Halloween Spotlight: Texas Chainsaw Massacre

hi this is dan gilbazan and you're listening

to the geek cast radio network hello and welcome

to episode 265 of the cinema geeks i am one of

your cinema geeks optimist solo and joining me

as usual is the comic concierge hello dan hello

how's it going it's going and i think you deserve

some sort of an award or some sort of i don't

know props or flowers or medals or something

because i think you've pulled off what i would

have thought would have been impossible for many

years you've convinced me to do something that

I don't normally do Dan I was wondering where

this was going I'm like wait what did I do I

mean I so spoiler alert we are going to be we're

going to take a break here from I think we might

have said this in the last episode but we're

going to take a quick break from our retrospectives

because it is spooky season and we're going to

give you a series of episodes covering some classic

Halloween Whether it be horror or just Halloween

style type stuff, we're going to be giving you

a number of reviews on those types of films,

which for anybody who knows me, the Halloween

slash horror genre is not one that I typically

am drawn to. I don't spend a lot of time in that

genre kind of watching the films here and there.

That doesn't mean I'm anti all horror films.

It's just more when it comes to the Halloween

ones that get associated with the holiday. It

tends to be a little bit more of the slasher

subgenre of horror. And that is typically not

my jam. I don't mind a little bit more of a psychological

horror film or things like that. And even some

slasher films, I don't mind. I've seen all the

Scream films. I've seen all of the... I guess

our final destination movies, horror films, or

are they just suspense? I don't know. They're

definitely horror. Yeah. I've seen all of those.

There you go. So I've seen all of those. Like

I'm in, and there's other ones, like there's

a lot of modern horror films that I've seen.

Well, we've been covering, you know, more new

movies as they come out, like especially years

ago. Like I'm trying to think of one right off

the top of my head, but like, there's been plenty

that have come out in recent years that I've

seen and had no issues with, but. I'm not typically

one that's going to put in all the Nightmare

on Elm Street, Halloween, the Freddy Jason stuff.

I'm not going to be someone who typically goes

for all of that. But that could be just because

of stuff that I've created in my head over time.

Because as we're going to get into today, I had

a completely different opinion or a picture painted

in my head of what this film was going to be.

