Post by loverofbeers on Sept 27, 2014 16:43:06 GMT -5
Just a heads up to Horror fans. The fortieth anniversary of the release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, aka The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, is October 1, 2014. That is this upcoming Wednesday. This is my favorite Horror flick which I first watched either at the age of eight or ten meaning that I have been watching this movie since either 1982 or 1984, so at least for the past thirty years. For the last decade I have watched this movie at least once a year and for the last number of years I have watched this macabre flick every October.
I would love to ask all fans of Horror to take the time on Wednesday to watch this movie and help celebrate it's birthday. A Cheers! to Tobe Hooper. And recently the "survivor girl" of this classic gem of low budget genius passed away. A Cheers! to her memory. RIP Marylin Burns.
One more hearty Cheers! to co-writer Kim Henkel and the whole cast and crew:
Marilyn Burns
Allen Danziger
Paul A. Partain
William Vail
Teri McMinn
Edwin Neal
Jim Siedow
Gunnar Hansen
John Dugan
Robert Courtin
William Creamer
John Henry Faulk
Jerry Green
Ed Guinn
Joe Bill Hogan
Perry Lorenz
John Larroquette
Produced by
Kim Henkel ... associate producer
Tobe Hooper ... producer
Jay Parsley ... executive producer
Richard Saenz ... associate producer
Music by
Wayne Bell
Tobe Hooper
Cinematography by
Daniel Pearl
Film Editing by
J. Larry Carroll ... (as Larry Carroll)
Sallye Richardson
Art Direction by
Robert A. Burns
Makeup Department
W.E. Barnes ... makeup artist: grandfather
Dorothy J. Pearl ... makeup artist (as Dorothy Pearl)
Production Management
Ronald M. Bozman ... production manager (as Ronald Bozman)
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sallye Richardson ... assistant director
Sound Department
Wayne Bell ... boom operator / post-production sound
Jay M. Harding ... dubbing mixer (as Jay Harding)
Paul Harrison ... sound re-recordist
Robert Knudson ... dubbing mixer (as Buzz Knudson)
Ted Nicolaou ... location sound recordist
Jesse Mestas ... commentary re-recordist (uncredited)
Michael J. White ... sound re-recording mixer: home video version (uncredited)
Patrick Yacono ... sound re-recording mixer (restorated version) (uncredited)
Special Effects by
Dean W. Miller ... special effects
Stunts
Mary Church ... stunts
Perry Lorenz ... stunt driver
Camera and Electrical Department
Tobe Hooper ... additional photographer
Lynn Lockwood ... lighting (as Lynn Lochwood)
J. Michael McClary ... camera assistant (as J. Michael Mcclary)
Lou Perryman ... assistant camera
Rod Ponton ... grip
Lynn Scherwitz ... key grip (as Linn Scherwitz)
Other crew
George Baetz ... production assistant
Jerry Bellnoski ... production assistant
Mary Church ... script girl
Jim Crow ... production assistant
Paula Eaton ... production assistant
Tom Foote ... production assistant
Paulette Gochnour ... production assistant
Charlie Loving ... production assistant
Sally Nicolau ... production assistant
N.C. Parsley ... production assistant
Robert Pustejowski ... production assistant (as Robert Pustejovski)
David Spaw ... production assistant
Ray Spaw ... production assistant
The above is from IMDB. The following from the mighty Wikipedia:
Upon its October 1974 release, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was banned outright in several countries, and numerous theaters later stopped showing the film in response to complaints about its violence. While it initially drew a mixed reception from critics, it was enormously profitable, grossing over $30 million at the domestic box office. It has since gained a reputation as one of the best horror films in cinema history. It is credited with originating several elements common in the slasher genre, including the use of power tools as murder weapons and the characterization of the killer as a large, hulking, faceless figure. The popularity of the film led to a franchise that continued the story of Leatherface and his family through sequels, remakes, one prequel, comic books and video games.
Critical response
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre received a mixed reaction upon its initial release. Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times called it "despicable" and described Henkel and Hooper as more concerned with creating a realistic atmosphere than with its "plastic script". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said it was "as violent and gruesome and blood-soaked as the title promises", yet praised its acting and technical execution. Patrick Taggart of the Austin American-Statesman hailed it as the most important horror film since George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968). Variety found the picture to be well-made, despite what it called the "heavy doses of gore". John McCarty of Cinefantastique stated that the house featured in the film made the Bates motel "look positively pleasant by comparison". Revisiting the film in his 1976 article "Fashions in Pornography" for Harper's Magazine, Stephen Koch found its sadistic violence to be extreme and unimaginative.
