‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ Is Still Influencing Horror 40 Years Later

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Falsely marketed as “based on a true story,” the tiny slasher film was propelled into a major box office blockbuster, crushing the record as the highest-grossing indie horror film ever (only to be beat four years later by John Carpenter’s Halloween, whose Michael Myers was without a doubt inspired by Leatherface).

Because of the unprecedented violence, the MPAA immediately slapped an R-rating on the film, which hindered it from getting picked up in major movie houses, particularly because it wasn’t backed by a major production company and featured no-name actors at the time. But after its matinee premiere at a tiny movie house in Austin, Texas, word-of-mouth hype surrounding the “true story” pushed the film into theater chains, only to be banned a couple of weeks later thanks to conservative parents who didn’t appreciate the brutality. Yet, like anything banned for being too controversial, it only sparked more intrigue.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is now known as one of the most groundbreaking, provocative, and, yes, terrifying horror films of all time. Though it’s unavailable on streaming — which is totally messed up — all of its successors are available to digitally rent or buy and so are all of the dozens of horror films it inspired. Let’s break down exactly how its legend came to be, shall we?

The Indie Horror
With money pooled from director Tobe Hooper, writer Kim Henkel, and investors, TCSM was cast, filmed, edited, and marketed for under $300,000. This DIY, low-budget nature of horror was unheard of prior to the New Hollywood era of cinema, but it quickly became the hottest trend thanks to the success of the film, inspiring college kids with cameras at their disposal to say, “Hey, I can do that at home!” Currently, DIY horror has been divided into dozens of subgenres, filling midnight screening spots at festivals and creating Vine celebrities who like to tinker with stop-motion effects and try-this-at-home-gore.

The Masked Murderer and Vietnam Media Exposure
Serial killer Ed Gein, who skinned and collected the bones of his victims, serves as one of the inspirations behind Leatherface, the masked madman in TCSM. Hooper also attributes his terrifying antagonist as a product of the violence of the ‘70s. Though the film was falsely marketed as a true story, Hooper has since backed his reasoning for slapping the disclaimer on prints and advertising. Leatherface’s anonymity was inspired by violence of Vietnam, which changed the face of news coverage forever. Showing R-rated material at 6pm certainly changed what audiences expect from the tube, which makes Hollywood’s initial refusal to back Hooper’s film especially ironic. Portraying the murderer as a masked individual symbolized the violence in the world that, at the time, was certainly not limited to just one person or group, but rather a collective state of man.

The Power Tool
Prior to TCSM, audiences were used to seeing guns, knives, ghosts, goblins, aliens, and vampires as threats on the silver screen. Never had anyone dreamed of seeing your dad’s power tools being used to slice and dice innocent travelers. TCSM encouraged filmmakers to get creative with their violence, which was both a blessing and a curse to the horror genre and the suspension of disbelief. Anyone remember Ghost Ship and the tension rope? I remember thinking, “That’s fucking stupid. Whoever OKed that deserves to be smacked.” It’s worth arguing that the most creative slasher/gorefest to be inspired by TCSM in recent years is Saw. For example, I’ll never forget that bear trap scene for as long as I live.

Sequels, Prequels, and Game-ability of Violence
TCSM has spawned four sequels, a prequel, two remakes, a video game, and countless rip-offs and parodies. The film started a trend that has since become somewhat dreaded in horror — like how many more Paranormal Activity flicks can we possibly handle?

And its influence has crossed mediums. Any gamer can attest that a chainsaw is one of the go-to weapons in major label games. Grand Theft Auto, Dead Rising, Doom, and Twisted Metal are just a few. Like the film itself, weapon-inspired violence has been a subject of heavy criticism from angry parents and anti-violence groups.

False Advertising Giving Birth to the Mockumentary
No-name actors, no money, and false “based on a true story” prints and advertising — this all seemed like a formula for failure. Hooper and Henkel, however, mixed something together that had never been tampered with before, and the marketing ploy spawned countless copycats, most famously The Blair Witch Project, which only got people in theater seats thanks to fabrication and ingenious Internet marketing.

Now you can stream The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as well as the sequels and remakes, along with some films it inspired, mentioned above.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) [GoWatchIt]
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) [GoWatchIt]
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) [GoWatchIt]
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) [GoWatchIt]
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) [GoWatchIt]
Texas chainsaw 3D (2013) [GoWatchIt]

The Blair Witch Project (1999) [GoWatchIt]
Ghost Ship (2002) [GoWatchIt]
Saw (2004) [GoWatchIt]
Paranormal Activity (2007) [GoWatchIt]

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Photos: Everett Collection/Vortex