And it wasn't really. So, uh, so maybe some of

that's just a stigma that I've always had because

I believe I was at a sleepover once upon a time,

like probably too young. I'm guessing I was somewhere

between the ages of eight and 12 and it was a

sleepover at a, not like a best friend's house,

but just more of like a friend's house. And they

were watching one of the, I think it was nightmare

on Elm street. One of those. that night and like

there was no way out of it for me right like

i'm i'm with a group of friends at a kid's house

it may have been his birthday i don't know but

it was a sleepover of some sort and it's like

this is what they're watching and like i can't

escape this and it might have might have been

too young for me to watch that film i don't know

you can't even fall asleep because then that's

when freddie gets you right it was a bad situation

plus i'm i was like the kid too that like if

you were at a sleepover and somebody put something

on like a lot of people go to a lot of my friends

used to go to bed two movies like they would

turn a movie on and then go to sleep and that

is not how my brain works like yeah as soon as

you put that on i'm gonna be watching it until

like the tv turns into snow which used to be

a thing look it up like yeah the movie gets over

and like the channel stops airing programming

and it just goes to like the white snow like

that would be me like i'm not gonna go to sleep

until whatever we're watching is over i could

not stop myself from doing that so all my friends

would always be asleep and i'd be the one up

still watching the film so i knew i was in trouble

in the situation but so before we get into the

specific films we're going to cover or the one

we're going to cover today dan what's your experience

with halloween horror movies and like all of

the the stuff that kind of goes with it i think

like uh i've never been adverse to horror films

per se uh in the sense of like i hated them or

disliked them or avoided them but they also weren't

something i necessarily gravitated towards i

do think you know i just have to be in the right

mood for them and you know maybe i'm just following

the cloud crowd but in october i do get in the

right mood for them and i do you know get ready

for horror movies and like that that type of

vibe and like similar like i don't love like

not slasher like but i'm not a huge fan of like

the the torture porn types like the saws and

things like that i have seen those in theaters

and i don't know if i saw scream because i think

it was too young but uh but i do enjoy myself

a good thriller in the last few years like last

year the first time i tried to do the 31 horror

movies in 30 31 days a challenge uh you know

and i didn't get it i made it to like 27 28 but

i do have a fondness like as i've been trying

to catch up with them like for the old universal

horror films like the universal monsters like

that like that's a good sweet spot for me like

the 50s and 60s like the the campiness of it

but also do like a you know the conjuring movies

like the those ones like tend to whatever reason

like that's what we'll get in this retro what

mini retrospective or whatever we're calling

it you know the the demon possession ones tend

to tend to like get to me the most you know um

so although maybe that's why i've never watched

the exorcist because i'm still a little bit you

know but that's behind my my mind but yeah so

i again not the biggest horror fan in the sense

of it's like my favorite genre but enjoying it

more plus my wife tends to be a big bigger fan

of it so that got me yeah so uh most of the horror

films i saw in theaters are probably ones that

she was the most interested in so And my wife

is a fan of like the entire genre. Like she likes

the slasher ones. She likes like the thriller

ones. She likes the supernatural ones. Like anything

with zombies or vampires, she's all about like

all of, all of that type of stuff. I was trying

to think too. Um, the, I guess the ones that

I like more are where it's a little bit more

of the, how are these people going to get out

of a situation type stuff? like i am actually

i guess it's kind of ben's genre because it's

not necessarily horror films but like the the

survival type films or like attack of like whatever

a a bazillion ants or spiders or flies or like

whatever if it's some like type of thing like

that for some reason i'm fine with those like

i'm fine when it's like hey there's like a massive

amount of this type of animal or insect or something

coming at us and we're gonna have to some like

almost like tremors right like they're like yeah

there's uh you know there's a way that we're

trying to survive this by intelligence or by

some way shape or form like i i don't mind those

and like a lot of the other i guess a quiet place

is kind of like that right like yeah i i don't

mind those and i don't mind like the The Jordan

Peele stuff, I've enjoyed most of those. I think

most of those are considered a subgenre of horror

or whatever. I think it's more the gore that

I don't necessarily need. I don't need to see

the actual blood and guts on screen. That's going

to make this conversation interesting as we're

getting into Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We're starting

off this whole little journey with... 1974 is

the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which surprise everybody.

This was a blind spot for me. I'd never seen

this one before because it just sounds like in

the title, like it's probably giving me the stuff

that I don't want to see in a horror film. What

was your experience with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

Same thing. I didn't, I've never watched it long.

So this is embarrassing, but I've never watched

this version, but I did see the like 2003 for

remake in theaters. You've done that a couple

of times. yeah it's well we'll talk about carrie

and yeah so i i'm embarrassed to say that you

know same thing with like a few you know what

but that was because it was in that era where

2003 before it was like we're going we're going

every weekend pretty much to the theater so and

so i went to go see that and so i didn't watch

that i literally remember nothing about that

movie uh like just the general plot of it i have

like read about the the real life story that

inspired this the eddie gene um there's a great

comic like uh do you know what ready gene done

by eric powell uh that goes into like what happened

and so i actually had that in the back of my

mind watching this because knowing like where

this is based in you know elements of reality

which is kind of crazy but this is a brand new

watch for me yeah and and we're not pulling any

punches guys we're going with some of the best

known uh horror films out there but it's also

a way i believe to check off a couple blind spots

or you know what they call it the shame well

list of shame yeah list of shame films yeah so

we're going to be able to knock a few of those

out i'm actually trying to look up where plainfield

wisconsin is because that is where the the story

that this is based off of where the guy lived

and i was trying to see how far away that was

from where i used to live so it's like it was

honestly like two hours north of me just to freak

yourself out you know yeah well it wasn't too

far off it tracks with with what i know from

people from that so yeah so dan's gonna lay some

foundation for the texas chainsaw massacre and

then we're gonna come back with our are finally

finally having opinions of this film that is

how old is it now dan it is uh 52 years old 52

i think yeah that's that hurts just because it

only took us 40 years to watch it yeah we weren't

alive for the first you know whatever for me

it was the first seven or so years that this

was around so all right we're gonna let dan set

the stage and we'll come back It is spooky season,

so we start our horror specials with the Texas

Chainsaw Massacre from 1974, directed by Toby

Hooper. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a

group of five young people traveling through

rural Texas during a sweltering summer. Sally,

her paraplegic brother, Franklin, and their friends

Jerry, Kurt, and Pam are are on their way to

visit the grave sites of sally and franklin's

grandfather after hearing reports of grave descirations

along the way they encounter a hitchhiker who

behaves erratically talks about his family history

working in a slaughterhouse and suddenly becomes

violent after the group forces him out of their

van they continue their journey unaware that

they've entered a dangerous stretch of the countryside

when the group runs low on fuel they stop at

an isolated farmhouse in a nearby property where

sally and franklin's family once lived kirk and

pam wander off to explore neighboring house,

hoping to find gasoline. Instead, Kirk enters

the building and is abruptly attacked by a massive

figure wearing a mask made of human skin. This

figure, later known as Leatherface, kills Kirk

with a hammer and drags his body inside. When

Pam follows, she discovers a horrifying room

filled with bones and furniture made of human

remains. Leatherface captures her as well, of

course. As the others begin searching for their

missing friends, they are picked off one by one.

Jerry enters the house looking for Kirk and Pam.

only be killed by Leatherface. Franklin and Sally

eventually go looking for their friends together,

but Leatherface ambushes them in the darkness.

