| The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | |
|---|---|
_theatrical_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tobe Hooper |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Tobe Hooper |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | John Larroquette |
| Cinematography | Daniel Pearl |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by |
|
Production company | Vortex Inc. |
| Distributed by | Bryanston Distributing Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80,000–140,000[2][3] |
| Box office | $30.9 million[4] |
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre[note 1] is a 1974 Americanindependenthorror film produced, co-composed, and directed byTobe Hooper, who co-wrote it withKim Henkel. The film starsMarilyn Burns,Paul A. Partain,Edwin Neal,Jim Siedow, andGunnar Hansen. The plot follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family ofcannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. The film was marketed as being based on true events to attract a wider audience and to act as a subtle commentary on the era's political climate. Although the character ofLeatherface and minor story details were inspired by the crimes of murdererEd Gein, its plot is largely fictional.
Hooper produced the film for less than $140,000 ($700,000 adjusted for inflation)[3] and used a cast of relatively unknown actors drawn mainly from central Texas, where the film was shot. Due to the film's violent content, Hooper struggled to find a distributor, but it was eventually acquired by theBryanston Distributing Company. Hooper limited the quantity of onscreen gore in hopes of securing a PGrating, but theMotion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rated itR. The film faced similar difficulties internationally, being banned in several countries, and numerous theaters stopped showing the film in response to complaints about its violence.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was released in the United States on October 11, 1974. While the film initially received mixed reception from critics, it was highly profitable, grossing over $30 million at the domestic box office, equivalent with roughly over $150.8 million as of 2019, selling over 16.5 million tickets in 1974. It has since become widely regarded asone of the best and most influential horror films. It is credited with originating several elements common in theslasher genre, including the use of power tools as murder weapons, the characterization of the killer as a large, hulking, masked figure, and thefinal girl. It led toa franchise that continued the story of Leatherface and his family through sequels, prequels, a remake, comic books, and video games. In 2024, the film was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6]
In the early hours of August 18, 1973, agrave robber steals several corpses from a cemetery near Newt, Muerto County, Texas. The robber ties a rotting corpse and other body parts onto a monument, creating a grisly display that is discovered by a local resident as the sun rises.
Driving in a van, five teenagers take a road trip through the area:Sally Hardesty, Jerry, Pam, Kirk, and Sally'sparaplegic brother Franklin. They stop at the cemetery to check on the grave of Sally and Franklin's grandfather, which appears undisturbed. As the group drives past aslaughterhouse, Franklin recounts the Hardesty family's history withanimal slaughter. They soon pick up ahitchhiker, who talks about his family who worked at the old slaughterhouse. He borrows Franklin'spocket knife and cuts himself, then takes a singlePolaroid picture of the group, for which he demands money. When they refuse to pay, he burns the photo and attacks Franklin with astraight razor. The group forces him out of the van, where he smears blood on the side as they drive off. Low on gas, the group stops at a gas station but itsproprietor says that fuel is unavailable. The group explores a nearby abandoned house, owned by the Hardesty family.
Kirk and Pam leave the others behind, planning to visit a nearbyswimming hole mentioned by Franklin. On their way there, they discover another house, surrounded by run-down cars, and run by gas-powered generators. Hoping to barter for gas, Kirk enters the house through the unlocked door, while Pam waits outside. As he searches the house, a large man wearing a mask made of skin appears and murders Kirk with a hammer. When Pam enters the house, she stumbles into a room strewn with decaying remains and furniture made from human and animal bones. She attempts to flee but is caught by the man and impaled on ameat hook. The man then starts up achainsaw, dismembering Kirk as Pam watches. In the evening, Jerry searches for Pam and Kirk. When he enters the other house, he finds Pam's nearly-dead, spasming body in a chest freezer and is killed by the masked man.
