PopHorror Let's Get Scared
If you know me at all, then you know that my love for Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, runs far and wide. I mean, my dog is named Gunnar if that tells you anything, so it was real treat to be able to speak with Allen Danziger, who played Jerry in the film, and his friend, Ray Spivey, about their new movie, The WeedHacker Massacre (created by Allen, written by Ray, and directed by Jody Stelzig).
How many remakes of bad horror movies can you remake? The cast of WeedHacker Massacre film where murders occurred 10 years ago. Bad acting, bounced payroll checks, and the killer’s return threaten what is to become their worst movie ever.
To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with Allen and Ray about how the film came about, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, horror movies, and more!
PopHorror: I had a lot of fun with The WeedHacker Massacre and I’m excited to learn more about it. My first question is for you, Allen. You created the idea behind The WeedHacker Massacre. What sparked that idea?
Allen Danziger: The gentleman on the left of me right here, Ray, really deserves a lot of credit. I met Ray through a mutual friend, a chiropractor friend, and he wrote a part for me in a movie called Storage Locker. So, he kind of got me off of, “Whatever happened to…” After doing that, we went to some events together and just kicked around some ideas loosely about my character and what possibilities are, and then Ray actually came up with the idea and wove some intricate and fun things into The WeedHacker Massacre. It’s just been a wonderful experience. I’m excited about the trailer that just came out and that folks like you are liking it and getting it. Hopefully, it’ll be a hit because my name’s on it and I don’t want to go into the Witness Protection Program.
Ray Spivey: It’s too late!
PopHorror: That segues into my question for you, Ray. How did you come on board to write the script, was there that you were adamant about having in it and how did you form that story?
Ray Spivey: Allen is, of course, a horror icon. He had this idea about a comedy about somebody surviving a murder. As you know, being a fan of Chain Saw, when Allen was in his 30s, he had a head of hair. It was amazing! So we kind of kicked around people with mass amounts of hair, so there’s a lot of hair and wigs throughout the movie. But basically, we wanted to do a comedy, and I think it evolved as we talked about it. There are a lot of remakes of horror movies and we see like, Saw 21 and it just goes on and on and on. We kind of drifted a little bit toward the idea of what it must be like for an indie film company and indie sets are notorious all on their own for fun things happening and things not going right, but what if they came to this small town where these murders had happened 10 years ago and some things happened? The more we started talking about it, we were laughing about the ideas, and then, what if this happens? So, there you have it, The WeedHacker Massacre.
Allen Danziger: I’d tell people that my hair could stop a bullet, back then.
PopHorror: That’s awesome! I noticed a lot of parallels to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, especially with remakes because it’s spawned so many sequels and reboots, but also with the killer, Poker Face. He reminded me a lot of Leatherface, a big guy in a mask wielding a weedhacker, much like a chainsaw, the grunting, plus it took place in Texas. Was this a conscious decision on your part?
Ray Spivey: Well, we have to be careful what our attorneys will tell us we can say… No, I’m kidding. The idea was to take a character that was scary and of course, pays homage to all these famous masks – Leatherface, Ghostface, Jason – so he’s really representing the whole genre of horror masked killers. Of course, the weedhacker was a way to come up with a crazy weapon, one that you normally would trip your grass with-
Allen Danziger: Your hedges, yeah.
Ray Spivey: And turn it into a lethal weapon. Plus, we thought that after the movie comes out, we could market our own line of weedhackers. We’re going to make money out of it. That mask has become an iconic killer and hasn’t been overused. I don’t know if the horror fans get enough of it, to tell you the truth. We could probably come up with about five more new ones and people would be lined up to see it. Allen does these tours with Chain Saw’s 50th anniversary. He runs into fans of all ages. Kids that know Chain Saw inside and out are just honored to meet him.
Allen Danziger: The funny thing is, there are kids that have seen this movie that are five and six. I took my son, when it came out in ’74, just to see his dad in the trailers. That was 50 years ago and he’s still in weekly therapy. That’s the kind of impact it had on him. It’s just amazing that there’s a whole generation of people that loved this type of movie. I’ve said this before, when we did a reunion – my first reunion was back in 2004 when Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface, talked me into doing it – I didn’t want to do it because I thought I’d be meeting serial killers. You know, wannabes. But they’re the nicest people and they just love this genre. Back then, they saw me as fresh meat, but it’s been incredible. I love going to these events because I meet fans and they’re just so gracious and they’re wonderful. They love this genre.
PopHorror: I can tell you right now that if you were to come to Phoenix, I would be first in line, so you would be meeting people like me.
Ray Spivey: Great!
Allen Danziger: My next step is I’m going to Scotch tape about 20 pigeons and see if I can fly out there.
PopHorror: Yes, please! For The WeedHacker Massacre, what was the casting like and how did you decide on Jody Stelzig to direct?
