the haunting terror of tobe hooper's "the texas chain saw massacre" (1974)
rewatching an american summer classic
arguably the greatest american horror film ever made, the original texas chain saw massacre is a true sensory experience. when you watch it, you can feel the oppressive heat of the texan sun beating down on you, hear the locusts in the hot air, and smell the death and dust that’s been collecting for decades in the old family farmhouse. the film is 50 years old now, but it’s just as effective as when it was first released in 1974.
given the subject matter, this gem was at the very bottom of my friend’s watch list for some time, so it only seemed appropriate that we start our weekly watch party with it. i was pleased to find that she appreciated the film technique and cinematography. “this is just like true detective!” she exclaimed at one point.
she did, however, absolutely hate the scene where Sawyer repeatedly jabs our heroine, sally, with the handle of a broomstick as he drives her back to the farmhouse for the infamous family dinner (a scene that always reminded me of the awkward meals i’d have with friends’ weird families during sleepovers as a kid). in a film rife with senseless bludgeoning, meathook impalement, and chainsaw dismemberment, it feels odd to deem the chaotic broomstick jabbing the most offensive part of this film. but somehow my friend was right: it is.
listen on Spotify below, or access on other platforms (i.e., apple) here
we had a fun time watching this one and recording this little recap, but disclaimer this is not very serious. if you think podcasts are lame (yeh they kinda are) or i am corny (yeh i kinda am), skip it and just enjoy the movie stills.
Love this film and loved the first episode. When’s the next?
I liked the podcast too. You avoided the common podcast pitfall of having no structure at all. You had a pre-movie talk, then played sounds of the movie, then talked about it with some questions that seemed prepared. Just stuff like predicting 1 to 10 rating, then saying an actual rating afterwards kept the conversation from meandering. A lot of podcasters wouldn't bother having that amount of structure and it really makes it much easier to listen to. My only suggestion is that you start off the post-movie talk by having someone recap the plot of the movie in ~60 seconds.
My only Texas Chainsaw Massacre contribution is that it's rumored to be partially inspired by Christina's World, the painting by Andrew Wyeth. I can only trace that to weird tumblers or dead blogs but I'd still probably smugly drop that if I'm ever on a date at MoMA. I had never seen the movie before, but kind of felt like I was familiar with it just through cultural osmosis. I watched it last night after the bar because of your podcast. I always had the impression that it was blood and jump scares and wasn't expecting it to be so unsettling. A lot of ominous walking around.
Anyways, good show.