The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Hello and welcome back...It is that time of year again when we all get to bundle up with some blankets, drink a hot beverage, and entertain ourselves with some great scary movies. That's right, it's Spooktober and that means all month long, we'll be featuring films of the horror variety. The horror genre for a long time was filled with far away creatures from outer space or folklore. Black and white movies ushered in frightful monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon or otherworldly frights like The Fly and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. That all changed though when George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead hit the big screen. Gone were otherworldly creatures and here were humans, terrorizing humans. Neighbors, family, and friends all playing a role as zombies instilled terror on a generation while making a political statement. Such a ground-breaking movie for horror until another film arrived almost ten years later to usher in another close to home terror. A movie depicting a cannabalistic family in the heart of Texas, which would influence a genre and a generation of filmmakers and movie-goers alike.

So if you're like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions they convey then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that's a mug of warm apple cider. So sit back, relax, and let's talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.

If you've never seen today's subject the opening monologue sums up the movie fairly well, while leaving a lot as a surprise. The monologue, which slowly scrolls up across the screen is narrated by a man in what has become an iconic sound bite. It reads, "The film in which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy that befell a group of five youths in particular, Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother Franklin. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But even if they had lived very, very long lives they could not have expected, nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that day. For them an idyllic summer afternoon drive became a nightmare. The events of that day were to lead to the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

The movie as the monologue states is indeed about five people in their early to mid twenties on a road trip. There's Jerry, Kirk, Pam, Sally, and Franklin, who is in a wheelchair. Amid their drive they pick up a hitchhiker against some of the group's better judgement. He's a rather odd and scary looking fellow and they kick him out after not too long due to his dangerous behavior. While driving they decide to visit Franklin and Sally's uncle's old homestead. Before doing so though they attempt to stop for gas only to fond out there is none until the delivery arrives. Not wanting to wait they press on and end up finding the home they're looking for. They all get out to explore the house, which in its glory must have been gorgeous. The need for fuel itches at two of them and they decide to break off and ask a neighboring home for help. This decision sets forth a line of events and sparks the fire that will soon engulf them all in terror.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was directed by Tobe Hooper. Hooper was a Texan filmmaker who had made a prior feature titled Eggshells, about a group of teens who live in an abandoned house where something is influencing them and their actions. Needing another project he began to write a screenplay with Kim Henkel. Hooper had always wanted to make a movie about a family and had the perfect idea to initiate the plot...something from his childhood. When Hooper was young, his relatives from Wisconsin would visit them and each time they'd tell young Tobe a story. They'd relay the tale of a man who had human skin lamp shades and a human skin couch who ate people, which understandably scared him. The man's name was Ed Gein. He's said that the tale of Gein always stuck with him.

For those unfamiliar with Gein, he was a serial killer, caught in 1958 after a gutted body was discovered in his garage. He was linked to two victims, but he had numerous trophies from several others. Trophies like furniture made from human bones and skin to heads including that of his mother. They also found that he had been eating his victims. Gein maintained that he had only robbed graves for certain items, but many believe that to be only some of the truth. Gein was eventually found guilty on grounds of insanity and lived out the rest of his days in a mental hospital. When the film advertised, "based on a true story", it was story of Ed Gein behind it. So while writing his next film he decided to merge the two ideas, one of a dangerous family and Ed Gein.

Hooper took his story and an inspiration from Christmas shopping to make his character, Leatherface. A chainsaw wielding killer who dons the faces of others and who, with his family eats their victims. With this revelation the working title early on was simply called Leatherface and when they had a completed script they began shopping it for production. They eventually got a budget and began casting and plotting production, using all unknown actors to play the roles.

Shooting started in the middle of July in the scorching heat. Reaching temperatures of one-hundred five degrees and needless to say, without any air conditioning filming was a challenging experience. Certain scenes, like filming in the van for instance shooting could only last a couple minutes at a time due to the intense heat. Actors were getting heat-sickness, décor like the actual bones and taxidermy began to rot, and the body odor of actors meant that sets became were gag inducing. It also didn't help that costumes couldn't be washed due to the low budget. Leatherface's outfit was left unwashed throughout filming because they didn't want to compromise the look of the clothing. They felt if they washed the outfit it would lose the integrity and grit they had achieved. Others followed suit including Sally's outfit. The combination of the heat and the smell meant several actors become sick on set and was overall a pretty hellish experience.

The most interesting thing to me about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is Leatherface. What makes him interesting is when we play with perspective. When we first meet him, we're horrified. Here are these people asking for help, granted not in the wisest of ways, and here comes this massive human being to kill them. If we flip that perspective though, we see home invaders, scaring a mentally challenged individual, ill-equipped to handle the situation. All he sees are threats and he handles those threats the only way he knows how.

There's a great scene that gives us this window into his mental state, which can be overlooked if you're not paying attention. We see Leatherface pulling back the curtains, looking frantically outside, pacing, and rocking back and forth. As he sits the camera zooms in on his face as he anxiously thinks of what to do.

Learherface is as mysterious as he is terrifying and a lot of that is in thanks to Gunnar Hansen's research and acting. In order to aid his performance he stayed at a hospital for the mentally challenged for two days. In that period he studied movements, mannerisms, and on the final day walked about the grounds without anyone knowing if he was a patient or a visitor. He used this experience to mold Leatherface and his personality. At one point we see him don a different face and his personality molds to the new face he wears.

