rights to the "Texas Chainsaw" characters or iconography. 

According to an article in Bloody Disgusting, the reason no one ever saw "All American Massacre" was because it was too expensive to distribute. Tobe Hooper launched a kickstarted in 2011, hoping to get the funds to finally release the film, but the Kickstarter failed to reach its goal. No one leaked the finished film, and it remains obscure to this day. 

In 2022, documentary filmmaker Edward Payson made "In Search of All American Massacre: The Lost Texas Chainsaw Film" as an attempt to get more information on the movie, and perhaps even track down its whereabouts. While the interviews are a fascinating look into the world of low-budget horror filmmaking, the doc crew never actually uncovered a print suitable for public sales. 

If you have a copy, let us know.