{"id":61406,"date":"2021-01-03T17:30:33","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T00:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=61406"},"modified":"2021-03-10T20:50:03","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T03:50:03","slug":"texas-chain-saw-massacre-the-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=61406","title":{"rendered":"Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The (1974)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Everything means something, I guess.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Massacre-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Massacre-Poster-202x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-61408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Massacre-Poster-202x300.png 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Massacre-Poster-690x1024.png 690w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Massacre-Poster-86x128.png 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Massacre-Poster-182x270.png 182w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Massacre-Poster.png 743w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile on a trip to visit their grandfather&#8217;s grave, a young woman (Marilyn Burns) and her wheelchair-bound brother (Paul A. Partain) &#8212; along with three friends (Allen Danziger, William Vail, and Teri McMinn) &#8212; encounter an unsettling hitchhiker (Edwin Neal), then the rest of his family of psychopathic cannibals: Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), the Old Man (Jim Siedow), and &#8220;Grandpa&#8221; (John Dugan).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cannibalism<\/li>\n<li>Horror Films<\/li>\n<li>Living Nightmare<\/li>\n<li>Psychopaths<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;ferocious, independently made cult horror film by Tobe Hooper&#8221; &#8212; which led &#8220;to his <em>Poltergeist<\/em> assignment in Hollywood&#8221; &#8212; is &#8220;well-made but unpleasant&#8221;, filled with &#8220;quirky humor, bizarre characters&#8230;, and terrifying, brutally violent sequences.&#8221; He points out that &#8220;in the weird cannibalism subgenre,&#8221; it is &#8220;the most striking example of a picture that emphasizes the slaughter of human beings for &#8216;meat&#8217; rather than for outright feast.&#8221; His suggestion that it might have been &#8220;made by vegetarians and animal lovers who wanted to make viewers identify with poor animals in a slaughterhouse that have their heads crushed by sledgehammers&#8230;, are hung on meat hooks&#8230;, are put in freezers&#8230;, [and] are sliced up into little chunks by chain saws in preparation for human consumption&#8221; seems right on the mark. Peary points out that the &#8220;film duplicated the nightmarish effect of Herschell Lewis&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=124\"><em>Two Thousand Maniacs<\/em><\/a>&#8220;, and notes that while &#8220;Hooper claimed Hitchcock influenced him greatly&#8221;, their &#8220;styles are dissimilar except for their shared ability to get viewers to imagine there is more blood on the screen than is actually shown.&#8221; Finally, Peary notes that while &#8220;Hitchcock builds <em>suspense<\/em>&#8220;, &#8220;Hooper prefers having one shock after another to achieve <em>terror<\/em>&#8221; &#8212; and while &#8220;Hitchcock reminds us we&#8217;re watching a movie, Hooper strives for reality.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>In his <em>Cult Movies<\/em> book, Peary goes into further detail about the legacy of <em>Texas Chainsaw<\/em> &#8212; including the fact that during its sneak preview in San Francisco, some unsuspecting moviegoers &#8220;threw up; others stormed the lobby to protest what they (and their children) were being subjected to&#8221;; and &#8220;when no money was refunded, punches were thrown&#8221; and &#8220;two city officials in attendance that night threatened to sue the theater on behalf of themselves and other irate viewers.&#8221; Thus, Peary writes, &#8220;began the bizarre history of the seventies&#8217; most controversial cult horror film.&#8221; He adds that the film &#8220;kept doing great business wherever it played&#8221;, and &#8220;as its cult grew, so did its reputation for quality.&#8221; He notes that &#8220;the main differences between <em>Chain Saw<\/em> and both <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5177\"><em>Psycho<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=20319\"><em>Deranged<\/em><\/a>&#8221; &#8212; also loosely based on the real-life exploits of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein &#8212; is that &#8220;its villains are <em>completely<\/em> unsympathetic&#8221;. Ultimately, this film &#8220;perfectly reproduces our worst nightmares &#8212; being in a strange locale where we are attacked for no reason at all by homicidal maniacs we have never seen before&#8221;; and while it&#8217;s most definitely not for everyone&#8217;s tastes (certainly not for mine), it should be seen once simply for its place in cinematic horror history.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Effective cinematography and direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-1024x567.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"354\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-61411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-1024x567.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-768x425.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-1536x851.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-487x270.png 487w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Cinematography.png 1807w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5-1024x562.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"351\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-61410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5-1024x562.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5-768x422.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5-1536x844.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5-492x270.png 492w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Still5.png 1837w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Memorable sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-61412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2-1536x860.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2-482x270.png 482w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Texas-Chain-Saw-Set2.png 1819w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, but only once, for its infamy and cult status. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0072271\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/horror\/texas-chain-saw-massacre-1974.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eyeforfilm.co.uk\/review\/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-film-review-by-anton-bitel\">Eye For Film Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Everything means something, I guess.&#8221; Synopsis: While on a trip to visit their grandfather&#8217;s grave, a young woman (Marilyn Burns) and her wheelchair-bound brother (Paul A. Partain) &#8212; along with three friends (Allen Danziger, William Vail, and Teri McMinn) &#8212; encounter an unsettling hitchhiker (Edwin Neal), then the rest of his family of psychopathic cannibals: Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), the Old Man (Jim Siedow), and &#8220;Grandpa&#8221; (John Dugan). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Cannibalism Horror Films Living Nightmare Psychopaths Response to&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=61406\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61406"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70379,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61406\/revisions\/70379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}