I was allowed to watch whatever I wanted. My parents left the judgement as to whether or not it was appropriate for me to me lol Meant I had some compelling nightmares. Clive Barker, Wes Craven, John carpenter, George Romero. I don't regret a minute of it. It's perfectly fine to be scared as a kid, it's exciting
The sound mixing on this film is second to none. I used to use clips from it to show my film students what you could do with little money and a big imagination. Wim Wenders 'Wings of Desire' is another of those films I find myself listening to more than watching.
Only just watched texas chainsaw massacre for the first time 2 weeks ago, and I have to say it really is every bit the masterpiece that people say it is!
I saw the 4K restoration on the big screen in New York last year. Three people who had never seen it were sitting in front of me. The volume was turned way up and when Leatherface came out of the woods with the chainsaw roaring, all three of them jumped out of their seats. A great movie going moment.
My girlfriend had to take a shower after watching it for the first time, she said she just felt dirty after watching it, which I think is the best review anyone could ask for.
TCM is a great film experience. I remember when they released on video in the UK in 2001 and we rented it. I watched it 3 times in succession. Then years later I got to see it on a big screen at Alan's frightfest with Tobe attending for a q and a. Wonderful days
I was lucky to meet Tobe a few weeks ago at London Comic Con. He signed my original Texas Chainsaw poster. He seemed like a really sweet guy and very gracious. Rip
He created palpable atmosphere in his films - even the weak ones. I think I was 13 when TCM was finally released on VHS in this country. My dad bought it for me because I'd been obsessed since I saw a photo of Leatherface in a book about horror films at the local library. I have never been that scared in my life. It has hardly any blood, it just ratchets up the tension with weirdness and sound and increasingly disturbed characters. It's a masterpiece. Salem's Lot was a great interpretation of the book. Again, it focused on character and atmosphere over gore. He created some truly classic films.
One of the great American films, and not just of the horror genre either. I saw the first commercial screening after its recertification in 1993 at, I think, the Curzon Mayfair, and there were horror veterans watching it for the first time that were completely blown away by it.
I was lucky enough to meet George Romero multiple times (we both lived in Pittsburgh) and Tobe Hooper once. I also recently saw both Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Dawn of the Dead on the big screen for the first time. It's a shame they didn't get the support from Hollywood they deserved. Had they been given the budget and free reign over their project who knows what they could have accomplished in their later careers. At least we got two strong mini-comebacks from both of them (Toolbox Murders and Land of the Dead). 4K restoration of Night of the Living Dead at the Film Forum in NYC in October! Their legacies will live on!
Tobes back catalogue deserves a look in. Or a second one... A visionary director who was never afforded the luxuries of the big monies needed to see his vision through. His films ooze pure atmosphere. Eaten Alive for instance will drive you insane with its high density wall of sound and music and garish visuals. And isn't that what horrors all about...
The deaths and violence in TCM are sudden and brutal, not gratuitous and not lingered on very much. That lack of gratuity and lack of crowd pleasing gore is what gives it it's impact, what makes it seem more real. A recent movie that also does this is Green Room. The deaths are sudden and shocking, not lingered on like the worst of torture porn or the best of shlock. It gives the violence a more visceral edge that sticks with you longer than shlocky gore ever could. RIP Tobe Hooper.
I watched the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre last year and it is still a tough watch, you just want to jam the aircon on full tilt and swat imaginary flies away. No gore, just dread by the bucketful. You know exactly why Sally runs screaming down the highway. I have to say I love Lifeforce, it is as cheesy as you can get but it's been on my DVD shelf for years and has been watched many times over the years. Hooper did really well here as the film is so perfectly British, it's like Gerry Anderson lost his mind and was given real people as well as puppets to put his most deranged dreams on screen. Let's not forget Danny Glick scratching at that window in Salem's Lot - still creeps me out today...
Mum told me i couldent watch this back in the day at the age of 11 when it was going to be on the t.v , I went round my dads and he took me too blockbusters i told him this was what i wanted to watch . I should have listened to my mum.