Ray Spivey: I had just finished a movie, and I didn’t really plan on doing another one so quickly and, quite frankly, I was burned out from directing, producing, making the props and everything in the last movie. So I said, let me just not direct. Jody’s a good friend of mine. He’s really a stuntman by trade and as you noticed in the last part of the movie, the big fight, we really have some amazing stunts. Molly Sakonchick, one of our stars, turns out to have a black belt in Jiu Jitsu, so she was very handy in the fight scenes. Handed Jody the reins to direct. He’d actually assistant directed with me on the other film I’d done and I thought he did a really great job. It turned out to be a bigger movie than we thought. We probably had about 15 stuntpeople.
Allen Danziger: Unbelievable!
Ray Spivey: At various times we had about 40-50 cast people, so for me as a screenwriter, I should have been a lot smarter and kept the movie down. But it really turned out to be a lot of fun.
PopHorror: Allen, this is your return to horror after being away from it for almost 50 years.
Allen Danziger: Fifty years!
PopHorror: How does it feel to be back in the genre?
Allen Danziger: It felt great! Honestly, I was nervous. I got a standing ovation from doing Storage Locker so that built my confidence up a little bit. As you know, I play a sheriff in this movie so I’m a good guy. It was a lot of fun and quite a bit different than shooting Chain Saw. Chain Saw, it was 100 degrees. I was driving a van delivering my lines. It was brutal. This was really a first class operation and I commend Ray. He did a great job. There’s always stress and things that happen and his equanimity and just how calm he was during the shooting and all the glitches and things that come up in doing a movie. It’s a tribute to him and how everyone loved doing this movie and we’re all excited about the premiere, which I think will be October 17th nationally, and then we’re going to have a screening here in Austin at St. John’s Studio on the 16th, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking to have some fun contests, and I think one of the prizes will be dinner with Chainsaw Jerry and his van down by the river. Second prize will be two dinners with Chainsaw Jerry and his van down by the river. The funny thing is, I got the same van that I drove in the movie only two years newer. I found it on a Chain Saw website a few years ago and it belonged to a fella by the name of Scott Key, who turned out to be the great-great-great grandson of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner. It was up on blocks for like 30 years and he still had it and I said, “I guess I’m the OG. I’m going to have to get it!” and he trailered it down to Austin. I had it redone, repainted, and so I take it around to different conventions within a radius. I’m having a great time! I’ve got the van, I’ve got Leatherface, I’ve got even Franklin. We’ve brought him back to life. We’re having a lot of fun.
Ray Spivey: So, if you go to Phoenix, can you drive it down there so she can see the van?
Allen Danziger: Possibly, possibly. For her, I would do it.
PopHorror: Aww, thank you!
Allen Danziger: I was never a fan of horror. I met Tobe Hooper in a social setting some years ago when I was doing social work and I was working with a couple that was the inspiration for his first movie, a movie called Eggshells. I don’t know if you ever got to see this movie. Nobody saw this movie. The movie came out; nobody saw it and that was the end of my career right there. Then four years later when they wrote Chain Saw, they called me out of the blue and they said, “We wrote this movie. We have this character, Jerry, like a wiseacre-type of guy,” and so they wanted me to play the character. I wasn’t an actor and if you see some of the reviews for the movie, you’ll know why. One guy referred to me as a 30 year old disco Stu looking dude. But that’s how it was. You never know how life works out.
Ray Spivey: We’ve both kind of grown to be bigger, bigger fans of horror. Allen, for example, did a voiceover in Cannibal Comedian, which came out earlier this year, and weren’t you involved in the documentary about Leatherface?
Allen Danziger: Yeah, Dinner with Leatherface. I’m in that one, and if you didn’t see that or if you didn’t know Gunnar, you knew him. He was just an unbelievable guy. Big guy but a gentle guy, very bright, very funny. After the movie was over – Chain Saw – I didn’t know any of these people when we were shooting and afterward, we became good friends. He stayed with me the summer before he moved to Maine and we became really good friends and stayed that way until his passing. I miss him every day, to be honest with you.
PopHorror: That is a beautiful documentary, and I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Gunnar. I even named my dog after him. I have just one last question for you both. What is your favorite scary movie?
Allen Danziger: Abbot and Costello Meet the Wolfman. I thought The Omen was pretty scary in its time. And Psycho. Those were truly scary.
Ray Spivey: The Thing, and I actually even like the black and white version too. It was kind of amazing for being a B-rated black and white movie back then. More recently, Get Out, and Shaun of the Dead, which is one of my favorites. And 28 Days Later. Wow! Just amazing take on zombies.
Thank you so much to Allen and Ray for taking the time to chat with us. The WeedHacker Massacre opens on Digital platforms October 17, 2025.