Franklin is killed by a chainsaw, hence the name,

leaving Sally alone and desperately trying to

escape. Sally runs into the farmhouse where she

discovers the horrifying truth. Leatherface lives

there with a family of cannibals, including the

hitchhiker and the elderly man who was once a

slaughterhouse worker. The family captures Sally

and subjects her to a nightmarish ordeal, treating

her as both entertainment and a potential meal.

They bring out the elderly man, attempting to

make her kill her, but he is too weak to do so.

Sally struggles to escape as the family becomes

increasingly chaotic and violent. Eventually,

Sally manages to flee herself and run away from

the house toward the highway. Leatherface pursues

her with a chainsaw, but a passing truck driver

intervenes, giving her a chance to escape. She

then climbs into a passing pickup and finally

gets away. laughing and screaming hysterically

as Leatherface swings his chainsaw in frustration

in the road. Tobey Hooper's low -budget horror

film was shot in a brutal Texas summer heat,

with the cast working under exhausting conditions

and a production that frequently pushed people

to their limits. The production was filmed in

the summer of 1973, with the temperatures reaching

the high 90s and exceeding 100 degrees at times.

Cast and crew often worked 12 - to 16 -hour days,

seven days a week. Gunnar Hansen, who played

Leatherface, had a particularly miserable experience.

He wore a heavy costume, wool trousers, and a

latex mask that trapped heat and sweat against

his skin. Production was so low budget that the

crew worried washing his costume might damage

it. So he wore the same outfit again and again.

One of the most notable sequences in the film

is when Sally is held captive by Leta Faith's

family at the dinner table. Director Toby Hooper

recalled that the farmhouse was already extremely

hot to create the lighting for the scene. The

crew covered the house with a large black tent,

making the temperature even worse. And anvil

bones and other material used to decorate the

set began to decay, producing an awful smell.

So it was just as bad. behind the scenes as watching

it. Hooper said that some people ran to the windows

to vomit because of the odors. The cast was also

exhausted from the long shoot, and the scene

required an extraordinary amount of time to complete.

Marilyn Burns, who played Sally, endured some

grueling dangerous moments while filming her

character. and her escape. During the scene in

which the family forces Sally's finger to bleed

so Grandpa can drink it, Gordon Hanson accidentally

cut Burns' finger with the blade being used for

the effect, what actually ended up helping them

because they were struggling to make the fake

blood work, so the real blood solved that problem.

It was just an unpleasant way to do it. Burns

also suffered cuts and scrapes during the outdoor

chase scenes. Her exhausting ordeal helped give

Sally's final escape its convincing sense of

desperation. Gunnar Hansen had to handle a real

chainsaw during filming. That wasn't a lightweight

prop designed to look convincing, and the production's

limited resources meant that the cast had to

be extremely careful. Hansen recalled a frightening

incident in which he tripped while handling the

chainsaw and it flew upward. He also had to run

through the darkness during the final chase while

wearing a mask, which restricted his vision.

When it arrived in theaters in 1974, the movie

shook audiences with its brutality, disturbing

imagery, and document -like realism. Some critics

praised its raw intensity, and others thought

it was too violent. Over time, however, its reputation

has grown. It's become one of the most well -regarded

horror films and pieces of independent filmmaking.

The film was made for a tiny budget, commonly

estimated at around $140 ,000, and earned more

than $30 million in its original run. Quite the

profit there. But what do Kevin and I think?

Back to us to discuss. Those are the facts for

Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And I am intrigued to

go over this one. I feel like I have an idea

of how some of our future movie conversations

in this block are going to go. And I have no

idea how this one's going to go. So this is the

one that I'm most intrigued on getting your opinion

on. Obviously, this one is known as being influential.

within the genre and you know the slasher subgenre

that would come a little bit more after this

not saying it didn't exist at all before but

like kind of sets some of that off and it's definitely

an interesting way that they're framing this

film as far as the style goes and and what they're

going for with you know a lot of overt actions

to try to make it intentionally uncomfortable

and things of that nature. I did have a feeling

in my head that the reputation of this was that

it was going to be much more bloody and gory

than I felt like it actually was. I'm not saying

that stuff doesn't exist, but you don't see as

much in this film as you do in a lot of quote

-unquote slasher films. So that was something

that was interesting to me. My opinion of how

this film was going to go was completely wrong.

as I'm guessing it's going to be what my thoughts

in my head that I created with most horror films

as we kind of go through this is going to be.

But I'm curious, Dan, like this is obviously

a long time ago, you know, before we were born

and we've covered quite a few films from, you

know, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s here in the last year

and a half or whatever. So this is kind of falls

right in that line, you know, 1974. So what was

your original kind of opening opinion as you

watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the first time?