One of my all time favourite films and joint with The Wicker Man as my favourite horror film ever. Sad to hear of the passing of the great Tobe Hooper so soon after the great George Romero. Absolute pioneers of their art who have influenced so many modern filmmakers. As for the Texas Chainsaw remakes they were all hugely inferior and unnecessary when the original can still instill fear and dread in audiences without resorting to gallons of blood and gore. Oh, and Lifeforce was an awesome film too ...
As moviegoers revisit Tobe Hooper's movies in the wake of his passing, I hope TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 gets re-evaluated. It's a flawed movie but it's also a crazy and satirical take on the original movie and the glut of slasher movies that were released between 1974 and 1986.
I remember getting my dad to rent it from the vhs store when I was still in school, had an odd fascination with it after seeing a clip on tv. It had a blacked out cover with just a printed label on the case. It was bloody terrifying! and still is every bit as deranged and f*ked up. Scared me for years.
I read Ghost Story 20+ years ago and pictured David Soul as the protagonist. All the old men seemed dead- on perfect. Ghost Story is the best of it's genre. Netflix would make a fortune if they could cast correctly and stay to the novel.
Horror fans can anyone help please with the naming of a film? I stayed up as a kid in the 90s one night and saw a film on Channel 4 but never got the name of it. It was a couple having a picnic in a park near a wood and they spot a man walking towards them in the distance. The whole film shows him getting closer and closer until they realise he is a killer and it's too late. If memory serves the film lasted about an hour. Very similar to that scene in Zodiac but lasting for the entire film.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Psycho Halloween The Omen The Exorcist Rosemary's Baby Poltergeist II (garden scene - let me in!!) The Tenant Evil Dead The Shining IT My favourite horror films - ones that truly frightened me watching them growing up!! What's your top 10 and any good recommendations?
I don't understand the hype with the original movie, as technically speaking it's terrible. Poor acting, unimaginative cinematography, bad score. The sequel was an abysmal cash-grab, at least the remakes did these flaws much better.
Whether you liked the film or not, hype is irrelevant at this point - it's a classic, and with good reason. It may not hold up particularly well to modern film making standards, but it it absolutely has it's place in exploitation horror history.
Are you kidding? There's tonnes of distinctive and imaginative, iconic shots. The acting is pure and unrelenting, it may be crass, but it makes you scared. No film as scary and suspenseful as Texas Chain Saw is technically "terrible". You can dislike it all you want but it's far from a technically inept movie, and in my opinion it's a masterpiece.
The dinner table scene is still to this day one of the craziest sequences EVER in ANY FILM.
Definitely, just total Madness, the scene is iconic....
Dad rented it for me from blockbusters after mum told me I couldn't watch it. I was 10\11 at the time . Great parenting .
I was allowed to watch whatever I wanted. My parents left the judgement as to whether or not it was appropriate for me to me lol Meant I had some compelling nightmares. Clive Barker, Wes Craven, John carpenter, George Romero. I don't regret a minute of it. It's perfectly fine to be scared as a kid, it's exciting
The sound mixing on this film is second to none. I used to use clips from it to show my film students what you could do with little money and a big imagination. Wim Wenders 'Wings of Desire' is another of those films I find myself listening to more than watching.
Only just watched texas chainsaw massacre for the first time 2 weeks ago, and I have to say it really is every bit the masterpiece that people say it is!
You should watch part 2, its bizarre.
I saw the 4K restoration on the big screen in New York last year. Three people who had never seen it were sitting in front of me. The volume was turned way up and when Leatherface came out of the woods with the chainsaw roaring, all three of them jumped out of their seats. A great movie going moment.
I hope you're talking about the original and not the remake.
Toyin Oshodi I am yes😂
Havent seen any of the sequels/remakes.
My girlfriend had to take a shower after watching it for the first time, she said she just felt dirty after watching it, which I think is the best review anyone could ask for.
