Saturday, August 1, 2015

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974)

After hearing reports of grave robbing, sister and brother Sally and Franklin Hardesty, along with three friends go on a road trip to check on their grandfathers grave and to stop by the old family homestead.  Things are going fine until they pick up a hitchhiker who happens to be part of a murderous family of cannibals.  The rest is movie history.

If I had to list the three most influential movies on my life they would probably be BACK TO THE FUTURE, ALIENS and THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.  As a teenager/young adult falling in love with movies, I watched those three films hundreds of times.  Hell, I still have 'em on my phone and watch 'em whenever I'm bored.  They've become a more realistic part of my life than many actual parts of my life!

Even without the nostalgic value, I still believe that TCM is one of the best movies of all time.  There's just something genuine about it.   Now whether that is actually true or not, I have no idea, but it definitely seems so.  That same honest feeling is why I included PINK FLAMINGOS on my Best Movies List.  No celebrities, no gore, only a small amount of blood, no nudity, no popular songs, no ghosts, no jump scenes...just some people who wanted to make an original horror movie and every single one of the movie gods smiling at once

I'm sure people will scoff at this, but I believe, the scene where Pam enters the house is one of the most influential scenes in movie history...the set design, the sound design, the lighting, the editing, the overwhelming sense of doom...that moment has been copied countless times in horror movies and music videos ever since.

Easily one of the best movies of all time.  My absolute highest recommendation.

Part 2 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Part 3 - Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
Remake/sequel - Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)
Reboot 1 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Reboot prequel - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
Reboot sequel to original - Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)
Prequel - Leatherface (2017)
Direct sequel to original - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

 Behind the scenes.

"W.E. Slaughter Barbecue" according to Gunnar Hansen's book "Chain Saw Confidential" this means the family name is Slaughter.