No Need To Torture The Poor Girl

Marilyn Burns (RIP) in one of many iconic shots from 
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

"Horror is as old as human consciousness, as old as our ability to tell tales--or maybe even older."
-Gunnar Hansen, Chain Saw Confidential


I've always taken a liking to the darker side, so it will come as no surprise when I say that I consider seeing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to be a pivotal moment in my life.

I had already become accustomed to the many wonderful aspects of horror movies--the gore, the jump scares, the macabre, the creepy memorable villains, but this film was different. It seemed. . .real.

At thirteen years old, my mind was blown by the fact that a low budget film like this was capable of so much. It seems to me that big budgets and horror are not best friends. Occasionally they may bump into each other, and even get along well, but they don't require each other's company. Most of my favourites tend to be the lower budget, grassroots-type films. 

John Carpenter's Halloween, the epitome of horror cinema, was made on an incredibly fixed amount and is considered to be one of the very best horror films of all time. Definitely a personal favourite. Texas Chain Saw was made with roughly half the money that Halloween had, yet has managed to remain one of the most successful cult films. 

I accredit the film's success partly to the lack of funds and experience. Here were a bunch of young, inexperienced filmmakers setting out to  make a movie loosely based on a story of cannibal killers that haunted the headlines in Texas newspapers. "They had never made one, but they figured it would be fun" (Chain Saw Confidential 'Introduction').

To me, that should always be the motivation in making a film--to have fun! Reading Gunnar Hansen's (Leatherface) book about the making of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has proved to be greatly inspiring. It definitely lights a fire and makes me want to burn shit up. This poor girl doesn't need to be tortured over a lack of funds when it comes to creating a film. If you've got some ideas and a camera, you're golden. I urge any aspiring filmmaker to pick up a copy of Chain Saw Confidential. You don't need to be a horror fan, either. The book is not only well written (Hansen is a poet) but it gives an interesting glimpse into the world of movie making, encouraging people like me to step out of their comfort zone and have some fun!

Producer Ron Bozman during the filming of the infamous dinner scene. 

"It was the heat, the smell, the impossible hours, the frenzy and insanity of shooting the dinner scene--the overall misery. It was the particular combination of actors and crew, most of whom had never made a movie and were willing to do whatever it took to get Chain Saw made. It was even the photo lab's sloppy work that produced the murky, off-color release prints. And it was the title. Take away any of these parts and it would all fall down. Somehow all these elements created something new and unexpected. Somehow, just for this one time, we caught lightning in a bottle. The movie is what it is because of this combination--and because this time Saturn was not in retrograde."