I will
never forget Edwin's creepy looks
as the Hitch Hiker in the
original 1974 slasher flick 'Texas
Chainsaw Massacre' as he
was ultra creepy and psychotic
who was extremely goofy but in a
deadly way. I was thinking he got
what was coming to him in the end
when that truck plowed him over
for tormenting poor Sally
Hardesty while her brother and
friends were slaughtered and
barbequed by his brother
Leatherface and his father. He
was non-stopping with terror and
Edwin proved to be a natural when
it came to acting. He was my
favourite male actor in the film.
It is not surprising that he
still is getting work even if his
other films weren't as big.
Apparently he is noted for his
sense of humor and considered a
loving guy plus he stays in
contact with Marilyn Burns who
played Sally as well as Gunnar
Hansen who played his brother
Leatherface. He is apparently
buddies with Bill Moseley who
plays Chop-Top in the sequel
which was the Hitchhiker's name.
Let's get started shall we?
Edwin Neal
was born in Houston, Texas on
July 12, 1945. In highschool
Edwin studied with Zula Pearson
at Lon Morris in Jacksonville,
Texas, before moving on to
acting/directing studies with B.
Iden Payne at University of Texas
Drama Deptartment. There he
auditioned for the role of the
Hitch Hiker in the 'Texas
Chainsaw Massacre.'
Director Tobe Hooper liked his
personality that he cast him for
it. Edwin claimed when he read
for the role that it reminded him
of an eccentric relative of his
so he screen tested acting like
his relative. Edwin was in real
pain when Jim Siedow's character
as his demented father and gas
station owner was whacking him
with a broomstick as Tobe wanted
to make it believeable as
possible. He also had to lie on
the road after his run over scene
with the truck for a while one
time as there was a moment of
cloudiness and Tobe wanted the
sun to reflect on him but his
take was never shown during the
cutting room floor. He owned
Leatherface's apron after the
shoot and some props as
apparently he was never paid
during the shooting and sold
them.
He
had a tough time getting work
afterwards as the movie was
controversial but well
publicised. Casting directors
thought his role as the Hitch
Hiker was all he could do but in
1984 it lead him to starring in a
sci-fi/action/thriller flick as a
killer named Splatter in 'Future
Kill' which he also
wrote, produced and coached with
the dialogue in. Plus it also
starred Marilyn Burns as his wife
since she starred in 'TCM'
with him. Although some critics
considered it a horror film it
was a complete flop nonetheless
but supposedly had a small
theatrical run. A year later he
had a part in a TV-movie titled 'My
Two Loves.'
Edwin
became more successful later on
as he also has been a top voice
talent for many years and has had
his voice used in commercials and
won the nomination for 'The
Worlds Greatest Commercials'
by Carson Productions. He also
used his voice for Japanese
animated TV series and top
selling CD-ROM computer games.
Also
to Edwin's credit, he has
performed stand up comedy and
released some comedy albums to
his credit which led him to
having supporting roles in non
horror films during the 90's like
in 'Neurotic Cabaret',
'JFK', 'My
Boyfriends Back' and
playing different voice
character's in the children's TV
'Power Rangers'
show. He was also known for his
voice work in 'Sonic the
Hedge Hog' as the role
of Dr. Robotnik. He also acted on
stage in a production of Sandy
Duncan's Portia in 'Merchant
of Venice' as the role
of Bassino which was his
favourite role.
In
1993 Edwin was inducted to the
'Hollywood Horror Hall of Fame'
in 1993 as 'TCM'
was becoming a worldwide cult
classic. He attends to many
conventions touring worldwide
making many public appearances as
'The Hitch Hiker' at
science-fiction conventions and
related gatherings.
Because
of all this Edwin returned to the
horror genre by acting in
independent films. First up he
played Good Samaritan in 'Murder-Set-Pieces'
which rode the films festivals
around California, New York and
Chicago in 2004 plus it also
co-starred his former 'TCM'
brother Gunnar Hansen, next up he
team up with Gunnar again in 'It
Came From Trafalgar' as
a Texas Ghoul which apparently
had a limited showing back on
March 15, 2005, next up he was
the demented mute Boy in Dante
Tomaselli's project 'Satan's
Playground' which is
hit film festivals as already he is receiving alot
of exposure for the film and many
other indie film names
like in 'Mr. Hell'
and 'The Forest'.