Yeah, I think with this, you kind of have to

settle in a bit, right? Because it is mid -70s,

but it's not just mid -70s. It's mid -70s, low

budget, back when that actually kind of meant

more and a bit more than it does now. People

kind of just doing what they can to put something

together. And going back and watching this, you

know, watching, as you mentioned, this influences

a lot style -wise, aspect -wise. Going back and

seeing this, it's kind of amazing just in the

sense of like watching this come together, not

even as a story, but the fact that this exists

because you can tell these are just individuals

using limited resources to try to like fit this

all together. And it's because of that. It's

a bit like, you know, the overall design of it.

It's rough around the edges. It's not super polished.

It clearly is individuals that have a passion.

talent trying to like put something together

and whatever they can and i feel like that gives

it kind of a lot of personality and makes me

realize like all the different things that try

to imitate and try to recreate this type of style

like why they falter so much it's like the way

i would compare it to it's like when someone

buys back in the day it was really popular to

get like hats and like clothes from like abercrombie

and fitch and like american eagle that were like

beaten up had holes in them, looked like they

were rough and worn, trying to go for a certain

style, even though it was artificially created,

where that style here is just natural. It wasn't

individuals trying to evoke a certain feeling.

They were just trying to make a movie. So with

that, some of the acting, of course, these are

not Shakespearean thespians by any means. It

can be a little bit over the top. No, not in

the least. And you could argue maybe elements

of it doesn't age well. But I was thoroughly

entertained. You mentioned going into this wondering

how exactly people get out of a certain situation.

My thought was, I don't know if anyone's getting

it. Is this going to be a complete massacre?

It does get really uncomfortable at times. The

set design and the use of bones, which I don't...

No, some of those bones look like they probably

could have been real because I know sometimes

it's cheaper to get the real bones than the fake

bones. But because of just the roughness, it

gives it a level of authenticity. It's not found

footage, but kind of has that sense of it because

everything is so unchoreographed and seems like

they're just kind of going by the seat of their

pants. So it adds into, I think, the overall

impact of the horror. I don't know if it's, like

I said, do you think you have to kind of settle

in with it in this style? Because there are aspects

of it that don't hold up. It's a bit sloppy.

But there's also some just amazing direction.

The use of the camera always being down so low.

And like you said, it does make you feel uncomfortable.

There's all these little elements of trying to

use limited resources to their greatest impact.