Eventually Hooper knew he needed a better title and had changed it a few times. At other times the title was Leatherface, Head Cheese, and Stalking Leatherface, none of which seemed to stick. Then someone came up with the title we all know and love today. Hooper once told a story oh him testing the title on a friend of his. In the interview Hooper states,

"I went to a friend of mine and I threw the title out and he said, "I would never see that. I wouldn't let my girlfriend see it. I will see nothing by that name." and I said, that's it. That's the title."

A good choice it was as the title both arouses curiosity and emits repulsion at the same time. Plus the subtitle plug of "based on true event" adds that much more to it as well, which was brilliant marketing.

Before I had watched our subject today I remember my dad recounting to me his initial viewing experience. When he was a young teenager, this film was talked up as the scariest movie of the year. Not being of age though and without a car, they weren't allowed at the drive-in without an adult. So they decided to do what a lot of teens had done, including myself...they decided to sneak in. The drive-in by his childhood home had a field and so him, his brother, and friend hid in the tall grass, watching the movie. The way he tells it, a man came up from behind and shined a flashlight on then, yelling "Hey, what are you kids doing?" My dad jumped up and ran off, noticing police cars starting to arrive. Later on when his brother got home, he learned that the man was a friend and drive-in attendant who let his brother and friend watch the movie from the booth. When he eventually was able to watch it in full, it was a pretty frightening experience.

Fast forward to my first viewing of the movie, I was around the same age and I was heading to a sleep over at a friend's house. Wanting to watch something scary, we rented our subject today at the local video store, Video King. My dad had warned me beforehand that it was a freaky movie, but I shrugged it off. Then at my friend's house, night fell, and the infamous opening credits started playing. I remember distinctly the narrator uttering his monologue and the creepy opening credits and suddenly, the mood changed. We went from joking about how we bet it wouldn't be that scarry and having fun to immediately being tense and uneasy. Almost all those previous feeling went away and for a couple seconds all I could hear was my dad's voice replaying in my head. We watched the while thing and neither of us could sleep that night until around two in the morning. I'll never forget it. The more I watched it though the more I noticed and it's become one of my favorite horror movies.

One of my favorite scenes is when the teens first arrive at the house. One of the girls is sitting on a swing in the front yard, waiting for her boyfriend to come out. Soon she gets up and walks toward the house and its this walk that is so fantastic. The shot begins behind and below the swing as we look at her back. As she stands up the camera begins to move, going under the swing. As we emerge from under the swing the façade of the house grows larger and larger, growing more intimidating with each step. It almost becomes its own character, adding to the tension and horror we're experiencing. We learn as the movie unfurls just how much character the house has as we see the décor and goings on, especially during the infamous dinner scene.

Nothing like it had ever been seen before. As much as it drew fans of horror and the curious in to the theaters and drive ins it made others feel repulsed and disgusted. Both reactions are good press for horror films and the project saw a magnificent box office. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was made on a budget of $140,000 in 1974 and upon release made over $30,000,000 worldwide, shocking and horrifying audiences everywhere. Just as George A Romero's Night of the Living Dead inspired Tobe Hooper, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre would inspire the slasher genre, but more on that in a little bit. As much as the movie saw in box office profits for the cast and crew it was not as joyous of an experience as most didn't see any output from the success of the picture. This was primarily due to the production company who released the film, the Bryanston Distributing Company.

Bryanston was one of the only distributors who the team approached to take the movie on for release that wanted to sign on. The company while eager was also known to have ties to the mafia, which made some second guess the alliance. Despite the gut feeling though, papers were signed and the film had a distributor, which was cause for celebration. When Bryanston began handing out pay checks though, naturally they started with the numerous lenders and lawyers who were paid back for their hand in the original budget. Meanwhile the cast and crew, a total of twenty people received only $8,100 in total...not each, but in total. Gunnar Hansen recounts that he only saw about $800 for his role of Leatherface. Eventually a lawsuit was filed against the production company for their withholding proper payment, but by then it was too late, the company had declared bankruptcy. It wasn't until the rights of Bryanston were acquired by New Line Cinema in 1983, almost ten years later that the production team received their rightful payments.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre changed the horror landscape forever and helped usher in other great movies. The slasher genre, which could be argued began with Peeping Tom in 1960 would never be the same afterward and a short few years following audiences would be introduced to many other iconic villains. Several directors have sited it as a direct influence on their classics. For instance, Wes Craven sited it as an inspiration for his 1977 effort, the Hills Have Eyes, John Carpenter was influenced to make Halloween in 1978, and Ridley Scott sited it as an influence for Alien in 1979. An entire franchise was launched afterward, though nothing has ever matched the brilliant original.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre routinely appears on lists highlighting the scariest films of all time and for good reason. Not only was it terrifying and disturbing, but also incredibly original. If you've never seen it and are looking for a movie to usher in the spooky season, you needn't look too much further than our subject today.

If you'd like to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for yourself I'm pleased to say that you can find it on a plethora of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find it on Tubi. Tubi is a streaming service with a diverse catalog of offerings and the best part is it's all available for free.

Apart from Tubi you can also find it on Peacock. Peacock is a service from NBC and offers everything from TV, Movies, Sports, and WWE with pricing plans including Premium for $5.99 per month or Premium Plus for $11.99 per month.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is also free on services including Pluto TV, Prime Video, FreeVee, and Plex.

Lastly, you can also find it on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu for either $2.99 or $3.99 to rent.

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