With darkness falling, Sally and Franklin set out to find their friends. En route, the masked man ambushes them, killing Franklin with the chainsaw. The man chases Sally into the house, where she finds a very old, seemingly dead man and a woman's rotting corpse. She escapes from the man by jumping through a second-floor window, and she flees to the gas station. With the man in pursuit, Sally arrives at the gas station when he seems to disappear. The station's proprietor comforts Sally with the offer of help, after which he beats and subdues her, loading her into his pickup truck. The proprietor drives to the other house, and the hitchhiker appears. The proprietor scolds him for his actions at the cemetery, identifying the hitchhiker as the grave robber. As they enter the house, the masked man reappears,dressed in women's clothing. The proprietor identifies the masked man and the hitchhiker as brothers, and the hitchhiker refers to the masked man as "Leatherface". The two brothers bring the old man—"Grandpa"—down the stairs and cut Sally's finger so that Grandpa can suck her blood, Sally then faints from the ordeal.
The next morning, Sally regains consciousness. The men taunt her and bicker with each other, resolving to kill her with a hammer. They try to include Grandpa in the activity, but Grandpa is too weak. Sally breaks free and runs onto a road in front of the house, pursued by the brothers. An oncoming truck accidentally runs over the hitchhiker, killing him. The truck driver attacks Leatherface with a large wrench, causing him to fall and injure his leg with the chainsaw. The truck driver flees while Sally, covered in blood, flags down a passing pickup truck and climbs into the bed, narrowly escaping Leatherface. As the pickup drives away, Sally laughs hysterically while an enraged Leatherface swings his chainsaw in the road as the sun rises.
The concept forThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre arose in the early 1970s whileTobe Hooper was working as an assistant film director at theUniversity of Texas at Austin and as a documentary cameraman.[7] He had already developed a story involving the elements of isolation, the woods, and darkness.[8] He credited the graphic coverage of violence bySan Antonio news outlets as one inspiration for the film[9] and based elements of the plot on murdererEd Gein, who committed his crimes in 1950sWisconsin;[10] Gein inspired other horror films such asPsycho (1960) andThe Silence of the Lambs (1991).[11][12][13][14] During development, several names for the film were considered, includingSaturn in Retrograde,Head Cheese,Stalking Leatherface, andLeatherface.[15][16]
I definitely studied Gein ... but I also noticed a murder case inHouston at the time, a serial murderer you probably remember namedElmer Wayne Henley. He was a young man who recruited victims foran older homosexual man. I saw some news report where Elmer Wayne ... said, "I did these crimes, and I'm gonna stand up and take it like a man." Well, that struck me as interesting, that he had this conventional morality at that point. He wanted it known that, now that he was caught, he would do the right thing. So this kind of moral schizophrenia is something I tried to build into the characters.
Hooper has cited changes in the cultural and political landscape as central influences on the film. His intentional misinformation, that the "film you are about to see is true", was a response to being "lied to by the government about things that were going on all over the world".[9] It reflected the skepticism against theRichard Nixon administration in the wake of theWatergate, the1973 oil crisis, the1973 economic recession, and "themassacres and atrocities in the Vietnam War".[9][16] The "lack of sentimentality and the brutality of things" that Hooper noticed while watching the local news, whose graphic coverage was epitomized by "showing brains spilled all over the road", led to his belief that "man was the real monster here, just wearing a different face, so I put a literal mask on the monster in my film".[12] The idea of using a chainsaw as the murder weapon came to Hooper while he was in the hardware section of a busy store, contemplating how to speed his way through the crowd.[13]
Hooper and Kim Henkel cowrote the screenplay and formed Vortex, Inc.[19] with Henkel as president and Hooper as vice president.[20] They asked Bill Parsley, a friend of Hooper, to provide funding. Parsley formed a company named MAB, Inc. through which he invested $60,000 in the production. In return, MAB owned 50% of the film and its profits.[21]Production manager Ron Bozman told most of the cast and crew that he would have to defer part of their salaries until after it was sold to a distributor. Vortex made the idea more attractive by awarding them a share of its potential profits, ranging from 0.25 to 6%, similar tomortgage points. The cast and crew were not informed that Vortex owned only 50%, which meant their points were worth half of the assumed value.[20][22]