I think it was effective there. Not a movie I

think I would love and put on my rotation of

going back to again and again, but I think it's

one I appreciated more than, I don't know, enjoyed

per se, but I'm interested to hear what you had

to say. So a couple things that jump right out

at me from the get -go. I feel like when the

movie opens and we get the Star Wars scroll of

narrative from the beginning was... not the best

place for me to start when then you go from that

sequence to then doubling down and then having

like a newsreel like narrated to you after that

like there was a lot of exposition in the beginning

that that felt a little tedious like the movie

itself doesn't feel tedious i don't think that

like the movie is somewhat i don't know i wouldn't

say flies by but it like it goes at a good pace

right like i i don't yeah i didn't feel like

the movie itself was tedious those first like

two or three minutes or five minutes whatever

when we're just getting a dialogue dump both

in text and then just in the narration was like

okay like was there a different way to do this

but like you said they're working on a fairly

uh low budget and things of that nature although

they had john lear cut doing the narration which

was odd um but the other thing that really kind

of stood out to me is like my opinion or the

the The image that I had created in my head of

Leatherface could not have been more wrong than

the reality of it. I was anticipating this Jason

-type character or Freddy -type character. I

was not expecting Sloth from The Goonies with

a chainsaw. That was not where I was going. Although

he could run. I will tell you this. you would

say yeah yeah you would think with everything

else that like these these teenage slash 20 i

don't know how old the people are supposed to

be in this movie maybe they're in their 20s or

whatever the kids that are in this car but like

you would think that okay besides the one that's

in a wheelchair you would think that the other

four could probably outrun and have higher endurance

than this individual could but that is not the

case let me tell you like yeah this guy holds

his own he could probably outrun me in a race

no problem right now so i was it was fun to watch

and see like that that was i kept thinking of

like we're we're currently going through like

this revisionist block in the western retrospective

and this was almost like a revisionist horror

for me because it was like everything i thought

that i knew through like secondhand about horror

films like i felt like this like just flipped

it all upside down for me i was like oh this

is like a revisionist horror for me um so it

was interesting how that kind of played out as

well so i think you're right with the camera

work and the filming like i think they did a

good job with that they did a nice they had some

very effective shots especially when we get to

the second half of the film which was was interesting

the For a movie that's only, was this like an

hour and 20 minutes? Hour and 25 minutes? Something

like that. 123. Yeah, hour and 23. So an hour

and 23 minutes. And they really don't get to

anything specifically horror related or like

killing, etc. Until well past, I believe, wasn't

it? I think it's past the halfway mark. Yeah,

it's about that. Yeah. so i found that interesting

because i i checked i didn't check the timing

of like where i was in the movie because i was

bored or anything like that i was just more curious

i was like i feel like we've gone quite a bit

into this movie and we're not we're doing a whole

lot of setup which is good yeah i was surprised

by it and i was like i wonder how long we're

gonna go before it gets to like the things that

i know are coming and it was i was impressed

that it was like at least halfway through when

they finally get to like where this starts really

ramping up from a from a violent standpoint yeah

it it does take its time like it and as you know

i was a little bit surprised by that and they're

also like the actual horror and that you mentioned

like wondering if this is gonna be bloody those

scenes happen pretty quickly and it's it doesn't

really focus on it that much like there's the

sequence where you know gets the woman like puts

her on the hook and i was about the most graphic

part of the whole thing yeah and even within

that it like it didn't they don't show to show

it all like you know probably maybe budget wise

but also do you think movies today would not

everything but a lot of them would like really

focus in on that on that aspect of the body horror

here where it's very limited in in that piece

but he made a good point about leatherface where

he he's intimidating but in the way that like

it's he's just hard to figure out it's like he's

like not human in a way especially as it progresses

too because even at the beginning like at first

you only see them like behind a in a room right

and like we have a one of our pretty good camera

tricks or camera techniques there with that first

person that kind of like goes through the doorway

into that room and the way they do that definitely

is is something that makes you it's not like

a jump scare necessarily but it kind of is and

it's shot in a way that's like oh like that just

happened like super fast and you get this picture

of like this guy in the mass behind and at that

point he's still somewhat uh has a presence and

it can still be the like intimidating person

the more the movie spends though and the more

it reveals of him the less and less intimidating

he is as far not i don't know if that's the right

way to put it but he's not like this overpowering

figure that you first think he's gonna be and

it keeps like deconstructing that i felt like

throughout the film it to a point where like

he's is he in women's clothing at the end and

around the table well he's got yeah he's because

he's got like the he's got different i didn't

realize too that he had different masks like

yeah but as i realized like oh he's got like

the like the pretty woman mask at the end with

makeup and everything like that and so which

is begs the question of like where did he buy

the makeup because that'd be get that'd be an

interesting uh uh go through i'm getting i'm

not really curious i'm guessing he got it from

his grandmother or whatnot but but yeah so for

me i don't know for me like i really it's almost

a tale of two movies yeah like the first half

is a lot of setup we're we're kind of getting

the the feel for where we're at and the environment

and what's going on with these kids i'm gonna

keep calling them kids and you know we have the

weird interaction with what becomes you know

one of the family members that's gonna be terrorizing

them and whatnot as he hitchhikes a ride and

you kind of get all that aspect and i thought

all of that was done pretty well like i was interested

to kind of see where it was going to go from

there and i was along for the ride i do appreciate

in the second half that they don't rely on the

on just the gore aspect of it the visual gore

like I like that whether it was an intentional

choice or a budget choice or whatever like I

like that they didn't focus on that because like

you said so many movies would and like you can

connect the dots in this one you know what's

happening when the door gets shut or you know

what you know she gets put on the hook and you

don't need to see like the hook actually go in

her like it's just as unsettling knowing that

she's hanging there on the hook and they're showing

her from the front and you kind of see that so

like I appreciate a lot of that part I do feel

like parts of the second half fell apart for

me though. Like, I, I understand that the movie

is intentionally trying to make you uncomfortable

and it's trying to do things that are unsettling

and make you want to squirm in your seat and

things of that nature. But I think there's like

a fine line for me and doing that, which like

the sequence of her on the hook, it does that.

I think it does that effectively. But I think

there's a bunch of other sequences in that last

part that weren't making me unsettled. They were

just making me annoyed or like thinking that

it was silly or like, I don't need to listen

to someone scream for the last 30 minutes of

the movie or the last 20 minutes or whatever

that was. Like, I know it's like intentional

and you're supposed to be like on, you know,

you know, discomforted by it and stuff like that.

But I was just more like, do I? Can I just mute

it the rest of the way? Like this is, I don't

know. So like some aspects of that, like I, we

can get into it a little bit, like the whole

grandpa character. I, that's like a whole thing

that I don't know how I feel about. I went so

many different ways. Like it becomes like this

thing that's like almost absurdist. And I know

that that's the point. I just don't know if that

was for me necessarily because I, I'd never understood

the. And I know you don't a lot with horror films,

but I never understood the motivation or like

the, what we were supposed to take away from

it or what, why they're doing any of this. Like

some of that was missing for me. And I know it's

kind of a slasher film, but I think like, I don't,

it doesn't tell you, but I think certainly there

is why they're doing what they're doing. It's,

there are a lot, a lot of hints there. They're

clearly, I'm guessing on this, this person's

land, like that guy's grandfather's land. And

just guess like staying there because the family

is long gone or whatever. So they're able to

utilize it. And I think you get some hints regarding

the grave site and that this is a family that

has clearly some certain ways about themselves.

