Horror is an ever-enhancing medium. So, it’s only important to go back and remember those who were the pioneers of this type of genre. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a film that I’m pretty familiar with, as it pertains that it’s a pretty iconic horror movie. The film starts with a news anchor discussing grave robberies. Some shots are kind of goofy, but that’s honestly just the beginning. So, the goofs can be defeated by the horror. Secondly, we are introduced to a “scooby-doo” type of group. One of the ladies here, is really “daphne-like”, as she’s played out to be the “ditzy” type. The shots from this film are genius as they enhance more of that horror. I feel like horror is such an interesting as well as amazing genre, with the fact alone of the pure shock value that is followed through. I mean, the chainsaw from the title alludes to the existence of Leatherface, or his bag of horrors. This film, alone can be boring, but I feel as if the shock factor brings excitement to the cinema.

Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre by John Kenneth Muir is a book that details a huge majority of Tobe Hooper’s work. Muir details Hooper’s work as being iconic for the horror genre. Some people credit others for being the king of horror, but it’s more of something that is given to someone. People earn that title, and that’s true of Tobe Hooper, with huge credit given to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This film had its problems, but was able to maintain the horror value, and keep the same flow. Muir has actually alluded to Tobe Hooper’s iconic value to the “big five”, which details the 5 massive horror creators of the time. However, when you think about it, anyone can be an iconic director. The director really just has to come out with one popular film, in order to be marketed with high-time popularity.

The argument made from Muir is simply that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre doesn’t have a hero, that is the protector of the hero of the “gang”.  However, some could say that the hero is found within yourself. At the end of the story, Sally saves herself. She jumps on the back of that truck, not because the driver is the quote-on-quote “superhero”, but because she found enough energy in herself to move forward. She was the real one who pushed herself to seek help by jumping on the back of the pickup truck. Sally fooled Leatherface, and won, but she didn’t do that. She was instead able to find peace within herself. In the end of Hooper’s film we are able to see her smiling on the pickup truck, because she won the “war of the serial killers”.

In other journalistic articles, such as “What Makes The Texas Chain Saw Massacre So Good?” by Corey Callahan goes into deep detail on,  the iconic values that go into the cult following attracted from Leatherface. A character that attracted so many different spin-offs of the character. What is kind of fascinating about this film, is that it reminds me of a low-budget film that grew in intensity over time. Rob Zombie – an already hugely popular director – credits this film as seeming to be one of those lost tape films, where over time it gradually gets worse. Films like, The Blair Witch Project enhance the lost tape phenomena enough. To push further, Texas Chainsaw Massacre seems like a low-budget, off putting, and unconventional horror film of the times.

The article says that Texas Chainsaw Massacre is iconic, and the director in his own is iconic as well, but what if it wasn’t iconic. What if it’s value pursued to be a failing film? There wouldn’t be much of a history with a failing film. Like — an alternate universe — the film didn’t actually pass onto being a cult classic. So, the director doesn’t become one of those top 5 best horror directors. Hooper doesn’t actually take off. Therefore, meaning that Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a failing blockbuster cinema.

(The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Screencap 2

Roger Ebert writes a summary on Texas Chainsaw Massacre but then includes that this movie was written for a specific population or economy. However, Ebert says that the film is a true story, which is left to the mind. Some people have said that the film’s Leatherface takes inspiration from the crimes of Ed Gein, so that could be the truthful part. The film was written to horrify instead of identifying the means to an end. This means, this film really has a lot of horrifying nature instead of the subtle aggression of horror. It’s there all at once. 

Secondly, I chose Deep Red, as it’s only fair that I explore the different types of horror in the genre. Deep Red is a film that I’ve never seen before, but from the synopsis on IMDB, it’s enough to assume that this mysterious horror is about “investigating the death of a psychic.” This is super fascinating because the synopsis leaves you wondering if the investigators discover some kind of alluring subject. Or, some underlying factor that makes the film dig deep into the question, why? Which is a question that everyone always asks… In any situation, the question of “Why?” makes so much sense to a pure answer. So, maybe the film was written to explain some sort of deeper meaning… Like, maybe the psychic was going to expose some scary background of an individual, but that individual kills her to stifle the truth.

