THE GREEN SLIME (1968)

Pre-dating both ARMAGEDDON and ALIEN (by many years), THE GREEN SLIME tells the story of some brave men who drill holes into an approaching "global killer" asteroid and blow it up before it can collide with the Earth.  Unfortunately, while they were on the asteroid they picked up a hitchhiker in the form of an icky green slime.  Once they are back on their space station, the green slime grows into a nasty-looking creature that uses it's blood as a defense mechanism by reproducing whenever it bleeds.

That might sound thrilling, but THE GREEN SLIME is not what you would describe as "a well-made film".  The special effects are dated beyond belief, the sets look painfully cheap, the supporting actors often look confused, there's an endless supply of plot holes and worst of all: the ludicrous jockeying between the two officers in charge of the space station.  They literally argue the entire film!  It's ridiculous.  At one point all of the creatures are completely trapped in a confined area and the one dude goes out of his way to disobey the other guy's orders to not open the hatch and, of course, the monsters then proceed to wreck the entire space station.  What an idiot.  He does this over and over!

I remember seeing THE GREEN SLIME on TV (I think it was on Dr. Paul Bearer's "Creature Feature") when I was very young and it freaked me out, but watching it again now 30+ years later...it's pretty bad.  I did get a number of laughs out of it though.

Recommended for fans of cheesy 1960's sci-fi cinema.

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.