So there's like a worship of of death and like

mostly an art form in. the part like the human

body itself in a way like i don't know that to

keep decomposed decomposed not the decomposed

bodies and how they utilize it it's i don't think

there is a there isn't much justification but

i also think that kind of makes sense because

i don't think there is any way to justify because

these aren't people that operate on the normal

spectrum of life you know i yeah uh so it's i

guess you could say they're evil for the sake

of evil and that can may not be the most compelling

piece um but i think it's the unknown here that

makes it even a bit creepier in a way like that

first i thought that grandfather was dead like

i didn't think he was actually like when the

one the one the one individual the one kid i

don't know if it who it was maybe one of the

girls like runs into the room where he is at

like upstairs and is like asking for his help

i'm like what are you doing like Are you that

delusional that you're just going up to a clear

corpse and asking for help? What is happening

right now? I thought it was that. Yeah, I mean,

that was some impressive just on a makeup side

for that piece. So clearly there's something

going on within this family that is genetic or

maybe the lack of the lack of genetics that is

causing the problem the sense of these are individuals

that maybe are a closely tied family family and

i think there are some ties to you we there's

so much talking about like the butchering of

cows and whatnot that plays such a huge role

and i don't know if there's a point in trying

to be made there regarding you know the the slaughtering

of of animals compared to slaughtering of humans

and if there is i don't think it's uh i don't

i don't know if there really is but there is

a lot of you know, interplay with that because

you have the whole conversation in the van regarding

how they kill cattle. And then the last sequence,

they're running into a cattle, you know, a truck

carrying cattle. I would assume that's what it

had. So, but again, I don't know if there's any,

if it's, I don't think this is, I walk away from

this thinking Texas Chainsaw Massacre is clearly

a vegan masterpiece about not eating meat. I

was convinced that the family members were related

in more ways than one. I would assume so. I'm

going to go out of limb and say that that's the

family tree that has not many branches. What

did you think of the actual... So we have five

young individuals that are in this car that are

kind of the other side of this equation. We have

those five and then we have this crazy family.

and i think one of the problems for me is like

i enjoyed the fact that we spent like the first

half with them building up to it but i don't

know if i still ever cared about any of them

like i don't know if i was invested in any of

them as characters and i think that's legitimate

like i don't think any of them like in the sense

of have a great character art per se or have

anything like you don't know anything about them

they're just they're there going after trying

to figure out thinking with the grave to see

if their grandfather was dug up and then they're

just hanging out and there isn't much there in

the sense of like oh these are compelling individuals

and like we know their story right we don't you

know they're just they're just people and it's

just like it's not really interested in like

delving into who they are uh you get some pieces

like it's hard not to feel bad for like franklin

because his the first thing we see is like he's

falling down the hill Hey, I don't feel bad for

that kid because that kid out -survived three

of them. He outlived almost everybody in the

group somehow, even though he was the one in

the wheelchair. He did do that. I wasn't sure,

though. They make a reference to him in the beginning.

I can't remember exactly who does it or whatever.

They almost make it seem like he has a learning

impairment. I don't know if he was ever depicted

that way. He was more depicted as just handicapped

as far as in the wheelchair, but it seemed like

he was fully capable of all of the other reasoning

and thought processes. I was a little confused

as to what his story actually was. Not that I

needed the whole backstory explained to me, but

it was interesting, especially with his dynamic

with his sister. I just wasn't sure what to make

of any of these characters, and I really didn't

know if I cared. i don't i felt like i never

even knew who two of them were like yeah i mean

it you don't it's they're just there they're

basically they are i want to say cannon fodder

they're they're chainsaw fodder for the most

part and i think you're just in a way trying

to the movie wants you to care for them because

they're humans and the horrible thing is happening

to them and they're being tortured so like just

that taking that part of you just like wanting

to see this person survive and i think sally

the main character i think you do or at least

I did start becoming invested just because like

he's going through so much and like still finding

a way out and going through the trees and ducking

through and finding, you know, it seems to at

least do doesn't fall into the horror trap of

doing the dumbest thing. It seems like she's

making logical choices, but it's just like in

a horrible situation. So, and that all, one of

them almost got concussed by like a tree branch.

I don't know. Yeah. Those bushes look... That's

always the worst when you're... I guess not the

worst. There's a guy chasing you with a chainsaw.

That's a little bit worse. That has incredible

stamina and speed that you're not outrunning.