Critics later frequently praised both the film's aesthetic quality and its power. Observing that it managed to be "horrifying without being a bloodbath (you'll see more gore in a Steven Seagal film)", Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle called it "a backwoods masterpiece of fear and loathing". TV Guide thought it was "intelligent" in its "bloodless depiction of violence", while Anton Bitel felt the fact that it was banned in the United Kingdom was a tribute to its artistry. He pointed out how the quiet sense of foreboding at the beginning of the film grows, until the viewer experiences "a punishing assault on the senses". In Hick Flicks: The Rise and Fall of Redneck Cinema, Scott Von Doviak commended its effective use of daylight shots, unusual among horror films, such as the sight of a corpse draped over a tombstone in the opening sequence. Mike Emery of The Austin Chronicle praised the film's "subtle touches"—such as radio broadcasts heard in the background describing grisly murders around Texas—and said that what made it so dreadful was that it never strayed too far from potential reality.
It has often been described as one of the scariest films of all time. Rex Reed called it the most terrifying film he had ever seen. Empire described it as "the most purely horrifying horror movie ever made" and called it "never less than totally committed to scaring you witless". Reminiscing about his first viewing of the film, horror director Wes Craven recalled wondering "what kind of Mansonite crazoid" could have created such a thing. It is a work of "cataclysmic terror", in the words of horror novelist Stephen King, who declared, "I would happily testify to its redeeming social merit in any court in the country." Critic Robin Wood found it one of the few horror films to possess "the authentic quality of nightmare". Based on 42 reviews published since 2000, the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 90% of critics gave it a positive review, with an average score of 7.6 out of 10.
Cultural impact
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is considered one of the greatest—and most controversial—of horror films, and a major influence on the genre. In 1999 Richard Zoglin of Time commented that it had "set a new standard for slasher films". The Times listed it as one of the 50 most controversial films of all time. Tony Magistrale believes the film paved the way for horror to be used as a vehicle for social commentary. Describing it as "cheap, grubby and out of control", Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times declared that it "both defines and entirely supersedes the very notion of the exploitation picture". In his book Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film, David Hogan called it "the most affecting gore thriller of all and, in a broader view, among the most effective horror films ever made ... the driving force of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is something far more horrible than aberrant sexuality: total insanity." According to Bill Nichols, it "achieves the force of authentic art, profoundly disturbing, intensely personal, yet at the same time far more than personal". Leonard Wolf praised the film as "...an exquisite work of art" and compared it to a Greek tragedy, noting the lack of onscreen violence.[98]
Leatherface has gained a reputation as a significant character in the horror genre, responsible for establishing the use of conventional tools as murder weapons and the image of a large, silent killer devoid of personality. Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com said, "In our collective consciousness, Leatherface and his chainsaw have become as iconic as Freddy and his razors or Jason and his hockey mask." Don Sumner called The Texas Chain Saw Massacre a classic that not only introduced a new villain to the horror pantheon but also influenced an entire generation of filmmakers. According to Rebecca Ascher-Walsh of Entertainment Weekly, it laid the foundations for future horror franchises such as Halloween, The Evil Dead, and The Blair Witch Project. Ridley Scott cited it as an inspiration for his 1979 film Alien. French director Alexandre Aja credited it as an early influence on his career. Horror filmmaker and heavy metal musician Rob Zombie sees it as a major influence on his art, most notably his 2003 film House of 1000 Corpses.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was selected for the 1975 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight and London Film Festival. In 1976, it won the Special Jury Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival in France. Entertainment Weekly ranked the film sixth on its 2003 list of "The Top 50 Cult Films". In a 2005 Total Film poll, it was selected as the greatest horror film of all time. It was named among Time magazine's top 25 horror films in 2007. In 2008 the film ranked number 199 on Empire magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire also ranked it 46th in its list of the 50 greatest independent films. In a 2010 Total Film poll, it was again selected as the greatest horror film; the judging panel included veteran horror directors such as John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and George A. Romero. In 2010, as well, The Guardian ranked it number 14 on its list of the top 25 horror films. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was inducted into the Horror Hall of Fame in 1990, with director Hooper accepting the award, and it is part of the permanent collection of New York City's Museum of Modern Art. In 2012, the film was named by critics in the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound magazine as one of the 250 greatest films.