Many of these film also had a
number of other horror film
actors too which helps these
flicks becoming known nationwide
and give Edwin the credit he
deserves.
Edwin
was also married but his marriage
dissolved. However, he got remarried and is still with her this present day with two stepchildren.
Texas
Chainsaw Massacre.1974 Of
course this is where I first
spotted Edwin. He was great in it
and couldn't have found someone
better for a good supporting role
that he had as the demented Hitch
Hiker that the young group of
people picked up while they were
on a summer cruise. He was
strange looking and acted crazy.
I however had a feeling he was a
demented family member from
Leatherface's group. Then when
the demented gas station owner
(Jim Siedow) kidnapped the
remaining survivor named Sally
(Marilyn Burns) that was on the
run from Leatherface (Gunnar
Hansen) and drove towards the
farmhouse where Leatherface
lived, I caught him picking up
the Hitch Hiker and it was no
surprise to me. Edwin's role was
goofy but extremely terrifying as
he tormented Sally terribly while
they were at the farmhouse. Then
she is tied up to a chair at
their duinner table and are
eating what was left of her
friends. The Hitch Hiker along
with his brother Leatherface was
prodding at her and grabbing her
hair. Then the Hitch Hiker takes Sally and holds her down as his
vegetable of a grandfather tries
to kill her slowly by hitting her
on the head with a hammer since
he used to be the best killer in
the west but the Hitch Hiker gets
greedy and wants to take a whack
so Sally escapes by jumping out
their window with the Hitch Hiker
right on her tail and Leatherface
not too far behind. Hitch Hiker
stabs her with his little blade
but a truck comes over and
crushes him to death which I
enjoyed as it served him right
for his evil deeds. I hated the
movie at first as it was
disturbing and Edwin's role
really freaked me out but fell in
love with it and loved Edwin's
role more and more since he was a
natural in it. Anyone who knows
Edwin would have seen this film
for sure as nowadays he is in
demand for independent horror
films.
Future
Kill.1984 I
was looking for a movie about
street gangs and spotted this one
but I found it it takes place in
the future and was categorised as
a horror film saying on the back
of the video box Starring Edwin
Neal and Marilyn Burns from the
horror classic 'TCM'
so I rented it.
I nearly threw up
watching it that it was so bad but later on seeing it again it was an okay flick.
At first I wasn't sure who Edwin
played in 'TCM'
but I knew he played the nasty
vengeful killer Splatter in this
one. It was hard to see his face
as he was wearing machine type
armour but I was thinking he
must've played the Hitch Hiker.
He did a good job with his voice
sounding totally different and
believeable playing cold blooded
as he was setting his goons out
to kill the punks who tormented
his wife played by Marilyn Burns
but the story in this stunk.
He
also wrote it as well as
producing it at the time he
wasn't getting work in films as
casting directors could only see
him as the Hitch Hiker in 1974's
'TCM' so he
played a killer in this one
because of it.
There is a sick
scene where some goons shoot a
cat to death. Ugh! I am a cat
lover. Marilyn's character helps
the kids out by killing Splatter
in the end.
This wasn't a horror
film but a sci-fi/action/thriller
with a touch of 'Animal House' type of comedic elements.
In a Fangoria
magazine it said it bypassed a
theatrical run and went
direct-to-video but
this did have a small theatrical release in
the spring of 1985. Also the
distributor for the video release
was by Cineplex Odeon Home Video
which are also a big cinema
company.
Neurotic Cabaret.1990 A ridiculous comedy on a writer needing funds to make a film based on her screenplay. She will stop at nothing to get the bucks including dancing at a nude bar, stealing cash and hijacking snakes.
In comes Edwin's character as a regualr at the strip joint as Nolan whom is a big goof and loving the strippers and is different in this one playing someone who seems to be a bit perverted.
We do spot him blindfolded and tied up as one of the girls drops wax from a candle as he gets excited by all of this. The girls try to teach him a lesson with his behavior towards strippers.
Then we spot him slowly turning into a woman himself with karma paying him back here which looked awfully silly. He had one of the main roles in this film and for die hard fans of his work only.
