Does removing the chain from a chainsaw make the chainsaw safe for use in a movie?
Yes, the saws will be very safe with the chains removed, that’s the only part that could hurt anyone, other than dropping the saw on your foot. The possibilty of the clutch drive assembly flying apart is so remote as to not be worth considering. We put on a Scare Trail for Halloween entertainment to benefit our local Community Policing agency a few years back and used the same sort of scenario for the last scare on the trail. I have to tell you when someone comes at you, looking half dead anyway, with a chainsaw running, being reved up and down several times, you don’t stop to look at whether there’s a chain on it or not, you just run. We had several people actually wet themselves trying to get out of the woods fast enough.