Many of the cast members at the time were relatively unknown actors—Texans who had played roles in commercials, television, and stage shows, as well as performers whom Hooper knew personally, such asAllen Danziger andJim Siedow.[23][24][25] Involvement in the film propelled some of them into the motion picture industry. The lead role of Sally was given toMarilyn Burns, who had appeared previously on stage and served on the film commission board at UT Austin while studying there.[24] Teri McMinn was a student who worked with local theater companies, including theDallas Theater Center.[24] Henkel called McMinn to come in for a reading after he spotted her picture in theAustin American-Statesman.[26] For her last call-back he requested that she wear short shorts, which proved to be the most comfortable of all the cast members' costumes.[24]
Icelandic-American actorGunnar Hansen was selected for the role of Leatherface.[27] He regarded Leatherface as having anintellectual disability and having never learned to speak properly. To research his character in preparation for his role, Hansen visited aspecial needs school and watched how the students moved and spoke.[13][28]John Larroquette performed the narration in the opening credits,[29] for which he was paid in marijuana.[30]
The primary filming location was an early 1900s farmhouse located on Quick Hill Road nearRound Rock, Texas, where theLa Frontera development is now located.[31] The crew filmed seven days a week, up to 16 hours a day. The environment was hot[22][32] and the cast and crew found conditions tough; temperatures peaked at 110°F (43 °C) on July 26.[33] Hansen later recalled, "It was 95, 100 degrees every day during filming. They wouldn't wash my costume because they were worried that the laundry might lose it, or that it would change color. They didn't have enough money for a second costume. So I wore that [mask] 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for a month."[34]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was mainly shot using anEclair NPR 16mm camera[35][36] with fine-grain, low-speedEktachrome Commercial film that required considerably more light than modern digital cameras and even most filmstocks of the day.[37] This allowed more mobility and cost savings over shooting on the standard theatrical 35mm format of the time, without significant sacrifices to image quality. Most of the filming took place in the farmhouse, which was filled with furniture constructed from animal bones and a latex material used as upholstery to give the appearance of human skin.[38] The house was not cooled, and there was little ventilation. The crew covered its walls with drops of animal blood obtained from a local slaughterhouse.[9]Art directorRobert A. Burns drove around the countryside and collected the remains of cattle and other animals in various stages of decomposition, with which he littered the floors of the house.[38]
The special effects were simple and limited by the budget.[39] The on-screen blood was real in some cases,[40] such as the scene in which Leatherface feeds "Grandpa". The crew had difficulty getting the stage blood to come out of its tube, so instead Burns's index finger was cut with a razor.[41] Burns's costume was so drenched with stage blood that it was "virtually solid" by the last day of shooting.[24] The scene in which Leatherface dismembers Kirk with a chainsaw worried actor William Vail (Kirk). After telling Vail to stay still lest he really be killed, Hansen brought the running chainsaw to within 3 inches (8 cm) of Vail's face.[36] A real hammer was used for the climactic scene at the end, with some takes also featuring a mock-up. However, the actor playing Grandpa was aiming for the floor rather than his victim's head.[42] Still, the shoot was quite dangerous, with Hooper noting at the wrap party that all cast members had obtained some level of injury. He stated that "everyone hated me by the end of the production" and that "it just took years for them to kind of cool off."[42][43]
The gas station featured in several scenes of the film is located inBastrop, Texas. It now operates as a horror-themed attraction, Texas barbecue restaurant, and motel. To maintain its resemblance to the film, the owners preserved various antiques, including the vintage sign that reads "We Slaughter Barbecue".[44]
The production exceeded its original $60,000 (about $296,000 adjusted for inflation) budget duringediting.[45] Sources differ on the film's final cost, offering figures between $93,000 (about $459,000 inflation-adjusted) and $300,000 (about $1,500,000 inflation-adjusted).[27][46][47][48] A film production group, Pie in the Sky, partially led by future President of the Texas State BarJoe K. Longley[49] provided $23,532 (about $116,000 inflation-adjusted) in exchange for 19% of Vortex.[50] This left Henkel, Hooper and the rest of the cast and crew with a 40.5% stake.[20]Warren Skaaren, then head of theTexas Film Commission, helped secure the distribution deal withBryanston Distributing Company.[21]David Foster, who would later produce the 1982 horror filmThe Thing, arranged for a private screening for some of Bryanston's West Coast executives, and received 1.5% of Vortex's profits and a deferred fee of $500 (about $2,500 inflation-adjusted).[20]
On August 28, 1974, Louis Peraino of Bryanston agreed to distribute the film worldwide, from which Bozman and Skaaren would receive $225,000 (about $1,100,000 inflation-adjusted) and 35% of the profits. Years later Bozman stated, "We made a deal with the devil, [sigh], and I guess that, in a way, we got what we deserved."[20] They signed the contract with Bryanston and, after the investors recouped their money (with interest),—and after Skaaren, the lawyers, and the accountants were paid—only $8,100 (about $40,000 inflation-adjusted) was left to be divided among the 20 cast and crew members.[20] Eventually the producers sued Bryanston for failing to pay them their full percentage of the box office profits. A court judgment instructed Bryanston to pay the filmmakers $500,000 (about $2,500,000 inflation-adjusted), but by then the company had declared bankruptcy. In 1983,New Line Cinema acquired the distribution rights from Bryanston and gave the producers a larger share of the profits.[51]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre premiered in Austin, Texas, on October 11, 1974, almost a year after filming concluded. It screened nationally in the United States as a Saturday afternoon matinée and its false marketing as a "true story" helped it attract a broad audience.[52][53] For eight years after 1976, it was annually reissued tofirst-run theaters, promoted by full-page ads.[54] The film eventually grossed more than $30 million in the United States and Canada[55] ($14.4 million in rentals), making it the12th-highest-grossing film initially released in 1974, despite its minuscule budget.[56]
The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother, Franklin. [...]
Hooper reportedly hoped that theMotion Picture Association of America (MPAA) would give the complete, uncutrelease print a "PG" rating due to its minimal amount of visible gore.[57][58][59] Instead, it was originally rated "X". After several minutes were cut, it was resubmitted to the MPAA and received an "R" rating. A distributor restored the offending material, and at least one theater presented the full version under an "R".[60] In San Francisco, cinema-goers walked out of theaters in disgust[61] and in February 1976, two theaters in Ottawa, Canada, were advised by local police to withdraw the film lest they face morality charges.[62]
After its initial British release, including a one-year theatrical run in London,[63]The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was initially banned on the advice ofBritish Board of Film Censors (BBFC) Secretary Stephen Murphy, and subsequently by his successor,James Ferman.[64][65] While the British ban was in force the word "chainsaw" itself was barred from movie titles, forcing imitators to rename their films.[66] In 1998, despite the BBFC ban,Camden London Borough Council granted the film a license.[67] The following year the BBFC passedThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre uncut for release with an18 certificate,[68][69] and it was broadcast a year later onChannel 4.[70][71]
When the 83-minute version of the film was submitted to theAustralian Classification Board by distributorSeven Keys in June 1975, the Board denied the film a classification,[72] and similarly refused classification of a 77-minute print in December that year.[73] In 1981, the 83-minute version submitted byGreater Union Film Distributors was again refused registration.[74] It was later submitted by Filmways Australasian Distributors and approved for an "R" rating in 1984.[75][76] It wasbanned for periods in many other countries, including Brazil, Chile, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and West Germany.[77][78][79]In France, it was X-rated for "incitement to violence."[80] In Sweden, it would also symbolize avideo nasty, a discussed topic at the time.[81]