You're going through the woods and you get that

thorny bush or whatever and you have to go through

it. Did you at all think... Part of me was wondering,

not in the movie -wise, but if it was the same

actor, if the guy playing Franklin was also the

person playing... i thought so for a second i

was like man they look like they could be the

same person but i didn't think that for a split

second but also i wonder because i know obviously

it's franklin's like family home so i don't know

if this is kind of meant to relate to like that

maybe those are elements of his family i don't

know but i i thought i thought that was gonna

be then they showed up in the same shot and i

looked at the cast list and they're not the same

person because I definitely felt like it could

have been for sure. I completely get what you're

saying regarding the characters because it's

not... You mentioned Scream where you do spend

a lot of time with them. That's not this movie

by any means. I was surprised though. It also

threw me off because we spend that whole first

half with not much violence yet outside of the

guy cutting himself and things of that nature

and stabbing the poor guy in the wheelchair.

which was again that guy just that guy he that

was maybe the most unsettling two parts of the

film um like forget when they're actually killing

people when they when he cuts his own hand and

stabs franklin i was like ah that's not nice

but uh so we spend all of this time with them

in that first half and then the way you said

that it's like a like what did you say one other

face like oh man that's that's double not nice

like come on right you need a time out um but

no and then we get to the part where we finally

are at this house. Right. And I'm, I'm thinking

like, okay, we have the second half of the film.

Like we have another 40 minutes or whatever it

was at that point. Like, I'm going to see these

guys, like there's five of them and we're going

to see them picked off one at a time. You'll

pace throughout this next 40 minutes. And then

they get to the house and three of them are dead.

Like within like five minutes. I was like, oh,

that is not at all how I expected this to go.

And I was like, where are we going here? They're

all going to be dead so soon. So I was definitely

like, nothing was spoiled for me about this movie.

It was all new, fresh for me. I didn't know what

was going on, and I was definitely just along

for the ride to see what happened. I felt like

at some point towards that last 20 or so minutes,

I was like, I don't know what I'm coming away

with out of this film. you know to like it's

not one that i'm gonna put on again i know that

much yeah i i would i would say probably the

same like i think that like i mentioned there's

things i appreciate it i think like i find it

like an achievement and what you can do and i

can understand why so many directors love it

because it's like oh look at what they're able

to do with like so many limited resources and

be able to like there's not really a wasted moment

it's only 125 minutes and i don't think you can

say like it ever feels like it waste any time.

Everything seems purposeful on that end, but

at the same time, like I mentioned, the acting

is a little suspect. I get why people love this.

I think it does hit a certain sensibility. Were

they eating people? That would be my guess. The

barbecue that they were eating when they first

get to that place is actual people? I would assume

so. I wasn't 100 % sure. I know they show the

sequence of something like cooking in the thing,

but I couldn't make out. The shapes are like

what it was. I must not have been looking carefully

enough. It could be because they did have animals,

too. And so that that I wasn't clear about. Right.

But I would I'm just thinking of like Eddie,

Eddie Keene. I can't remember if he was a cannibal.

I know like he he did dig up bodies. And I think

it also made it like a little bit more impactful

because I had that. Yeah, I realized or in the

back of my head, realizing like there is some

like it just seems like this far fetched thing

that can never happen. And obviously this. eddie

keen wasn't really that type of he didn't have

a chainsaw or but the the wearing of faces and

stuff like that was yeah was something that happened

so it's i think it adds a little bit of credence

to it but i felt like to uh scream sorry you

know how scream has the rules yeah like at one

point and they're talking about like what you

don't do in a horror film i don't remember if

they said this one but one of those rules should

have definitely been you don't go in houses that

aren't yours like yes you don't go in a house

that doesn't invite you in no and especially

if it's uh if there's a bunch of dead animals

around you know in the country that was the other

thing like a couple times they went into that

house and they were like looking at rooms where

there's clearly bones everywhere or things that

shouldn't aren't normal and like for me personally

i don't need to inspect anymore like i don't

need to look around to another wall the first

skull i see when i walk in a house i am walking

out of the house and getting as far like that

one girl falls into whatever that room was which

is full of bones and like hair or fur i don't

know what it was and the amount of time it took

her to get out of that room i would have been

shot out of a cannon dan i would have i might

not have even touched the ground i would have

been out of that room so fast yeah yeah definitely

yeah I don't think you're going to find that

place on Airbnb anytime soon. I hope not. What

did you think of the dinner scene towards the

end? That's where I would agree. This is getting

a little long. At that moment, I'm like, there

better be... She's got to survive this. I mentioned

how I don't like the Saw films because I do feel

like it gets... gratuitous and a bit too sadistic

for the sake of and like there's nothing to it

and i was if there is if this is just more torture

and like that's where it ends like you know i

want to see a little bit of payback like you

got to give me something right um and i'm glad

like like right before i i do think it may be

too long but uh one i'm glad something came of

it i was ready for that reprieve of that horrible

screaming and seeing the old guy. The first time

he hits her and there's actually blood, I'm like,

oh man, she isn't surviving. I thought maybe

she would get out of it, but luckily you can't

give Grandpa the hammer. When you're 130 years

old, you don't really have the power to swing

it anymore. That dinner scene was definitely

interesting. I found it funny that the trucker

that stops in the semi that kind of saves her

and then he just like runs off yeah i don't know

what happened to him like well he's like i'm

not this is not my battle i'm getting out of

here i mean like he did what he needed to do

but also realizes again he actually did the smart

thing and just like i'm just running i'm not

yeah getting around no part of this so uh yeah

so so there's been like multiple other versions

of this or sequels remakes or something like

based off of this to have what's your experience

with any of those did Are you going to go out

and see some of them? Are you going to go seek

them out? I might try the sequels, like the second

film was saved by the same director. So I will

try that. I don't think I'll try the remake or

anything like that, but I might try the sequels.

