The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Description
It’s been 50 years since Tobe Hooper’s slasher masterpiece first chilled the world with its nihilistic portrait of a murderous family living in a Texas farmhouse. Having spawned sequels and remakes and a legion of admirers and detractors, the film traveled the path from grindhouse nasty to cult classic to the Library of Congress National Film Registry. The story boils down to essentials—five teenagers on a road trip stop at a rural homestead looking for gas and find a family hellbent on murder instead. With a cast of relative unknowns, shot on 16mm with a miniscule budget, Massacre is chilling because there is no tidy backstory for the bludgeoning brood, just a plethora of fearsome farm implements (including the titular chainsaw) used to ply their psychopathic pastime. As a special treat, the Festival also offers Alexandre O. Philippe’s Chain Reactions, where five artists discuss the impact this film had on their lives and craft. —Rod Armstrong
Attendee Information
This film is part of a 6-film retrospective focus on classic horror films including Chain Reactions (2024), The Babadook (2014), Carnival of Souls (1962), The Fog (1980), and They Live (1988).
Biographies
Austin, TX, native Tobe Hooper (1943-2017) made his feature debut with Eggshells in 1971, but it was second feature, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), that established his reputation as a master of horror. Among his other works are Eaten Alive (1976), the Stephen King miniseries Salem’s Lot (1979), The Funhouse (1981), Poltergeist (1982), Lifeforce (1985), Invaders from Mars (1986), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), The Mangler (1995), and Toolbox Murders (2004). His final film was Djinn (2013).