Tobe Hooper RIP
skijumpnose he died?!! And gunner hansen
TCM is a great film experience. I remember when they released on video in the UK in 2001 and we rented it. I watched it 3 times in succession. Then years later I got to see it on a big screen at Alan's frightfest with Tobe attending for a q and a. Wonderful days
I was lucky to meet Tobe a few weeks ago at London Comic Con. He signed my original Texas Chainsaw poster. He seemed like a really sweet guy and very gracious. Rip
R.I.P Tobe Hooper....thank you for your movies..... we salute you!
He created palpable atmosphere in his films - even the weak ones. I think I was 13 when TCM was finally released on VHS in this country. My dad bought it for me because I'd been obsessed since I saw a photo of Leatherface in a book about horror films at the local library. I have never been that scared in my life. It has hardly any blood, it just ratchets up the tension with weirdness and sound and increasingly disturbed characters. It's a masterpiece. Salem's Lot was a great interpretation of the book. Again, it focused on character and atmosphere over gore. He created some truly classic films.
One of the great American films, and not just of the horror genre either.
I saw the first commercial screening after its recertification in 1993 at, I think, the Curzon Mayfair, and there were horror veterans watching it for the first time that were completely blown away by it.
Such an awful summer for Horror film fans. To lose George A. Romero and Tobe Hooper has been such a blow.
Thank you for the great tribute Mark.
The greatest debut feature ever made. No other film is like it. A total excercise in terror.
Most uncomfortable viewing experience I've ever had when I watched this first time round. Sticky and sweaty and totally insane.
Battleschnodder hahaha!
I remember when I showed it to my little brother & sister, they were complaining about the gore....where?
I was lucky enough to meet George Romero multiple times (we both lived in Pittsburgh) and Tobe Hooper once. I also recently saw both Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Dawn of the Dead on the big screen for the first time. It's a shame they didn't get the support from Hollywood they deserved. Had they been given the budget and free reign over their project who knows what they could have accomplished in their later careers. At least we got two strong mini-comebacks from both of them (Toolbox Murders and Land of the Dead). 4K restoration of Night of the Living Dead at the Film Forum in NYC in October! Their legacies will live on!
Lovely words guys to a true master of the genre, will be sadly missed. RiP Tobe Hooper.
Tobes back catalogue deserves a look in. Or a second one... A visionary director who was never afforded the luxuries of the big monies needed to see his vision through. His films ooze pure atmosphere. Eaten Alive for instance will drive you insane with its high density wall of sound and music and garish visuals. And isn't that what horrors all about...
The deaths and violence in TCM are sudden and brutal, not gratuitous and not lingered on very much. That lack of gratuity and lack of crowd pleasing gore is what gives it it's impact, what makes it seem more real. A recent movie that also does this is Green Room. The deaths are sudden and shocking, not lingered on like the worst of torture porn or the best of shlock. It gives the violence a more visceral edge that sticks with you longer than shlocky gore ever could.
RIP Tobe Hooper.
All the great ones are leaving us. God bless you Tobe.
He was at London Film & Comic Con in July. Crazy
I watched the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre last year and it is still a tough watch, you just want to jam the aircon on full tilt and swat imaginary flies away. No gore, just dread by the bucketful. You know exactly why Sally runs screaming down the highway.
I have to say I love Lifeforce, it is as cheesy as you can get but it's been on my DVD shelf for years and has been watched many times over the years. Hooper did really well here as the film is so perfectly British, it's like Gerry Anderson lost his mind and was given real people as well as puppets to put his most deranged dreams on screen.
Let's not forget Danny Glick scratching at that window in Salem's Lot - still creeps me out today...
Mum told me i couldent watch this back in the day at the age of 11 when it was going to be on the t.v , I went round my dads and he took me too blockbusters i told him this was what i wanted to watch . I should have listened to my mum.
Lifeforce always sticks in my mind.
One of my all time favourite films and joint with The Wicker Man as my favourite horror film ever. Sad to hear of the passing of the great Tobe Hooper so soon after the great George Romero. Absolute pioneers of their art who have influenced so many modern filmmakers. As for the Texas Chainsaw remakes they were all hugely inferior and unnecessary when the original can still instill fear and dread in audiences without resorting to gallons of blood and gore.
Oh, and Lifeforce was an awesome film too ...
Tobe's Canon movies, particularly Lifeforce are brilliant
Texas Chainsaw from 74 is still one of the best horror films ever made.
Mr Kermode might disagree, but I think that Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a better movie than The Exorcist.
Brad Hominem steady now haha
I prefer The Thing more than the Exorcist.
Even The Shining, who could forget that masterpiece. And Eraserhead since it inspired Kubrick.
Brad Hominem I think mark would argue that the exorcist is a better film, whilst prehaps TCM is a better 'horror' film.
Even William Friedkin himself said its not a horror film.
Love original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Salem Lot, Poltergeist and not forgetting Lifeforce.
Tobe Hooper hardly directed Poltergeist. Most of it was shot by Steven Spielberg but Hooper's name ended up on the credits over contractual reasons.
4:30 Victor Salva is the exception to the rule you mean!!
As moviegoers revisit Tobe Hooper's movies in the wake of his passing, I hope TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 gets re-evaluated. It's a flawed movie but it's also a crazy and satirical take on the original movie and the glut of slasher movies that were released between 1974 and 1986.
Great review Kermode. Looking forward to a review of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994). Your critique would be hilarious.
Love the Funhouse...almost like if Antonioni had made an 80s horror slasher! Check it out if you haven't seen it. RIP Tobe.
I remember getting my dad to rent it from the vhs store when I was still in school, had an odd fascination with it after seeing a clip on tv. It had a blacked out cover with just a printed label on the case. It was bloody terrifying! and still is every bit as deranged and f*ked up. Scared me for years.
How come there wasn't a video about Jonathan Demme?
:)
Great video
I read Ghost Story 20+ years ago and pictured David Soul as the protagonist. All the old men seemed dead- on perfect. Ghost Story is the best of it's genre. Netflix would make a fortune if they could cast correctly and stay to the novel.
It's one of the great horror masterpieces for sure. Probably better than The Exorcist.
Horror fans can anyone help please with the naming of a film? I stayed up as a kid in the 90s one night and saw a film on Channel 4 but never got the name of it. It was a couple having a picnic in a park near a wood and they spot a man walking towards them in the distance. The whole film shows him getting closer and closer until they realise he is a killer and it's too late. If memory serves the film lasted about an hour. Very similar to that scene in Zodiac but lasting for the entire film.
Thanks, why TCM isn't the first *find footage* movie?
Salem's Lot is a masterpiece.
Spontaneous Combustion was also great too. Ignore the critics.
The Texas Chainsaw Master?
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Psycho
Halloween
The Omen
The Exorcist
Rosemary's Baby
Poltergeist II (garden scene - let me in!!)
The Tenant
Evil Dead
The Shining
IT
My favourite horror films - ones that truly frightened me watching them growing up!! What's your top 10 and any good recommendations?
Mark almost verbatim repeated the same point twice in this,...
All the greats dying off.
I think tcm is better than exorcist
Leatherface
I don't understand the hype with the original movie, as technically speaking it's terrible. Poor acting, unimaginative cinematography, bad score. The sequel was an abysmal cash-grab, at least the remakes did these flaws much better.
Whether you liked the film or not, hype is irrelevant at this point - it's a classic, and with good reason. It may not hold up particularly well to modern film making standards, but it it absolutely has it's place in exploitation horror history.
Are you kidding? There's tonnes of distinctive and imaginative, iconic shots. The acting is pure and unrelenting, it may be crass, but it makes you scared. No film as scary and suspenseful as Texas Chain Saw is technically "terrible". You can dislike it all you want but it's far from a technically inept movie, and in my opinion it's a masterpiece.
Not trolling. Giving my honest opinion.