Texas Chain Saw Massacre: A Nightmare You Can't Sleep Off

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 horror film directed by Tobe Hooper. The plot follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. The film was marketed as being based on true events, though this was not the case. The film was produced on a low budget, with a cast of relatively unknown actors, and shot in central Texas. Despite difficulties in finding a distributor due to its violent content, the film was highly profitable and has since become regarded as one of the best and most influential horror films. The house from the film has been turned into a restaurant and bar, and the gas station featured in the film has been restored and opened to the public, allowing visitors to stay the night. The film spawned a franchise, including sequels, prequels, a remake, comic books, and video games.

The film's influence on the horror genre

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is widely considered one of the most influential horror films of all time. The film is credited with originating several elements that are now common in the slasher genre, including the use of power tools as murder weapons and the characterisation of the killer as a large, hulking, masked figure. The film's influence can be seen in the Halloween, Evil Dead, and Blair Witch horror franchises, as well as in films such as Ridley Scott's Alien and Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects.

The film's gritty, mean, and barbaric vision of horror filmmaking, without relying on excessive gore, has been highly influential. Its iconic shots, such as Leatherface manically waving his chainsaw at the end of the film against the burnt sunrise, have left a lasting impact on the horror genre. The character of Leatherface himself, played by Gunnar Hansen, has become a significant figure in horror, with his chainsaw and mask becoming iconic horror imagery.

The film's impact extends beyond the horror genre, with director Takashi Miike citing it as an influence on his hyper-violent films, such as Audition and Ichi the Killer. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's influence can also be seen in the work of Australian film critic Alexandra Heller Nicholas, who explores the film's visual language and the importance of its colour palette in shaping the viewer's experience.

The film's exploration of social commentary within the horror genre has also been influential. Critic Tony Magistrale believes the film paved the way for horror to be used as a vehicle for social commentary, with its portrayal of a family as victims of industrial capitalism. The film's director, Tobe Hooper, has cited changes in the cultural and political landscape as central influences on the film, intending it as a response to government misinformation and the brutality of the Vietnam War.

The character of Leatherface

Leatherface is considered to be the main antagonist of the franchise as he drives most of the movie's plot and appears in all the films, although he takes orders from his older family members. He is portrayed as being "completely under the control of his family" and is described as a "big baby" who kills in self-defence because he feels threatened. In the first film, he shows fear when new people enter his home.

In the original film, Leatherface kills four out of five young adults who visit a property adjacent to the Sawyer house. He is about to kill the fifth, Sally Hardesty, but she escapes. Leatherface pursues her, but she manages to get away.

In the second film, set 13 years after the original massacre, Leatherface, now called Bubba, lives with his dad, Drayton, and his brother, Chop Top, who was away in Vietnam during the first film. Bubba attacks two young men in a car, resulting in a crash that kills them both. He also attacks a radio DJ named Stretch, but spares her life. Stretch is eventually rescued by her uncle, Sheriff Lefty, who is also Sally and Franklin Hardesty's uncle. At the end of the film, Bubba is impaled by Lefty's chainsaw, but survives.

In the third film, it is revealed that a single Sawyer survived the night of the 1973 massacre and was apprehended by law enforcement. He is named W.E. Sawyer and a jury determines that Leatherface is his murderous alter ego, sentencing him to death. However, Leatherface survives and appears in subsequent films.

In the 2003 reboot, the family name is changed to Hewitt, and Leatherface is presented as upright, muscular, methodical, and duty-bound, serving as the enforcer for his family. In this version, he doesn't kill out of passion.

In the 2022 film, Leatherface is living in an orphanage in the town of Harlow. When a group of young entrepreneurs arrive and make plans to gentrify the town, he kills several of them, including Dante and Ruth. He also kills the caretaker of the orphanage, Virginia "Ginny" McCumber, and skins her face to wear as a mask. He is about to kill Melody and Lila, but they escape.

The film's production and budget

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was produced on a shoestring budget of $60,000, raised by Bill Parsley, a Texas Tech administrator and former member of the Texas Legislature. The film's director, Tobe Hooper, and co-writer, Kim Henkel, had day jobs at the time and sent the script to anyone they thought might lead them to an investor. They prepared three separate budgets: a high-end budget of $60,000, a mid-range budget of $40,000, and a desperation black-and-white budget of $25,000.

The film was shot in gruelling conditions during the dog days of a Texas summer. The cast and crew worked 7 days a week, 12-16 hours a day, in temperatures exceeding 100°F (with a record high of 115°F) in a poorly ventilated farmhouse amid rotting roadkill used as props. The single bathroom was shared by over three dozen people, and costumes could not be changed as the actors only had one set of clothes. The heat and stench were so punishing that the actors would run to the windows to throw up and get some fresh air between takes.

The film's special effects were simple and limited by the budget. In some cases, real blood was used, such as the scene in which the character of Leatherface feeds "Grandpa". In another instance, the crew had difficulty getting the stage blood to come out of its tube, so the actress playing Sally, Marilyn Burns, had her index finger cut with a razor instead.

The film's budget eventually ballooned to just over $100,000. Despite the challenging production, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre grossed over $30 million at the domestic box office, equivalent to roughly over $150.8 million as of 2019, selling over 16.5 million tickets in 1974.

The film's critical reception

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre received a mixed critical response upon its initial release in 1974. Critics were divided over the film's extreme violence, with some describing it as "despicable" and "appalling". Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times, for instance, criticised the filmmakers for being more concerned with creating a realistic atmosphere than with the script. The film was also banned in several countries due to its violent content.

However, other critics praised the film's acting and technical execution. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times acknowledged the film's violent nature but also called it "well-made" and "well-acted". Patrick Taggart of the Austin American-Statesman hailed it as the most important horror film since George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), and Variety found the picture to be well-made despite its "heavy doses of gore".

In the years since its release, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has gained a reputation as one of the best horror films in cinema history and is now considered a classic. Critics have frequently praised the film's aesthetic quality and its power, with Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle calling it "a backwoods masterpiece of fear and loathing". It has also been described as one of the scariest films of all time by critics such as Rex Reed, who called it the most terrifying film he had ever seen.

The film's legacy

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential horror films of all time. It is credited with originating several elements common in the slasher genre, including the use of power tools as murder weapons and the characterisation of the killer as a large, hulking, masked figure. It has inspired numerous sequels, prequels, remakes, comic books, and video games, and even an upcoming haunted house attraction.

The film's impact can be seen in the many horror franchises it has influenced, including Halloween, Evil Dead, and Blair Witch. It has also been recognised and celebrated by numerous horror filmmakers, including Wes Craven, Ridley Scott, and Rob Zombie. In 2024, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" work.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has also left a mark on popular culture beyond the horror genre. The film's iconic imagery, such as Leatherface's mask made of human skin and his blood-soaked chainsaw, has become ingrained in the public imagination. The film's legacy can be seen in the many references and homages it has inspired in other media, including video games, comic books, and even an Atari 2600 video game adaptation.

Additionally, the film's impact can be felt in the real-world locations associated with it. The house from the film, located in Kingsland, Texas, has been renovated and now operates as a restaurant and bar, attracting visitors from around the world who come to experience the location of one of horror's most iconic settings. Similarly, the gas station featured in the film, located in Bastrop, Texas, has been restored and now offers visitors the opportunity to stay overnight in cabins, further extending the film's legacy and impact.

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