I believe that this one was a direct-to-video flick.
My
Boyfriends Back.1993 In this dark comedy,
Edwin has a supporting role in
this one but not alot of lines in
it as he plays Big Chuck's
Henchman as Big Chuck (Paul
Dooley) is a guy out to kill a
teen named Johnny (Andrew Lowery)
who returned from the dead and
ate his son Chuck (Philip Seymour
Hoffman) who was a jock and
bullied Johnny in school. So
Edwin's character is out to look
for Johnny with a shotgun as well
as Big Chucks other gang members
of henchmen. I like this film as
I found it fun to watch and got a
good theatrical run. It was nice
seeing Edwin playing a goofy
character in it.
Zombiegeddon.2003 A student film by Chris
Watson and not a great one with
lots of bad acting and directing
and made on a terrible budget but
has lots of bloody gore effects.
The film was shown in a few
underground venues before being
released onto DVD by Troma Team a
few years later. It can be fun to
watch if you're in the mood for
it but if not you need to avoid
it. At first you wonder if this
is a comedy-horror like
'Shaun of the Dead' but
instead it's just a plain zany
comedy trying to use 'South
Park' humor in a bad way
but using horror elements like
the gore and flesh eating
zombies. It all starts out when a
lady named Laura Reynolds (Brinke
Stevens) goes to a radio station
to talk about Lucifer, otherwise
Lord Zombie (William Smith)
wanting to take over the world
with zombies while two redneck
cops who stir trouble for others
are encountering this madness and
tries to help the matters out.
Edwin Neal has a cameo in the
film a quarter way through as he
plays the role of God who has the
solution to put a stop to these
zombies. He plays a very
different type of role in this
film than most of the character's
he's played in any other kinds of
films and is quite straight and
serious in his role.
Satan's
Playground.2006 Edwin
is back in the horror film
industry with this film by Dante
Tomaselli. This film is a tribute
to the retro horror film industry
and also stars horror icons
Felissa Rose ('Sleepaway
Camp') and Ellen
Sandweiss ('Evil Dead').
Edwin plays a demented retarded
mute fellow who lives with his
crazed mother named Mrs. Leeds
(Irma St. Paule) and his sister
Paula (Christie Sanford) as they
grow up in a place controlled by
the devil in the woods at a run
down cabin as there's evil forces
surrounding the woods as they
kill people and use them for
satanic rituals. Edwin does a
fine job in this film as he is
convincing at playing a retarded
person. Most of his scenes
involve Felissa as he kidnaps her
and torments her too. His role is
different than his one as the
hitchhiker and not as scary.
Butcher Boys .2012 'TCM' co-writer Kim Henkel wrote this piece which involves canniballism from some city hoodlums with some kids on a chase from these maniacs.
Edwin has a bit part in this one along with other cameos from his 'TCM' co-stars. In this one he plays a homeless person in a corner store. He acts creepy like but if you blink his scene is over. He doesn't seem to get much roles that are bigger which I don't understand why as he is a good character actor.
The film is not bad
in which Henkel tried to use the same formula but it's out on the streets instead of a countryland.
It's at times bland and the story is dragging a bit however, this one is made on a bit of a bigger budget than in the 'TCM' days. Still not as near a great story compared to the 1974 cult classic.
Dropping Evil.2012 On the credits of this god awful slapstick comedy horror flick that Edwin had one of the lead roles but don't let that fool you folks as due to the lack of a bad budget, acting and storyline they did that so you can watch this one.
He is seen on a TV screen as President Strode making an announcement which is about a minute long and this will disappoint you afterwards. He does a good job in it as a serious business like type of personality as you can tell he focused well on this.
The story is about a bunch of friends going on a camping trip and on the way driving there one of them gets intoxicated and starts going on a killing spree and none of these people including the killer is human as a race of alien type of people are trying to do some sort of an experiment with these things that are supposed to be human beings. The story didn't make sense at all. Whoever wrote this film was dropping acid big time in which the film should've been titled that. Made on a terrible budget like a close to home video type.
Edwin is seen briefly again at the end of the film as there's a trailer for a sequel which had a grindhouse spoofy feel to all of this. A waste of time to watch this.
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