There's only nine of them, Dan. There's nine

of them? Jesus Christ. I think. There's the Texas

Chainsaw Massacre, which we just watched, then

a clever sequel, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

2, which is the one you're talking about from

the same director. Then in 1990, there was Leatherface,

the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3. Then Return of

the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Then just a remake

called the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Then the

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the beginning. Then

the Texas Chainsaw 3D. Then Leatherface. And

then a 2022 version that's just called Texas

Chainsaw Massacre. Maybe I saw the 2006. I don't

remember which one I saw. But, oh man, that's

way too many. I don't know. Apparently four of

them are in the original continuity. So there's,

there's four, the 74, 1986, 1990, 1995. Those

are like the fourth in the same continuity. And

then there's like an alternate continuity. And

then there's just a remake continuity. So you

can go down a rabbit hole if you'd like. We'll

see. I'm going to try the sequels. I'll try the,

the, the two and three perhaps. And cause I,

you know, I'm a completist. I just went through

the, the desk. What is it? Death West movies.

Okay. And those are all bad. So I finished that.

I can do this. I mean, I did all the Final Destinations

and all the Screams last year. Those are good.

At least entertaining. Not that this wasn't bad.

I was like, the Death Wish movies are not good.

I do want to know. If you watch the third one,

Dan, I do want to know once you watch the number

three, I want to know if he dies at the end of

that so that I know then if the return of the

Texas Chainsaw Massacre isn't coming back from

the dead or something. Yeah. That's when they

get supernatural powers, right? There we go.

And apparently there's one that doesn't have

a date that is untitled that has the director

tied to it that did Obsession. Okay. Curry Barker

is tied to a new version of this that currently

does not have a date associated with it. Yeah,

and I think there was a video game too, if I'm

not mistaken. That would not surprise me. That

I think people, I've heard good things about,

but I don't know for sure. So the only character

that's in every one of those nine or whatever

films is Leatherface himself. But a different

actor though, right? It is a different actor

in all of them except for two. The 2003 remake

and the beginning have the same actor. And I'm

also curious that it says the grandfather appears

in five of these films. There you go. I love

it. I love it. All right. So any final thoughts

on Texas Chainsaw Massacre? No, I'm definitely

glad I watched it. Like I said, I'm happy to

scratch this off. I wasn't regretting watching

it by any means. But I don't know. If I was doing

my list of the best horror films I've ever seen,

I personally wouldn't put on this. I wouldn't

begrudge those that did. But I do think if it

is one that you haven't seen, it's worth checking

out. And there is several comics that came out.

Oh, yeah. And there's, like, there's crossovers

with, I think there was, if I'm not mistaken,

there was a crossover with, like, the army, the,

oh, Evil Dead and stuff. There was a Texas Chainsaw

Massacre game on the original Atari. That blows

my mind. Like, if you would have said, like,

PS2 or a computer game later on or Xbox or something,

I would have put, like. Atari 2600, the Texas

Chainsaw Massacre. I'm surprised that got greenlit

made and all of the above things. I'm fine that

I watched it. I get to check it off that I've

seen it. I feel good about that. I was so wrong

about what I thought it was going to be. Not

in a good or bad way, just like I just had a

totally different image. If I'm making a list

of my top horror films, which would not be a

very long list since I haven't seen a ton, my

guess is this would be... Pretty close to the

bottom, but that doesn't mean I regret watching

it. So there you go. There we go. So that is

the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Our first of our

horror film looks. We're going to have a few

more coming your way. Dan, what are we going

to cover on the next episode? Next episode, we're

going to go a few years in the future and check

out another horror classic. One that is a first

time watch for me as well. But I also watched

the remake. First, so my apologies, but it is

going to be Carrie, the Brian De Palma film.

Is that a first time watch for you as well? Yeah,

very surprising to no one. Yeah. So yeah, we'll

see you get into Carrie next. It'll be interesting.

So if you have comments for us about any of these

films or anything else we're doing, Dan, how

can people find us on Facebook and the social

medias? You can find the social media of the

podcast on Cinema Geek Cast podcast if you search

it on Facebook or Instagram. Me, you can search

Comic Concierge and you can find me on all the

major social media platforms. And you can search

me out at Optimist Solo or you can keep track

of all the things at the website at thegcrn .com.

So that does it for this episode. Tune in next

time for another chance to listen to more of

The Cinema Geeks.