Italian horror is a feat not really discovered or even heard of. If discovered, then a majority of them didn’t reach American Cinema Industry. Deep Red by Dario Argento is a film that showcases the gruesome death, faced by a psychic. Through this, we are able to see how the investigators are able to unravel a murderous mystery. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts written by Cale Hellyer (et al.) is a book that digs up the magic from Deep Red. Hellyer describes the film as being a “rural Giallo” or, an Italian thriller film. They describe the Italian horror community as being in extreme content, for Deep Red presents itself gruesomely.

“Deep Red” by Elaina Patton is an article that compares one thing to the other when speaking on the film. They basically write a summary of the film, using the actors and their characters. Patton speaks on David Hemmings and how – after nearly a decade – he worked with Vanessa Redgrave also in the film. Patton defines Hemmings character in the film as a piano player named Marcus Daly, who is actually the person that witnessed the crime, through this became obsessed with identifying who murdered the popular psychic.

“Fantastic in the Arts” by Cale Hellyer (et al.) is an article that details how Deep Red took great inspiration  from the American horror film industry. However, while inspiration can be profound in writing an amazing – award-winning – film. Films like Tate Taylor’s The Help – inspired strongly off the book with the same name – are an amazing example, because it takes inspiration from another source. So, I agree that inspiration is given where it’s due. While the article has many avenues with the street label “argument”, it’s only valid to enunciate that many movies take inspiration from the American horror film industry, but some seem that way, and others don’t. Which can only push the idea of individualism strongly to other plethora’s of film mediums. Individualism is a massive thing throughout the film industry. Plenty of people find inspiration within themselves. I mean, massive blockbusters are founded on the principles of creativity. Sometimes these blockbusters are failures, but creativity is yours to express.

During the early 70’s was a time where The Vietnam War was slowly coming to an end. See, The Vietnam War was a catastrophe of the world, it was a time where two powers wanted control; North and South Vietnam. The Vietnam War was a terrible war that should never have happened and we should never have gotten involved. However, the war ended as soon as the North Vietnamese Army rolled their tanks through the golden gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon. It’s important to enunciate the difference between North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was a communist power that wanted the South to become Communistic, but the South was a democratic power.

Jaws is a film about a beach that is ridden with anxiety at the thought of a behemoth of a shark. This shark is detrimental in making everyone’s lives tormented with worry. A movie that is fascinating, because it’s one-of-a-kind nature. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Jaws is one of the first successes of his career. As  Jaws was a big blockbuster, it also did not age too well for a lot of its goofy effects. The movie still stands as one of the most popular films to come out of the late 70s’ and early 80s’. Jaws was unlike anything that has ever been seen — at the time –or really ever made, during that era. The 80’s was a time where directors like John Hughes made magnificently popular films like the Breakfast Club. So, to say that thriller directors like Dario Argento and Steven Spielberg created movies that would paint history differently is magnificent.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a psychological film that details life within a psychiatric ward. We meet Randall McMurphy, a patient that was committed because of his criminal past, where he plead insanity. We witness him changing lives, as he would implement “having fun” into everyday life. Whenever it would be time to have group therapy, Randall would always play it off as “I’m not that crazy”. But, in fact, he shows erratic behavior and denial of his actual mental illness. So, we are left to decipher… Is Randal crazy? Or, is he just “faking” it?

Both of these films are amazing, and significant of the times. So, it’s only fair to say that both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deep Red hold individualistic norms of their own. Such as, a films ability to be creative for their own good. Earlier, I was mindlessly scrolling through my TikTok page and I found a review of Deep Red, now this is only important, because of the fact of the remembrance of both films. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deep Red are both iconic for being able to simply live as their own films. Two different movies, but psychologically, they make you think about the deeper meaning behind film. For Deep Red, it’s committing murder, but for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre the idea is mainly focused on the psychological factor for the film. With the cows in the beginning, assuming that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a psychological hells cape, the idea is only that gruesome murder can occur. Likewise with the everyday murder of livestock for food.

Ebert, Roger. (1974) “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” Chicago Sun-Times https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-1974

Muir, Kenneth John. “Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre”. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers https://www.google.com/books/edition/Eaten_Alive_at_a_Chainsaw_Massacre/DngwCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=texas+chainsaw+massacre&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover

Callahan, Corey. (2019) “What Makes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre So Damn Good?”  https://horrorobsessive.com/2019/12/18/what-makes-the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-so-damn-good/

Hellyer, Cale “Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts” International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Vol. 28, No. 3 (100) (2017), pp. 462-465 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26508556ol.

Patton, Elaina. (2018) “Deep Red” New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/recommends/watch/deep-red

Ending the Vietnam War

Jaws

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest