Just over half a decade before Jason would hit our screens for the first time, and a full one before Freddie Kreuger began haunting teenager’s dreams, there was Leatherface, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s chainsaw-wielding maniac killer.
The film follows a group of friends who fall prey to a family of cannibals whilst on their way to visit an old homestead. The film was loosely inspired by the crimes of serial killer Ed Gein, however, the plot is largely fictional.
“I studied what made horror films work and I decided to place a story in the ambience of death”
Director, Tobe Hooper, said in an interview with Phil Van Tongeren in 2015 that, “the things that got attention and that could be made for a low budget, were horror films. There were no rules, so long as it worked. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out of my sensibilities and my reactions to the times. I studied what made horror films work and I decided to place a story in the ambience of death.”
The film was produced on a budget of less than $140,000 and used a cast of relatively unknown actors, mainly from central Texas.
Video Nasty
What may shock viewers is that director Hooper limited the onscreen gore hoping the film would secure a PG rating. He would even phone the MPAA every week of production for advice on how to get the rating. Needless to say, that’s far from what happened. Due to the film’s heavily violent themes – even if not explicitly gory, it was classified as a “video nasty”. The film was rejected by the BBFC twice, once in 1975 for its theatrical release and again in the 1980s for a home video release. It was only granted an uncut 18 rating by the board in August 1999.
“The ultimate pro-vegetarian film”
Texas Chainsaw has taken on a reputation in recent years as being “the ultimate pro-vegetarian film” with Hooper himself calling it “a film about meat”. Film critic, Rob Ager described the irony of humans being slaughtered for meat, putting us in a similar position to farm animals. Hooper gave up meat while making the film.
The film is now regarded as one of the greatest horrors of all time and had a massive influence on the genre. In 1999, Richard Zoglin (Time) commented that it had “set a new standard for slasher films”. Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) was inspired by it, as well as Wes Craven’s 1977 film which paid homage. Rob Zombie has also credited the film as being a major influence on his cinematic works like House of 1000 Corpses (2003). More recently, Ti West’s X took inspiration from Hooper’s classic.
There’s no doubt that in another 50 years, the legacy of Texas Chainsaw will persist and it’s influence remains as strong in the cinematic landscape of 2024 as it did in the 1970s.
Featured Image Credit: Second Sight