The film was released in 2021 in Australia and 2024 in Russia, grossing $36,879 at the international box office.[4][82] In 2025, a 4K remaster was released in Poland — the first time ever it was shown in movie theaters.[83] It grossed $2.5 million in Blu-Ray home sales.[84]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre received a mixed reaction upon its initial release. Linda Gross of theLos Angeles Times called it "despicable" and described Henkel and Hooper as more concerned with creating a realistic atmosphere than with its "plastic script".[85]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times said it was "as violent and gruesome and blood-soaked as the title promises", yet praised its acting and technical execution.[86][87] Donald B. Berrigan ofThe Cincinnati Enquirer praised the lead performance of Burns: "Marilyn Burns, as Sally, deserves a special Academy Award for one of the most sustained and believable acting achievements in movie history."[88] Patrick Taggart of theAustin American-Statesman hailed it as the most important horror film since George A. Romero'sNight of the Living Dead (1968).[89]Variety found the picture to be well-made, despite what it called the "heavy doses of gore".[90] John McCarty ofCinefantastique stated that the house featured in the film made theBates motel "look positively pleasant by comparison".[91] Revisiting the film in his 1976 article "Fashions in Pornography" forHarper's Magazine, Stephen Koch found its sadistic violence to be extreme and unimaginative.[92]
Horror and exploitation films almost always turn a profit if they're brought in at the right price. So they provide a good starting place for ambitious would-be filmmakers who can't get more conventional projects off the ground.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre belongs in a select company (withNight of the Living Dead andLast House on the Left) of films that are really a lot better than the genre requires. Not, however, that you'd necessarily enjoy seeing it.
Critics later frequently praised both the film's aesthetic quality and its power. Observing that it managed to be "horrifying without being a bloodbath (you'll see more gore in aSteven Seagal film)", Bruce Westbrook of theHouston Chronicle called it "a backwoods masterpiece of fear and loathing".[93]TV Guide thought it was "intelligent" in its "bloodless depiction of violence",[94] while Anton Bitel felt the fact that it was banned in the United Kingdom was a tribute to its artistry. He pointed out how the quiet sense of foreboding at the beginning of the film grows, until the viewer experiences "a punishing assault on the senses".[95] InHick Flicks: The Rise and Fall of Redneck Cinema, Scott Von Doviak commended its effective use of daylight shots, unusual among horror films, such as the sight of a corpse draped over a tombstone in the opening sequence.[96] Mike Emery ofThe Austin Chronicle praised the film's "subtle touches"—such as radio broadcasts heard in the background describing grisly murders around Texas—and said that what made it so dreadful was that it never strayed too far from potential reality.[97]
It has often been described as one of the scariest films of all time.[98]Rex Reed called it the most terrifying film he had ever seen.[99]Empire described it as "the most purely horrifying horror movie ever made" and called it "never less than totally committed to scaring you witless".[100] Reminiscing about his first viewing of the film, horror directorWes Craven recalled wondering "what kind ofMansonite crazoid" could have created such a thing.[101] It is a work of "cataclysmic terror", in the words of horror novelistStephen King, who declared, "I would happily testify to its redeeming social merit in any court in the country."[102] CriticRobin Wood found it one of the few horror films to possess "the authentic quality of nightmare".[103]Quentin Tarantino called it "one of the few perfect movies ever made."[104]
Based on 91 reviews published since 2000, the review aggregate websiteRotten Tomatoes reports that 85% of critics gave it a positive review, with an average score of 8.20/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Thanks to a smart script and documentary-style camerawork,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre achieves start-to-finish suspense, making it a classic in low-budget exploitation cinema."[105] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[106]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is widely considered one of the greatest—and most controversial—horror films of all time[107][108] and a major influence on the genre.[48][109] In 1999, Richard Zoglin ofTime commented that it had "set a new standard for slasher films".[110]The Times listed it as one of the 50 most controversial films of all time.[111]Tony Magistrale believes the film paved the way for horror to be used as a vehicle for social commentary.[112] Describing it as "cheap, grubby and out of control", Mark Olsen of theLos Angeles Times declared that it "both defines and entirely supersedes the very notion of the exploitation picture".[113] In his bookDark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film, David Hogan called it "the most affecting gore thriller of all and, in a broader view, among the most effective horror films ever made ... the driving force ofThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre is something far more horrible than aberrant sexuality: total insanity."[114][115] According to Bill Nichols, it "achieves the force of authentic art, profoundly disturbing, intensely personal, yet at the same time far more than personal".[116]Leonard Wolf praised the film as "an exquisite work of art" and compared it to aGreek tragedy, noting the lack of onscreen violence.[117]
Leatherface has gained a reputation as a significant character in the horror genre.[118][119]Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com said, "In our collective consciousness, Leatherface and his chainsaw have become as iconic asFreddy and his razors orJason and his hockey mask."[120] Don Sumner calledThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre a classic that not only introduced a new villain to the horror pantheon but also influenced an entire generation of filmmakers.[121] According to Rebecca Ascher-Walsh ofEntertainment Weekly, it laid the foundations for theHalloween,Evil Dead, andBlair Witch horror franchises.[122] Wes Craven crafted his 1977 filmThe Hills Have Eyes as an homage toMassacre,[123] whileRidley Scott cited Hooper's film as an inspiration for his 1979 filmAlien.[124][125] French directorAlexandre Aja credited it as an early influence on his career.[126] Horror filmmaker and heavy metal musicianRob Zombie sees it as a major influence on his work, including his filmsHouse of 1000 Corpses (2003) andThe Devil's Rejects (2005).[127][128]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was selected for the 1975Cannes Film FestivalDirectors' Fortnight[63] andBFI London Film Festival.[56] In 1976, it won the Special Jury Prize at theAvoriaz Fantastic Film Festival in France.[129]Entertainment Weekly ranked the film sixth on its 2003 list of "The Top 50 Cult Films".[130] In a 2005Total Film poll, it was selected as the greatest horror film of all time.[107][131] It was named amongTime's top 25 horror films in 2007.[132] In 2008 the film ranked number 199 onEmpire magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time".[133]Empire also ranked it 46th in its list of the 50 greatest independent films.[134] In a 2010Total Film poll, it was again selected as the greatest horror film; the judging panel included veteran horror directors such as John Carpenter, Wes Craven, andGeorge A. Romero.[135] In 2010, as well,The Guardian ranked it number 14 on its list of the top 25 horror films.[136] It was also voted the greatest horror film of all time inSlant Magazine's 2013 list of the greatest horror films of all time.[137] It was also voted the scariest movie of all time in a 2017 list byComplex[138] and voted the best horror movie of all time in a 2017 list byThrillist.[139] It was also voted the scariest movie of all time in a 2018 list byConsequence of Sound[140] and voted the best horror movie of all time in a 2018 list byEsquire.[141] In 2024,Variety selected it as the greatest horror movie of all time.[142]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was inducted into theHorror Hall of Fame in 1990, with Hooper accepting the award,[143] and it is part of the permanent collection of New York City'sMuseum of Modern Art.[48] In 2012, the film was named by critics in theBritish Film Institute'sSight & Sound magazine asone of the 250 greatest films.[144] TheAcademy Film Archive houses the Texas Chain Saw Massacre Collection, which contains over fifty items, including many original elements for the film.[145]
Hooper's apocalyptic landscape is ... a desert wasteland of dissolution where once vibrant myth is desiccated. The ideas and iconography ofCooper,Bret Harte andFrancis Parkman are now transmogrified into yards of dying cattle, abandoned gasoline stations, defiled graveyards, crumbling mansions, and a ramshackle farmhouse of psychotic killers.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [is] ... recognizable as a statement about the dead end of American experience.
Critic Christopher Sharrett argues that sinceAlfred Hitchcock'sPsycho (1960) andThe Birds (1963), the American horror film has been defined by the questions it poses "about the fundamental validity of the American civilizing process",[147] concerns amplified during the 1970s by the "delegitimation of authority in the wake ofVietnam andWatergate".[148] "IfPsycho began an exploration of a new sense of absurdity in contemporary life, of the collapse of causality and the diseased underbelly ofAmerican Gothic", he writes,The Texas Chain Saw Massacre "carries this exploration to a logical conclusion, addressing many of the issues of Hitchcock's film while refusing comforting closure".[149]
Robin Wood characterizes Leatherface and his family as victims ofindustrial capitalism, their jobs as slaughterhouse workers having been rendered obsolete by technological advances.[150] He states that the picture "brings to focus a spirit of negativity ... that seems to lie not far below the surface of the moderncollective consciousness".[151] Naomi Merritt explores the film's representation of "cannibalistic capitalism" in relation toGeorges Bataille's theory of taboo and transgression.[152] She elaborates on Wood's analysis, stating that the Sawyer family's values "reflect, or correspond to, established and interdependent American institutions ... but their embodiment of these social units is perverted and transgressive."[153]
InKim Newman's view, Hooper's presentation of the Sawyer family during the dinner scene parodies a typical American sitcom family: the gas station owner is the bread-winning father figure; the killer Leatherface is depicted as a bourgeois housewife; the hitchhiker acts as the rebellious teenager.[154] Isabel Cristina Pinedo, author ofRecreational Terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing, states, "The horror genre must keep terror and comedy in tension if it is to successfully tread the thin line that separates it from terrorism and parody ... this delicate balance is struck inThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre in which the decaying corpse of Grandpa not only incorporates horrific and humorous effects, but actually uses one to exacerbate the other."[155]
The underlying themes of the film have been the subject of extensivecritical discussion; critics and scholars have interpreted it as a paradigmaticexploitation film in which female protagonists are subjected to brutal, sadistic violence.[156][157] Stephen Prince comments that the horror is "born of the torment of the young woman subjected to imprisonment and abuse amid decaying arms ... and mobiles made of human bones and teeth."[158] As with many slasher films, it incorporates the "final girl" trope—the heroine and inevitable lone survivor who somehow escapes the horror that befalls the other characters:[159][160] Sally Hardesty is wounded and tortured, yet manages to survive with the help of a male truck driver.[161] Critics argue that even in exploitation films in which the ratio of male and female deaths is roughly equal, the images that linger will be of the violence committed against the female characters.[159][162][163] The specific case ofThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre provides support for this argument: three men are killed in quick fashion, but one woman is brutally slaughtered—hung on a meathook—and the surviving woman endures physical and mental torture.[164] In 1977, critic Mary Mackey described the meathook scene as probably the most brutal onscreen female death in any commercially distributed film.[165] She placed it in a lineage of violent films that depict women as weak and incapable of protecting themselves.[165]
In one study, a group of men were shown five films depicting differing levels of violence against women.[166] On first viewingThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre they experienced symptoms of depression and anxiety; however, upon subsequent viewing they found the violence against women less offensive and more enjoyable.[164] Another study, investigating gender-specific perceptions of slasher films, involved 30 male and 30 female university students.[167] One male participant described the screaming, especially Sally's, as the "most freaky thing" in the film.[167]
According to Jesse Stommel ofBright Lights Film Journal, the lack of explicit violence in the film forces viewers to question their own fascination with violence that they play a central role in imagining.[168] Nonetheless—citing its feverish camera moves, repeated bursts of light, and auditory pandemonium—Stommel asserts that it involves the audience primarily on a sensory rather than an intellectual level.[168]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has been described as "the ultimate pro-vegetarian film" due to itsanimal rights themes. In a video essay, film critic Rob Ager describes the irony in humans' being slaughtered for meat, putting humans in the position of being slaughtered like farm animals. Hooper has confirmed that "it's a film about meat"[169] and even gave up meat while making the film, saying, "In a way I thought the heart of the film was about meat; it's about the chain of life and killingsentient beings."[170][171] Writer-directorGuillermo del Toro became a vegetarian for a time after seeing the film.[172]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has appeared on various home video formats. In the US, it was first released on videotape andCED in the early 1980s byWizard Video andVestron Video.[173][174] TheBritish Board of Film Classification had long since refused a certification for the uncut theatrical version and in 1984 they also refused to certify it for home video, amid amoral panic surrounding "video nasties".[175] After the retirement of BBFC DirectorJames Ferman in 1999, the board passed the film uncut for theatrical and video distribution with an18 certificate, almost 25 years after the original release.[176]The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was released onLaserDisc in the United States in November 1993.[177] It was initially released onDVD in October 1998 in the United States,[178] May 2000 in the United Kingdom[179] and 2001 in Australia.
In 2005 the film received a2K scan and full restoration from the original16mm A/B rolls,[180] which was subsequently released on DVD andBlu-ray. In 2014, a more extensive4K restoration, supervised by Hooper, using the original 16mm A/B reversal rolls, was carried out.[181] After a screening in theDirectors' Fortnight section of the2014 Cannes Film Festival,[182] this was also released on DVD and Blu-ray worldwide.Dark Sky Films' US 40th Anniversary Edition was nominated for Best DVD/BD Special Edition Release at the 2015Saturn Awards.[183] In 2024, for the film's 50th anniversary, the film was released toUltra HD Blu-ray and re-released to VHS in a collector's edition.[184]
In 1982, shortly afterThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre established itself as a success on US home video, Wizard Video released a mass-market video game adaptation for theAtari 2600.[185] In the game, the player assumes the role of Leatherface and attempts to murder trespassers while avoiding obstacles such as fences and cow skulls.[185] As one of the first horror-themed video games,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre caused controversy when it was first released due to its violent nature; it sold poorly as a result, because many game stores refused to stock it.[186][187]
The film has been followed by eightother films to date, including sequels, prequels and remakes. The first sequel,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), was considerably more graphic and violent than the original and was banned in Australia for 20 years before it was released on DVD in a revised special edition in October 2006.[188]Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) was the second sequel to appear, though Hooper did not return to direct due to scheduling conflicts with another film,Spontaneous Combustion.[189]Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, starringRenée Zellweger andMatthew McConaughey, was released in 1995. While briefly acknowledging the events of the preceding two sequels, its plot makes it a virtual remake of the 1974 original.[190] A straight remake,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was released byPlatinum Dunes andNew Line Cinema in 2003.[191] It was followed by a prequel,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, in 2006. A seventh film,Texas Chainsaw 3D, was released on January 4, 2013.[191] It is a direct sequel to the original 1974 film, with no relation to the previous sequels, or the 2003 remake.[192][193] Another prequel,Leatherface, was released exclusively toDirecTV on September 21, 2017, before receiving a wider release onvideo on demand and inlimited theaters, simultaneously, in North America on October 20, 2017.[194] Another sequel,Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was released exclusively onNetflix on February 18, 2022.[195][196][197][198]
In 2023, both a tabletop game and a pinball machine based on the film were released.[199][200] In 2025, a haunted house attraction calledUniversal Horror Unleashed features characters from the film.[201]
it was 110 degrees or whatever in the sun
we couldn't get the blood out of the tube onto the knife edge and so after the fourth or fifth take... I turned away from everybody... and just cut her
{{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: flag (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
| Films |
|
|---|---|
| Video games |
|
| Characters | |
| Related | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
