The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers:

Kim Henkel (story) and
Tobe Hooper (story)

Release Date:

1 October 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The idyllic summer's day that became a nightmare of fear and blood... [UK Video]

Plot:

Five friends visiting their grandpa's old house are hunted down and terrorized by a chainsaw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.

Plot Keywords:

Grandfather | Cannibal | Leatherface | Hitchhiker | Chainsaw

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Marilyn Burns	...	Sally Hardesty
Allen Danziger	...	Jerry
Paul A. Partain	...	Franklin Hardesty
William Vail	...	Kirk
Teri McMinn	...	Pam (as Teri Mcminn)
Edwin Neal	...	Hitchhiker
Jim Siedow	...	Old Man
Gunnar Hansen	...	Leatherface
John Dugan	...	Grandfather
Robert Courtin	...	Window Washer
William Creamer	...	Bearded Man
John Henry Faulk	...	Storyteller
Jerry Green	...	Cowboy
Ed Guinn	...	Cattle Truck Driver
Joe Bill Hogan	...	Drunk
Perry Lorenz	...	Pick Up Driver
John Larroquette	...	Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Tobe Hooper

Writing credits
Kim Henkel		(story and screenplay) and
Tobe Hooper		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Kim Henkel	....	associate producer
Tobe Hooper	....	producer
Jay Parsley	....	executive producer
Richard Saenz	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Wayne Bell
Tobe Hooper

Cinematography by
Daniel Pearl

Film Editing by
J. Larry Carroll		(as Larry Carroll)
Sallye Richardson

Art Direction by
Robert A. Burns

Makeup Department
W.E. Barnes	....	makeup artist: grandfather
Dorothy J. Pearl	....	makeup artist (as Dorothy Pearl)

Production Management
Ronald M. Bozman	....	production manager (as Ronald Bozman)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sallye Richardson	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Wayne Bell	....	boom operator
Wayne Bell	....	post-production sound
Jay M. Harding	....	dubbing mixer (as Jay Harding)
Paul Harrison	....	sound re-recordist
Robert Knudson	....	dubbing mixer (as Buzz Knudson)
Ted Nicolaou	....	location sound recordist
Patrick Yacono	....	sound re-recording mixer (restorated version) (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Dean W. Miller	....	special effects

Stunts
Mary Church	....	stunts
Perry Lorenz	....	stunt driver

Camera and Electrical Department
Tobe Hooper	....	additional photographer
Lynn Lockwood	....	lighting (as Lynn Lochwood)
J. Michael McClary	....	camera assistant (as J. Michael Mcclary)
Lou Perryman	....	assistant camera
Rod Ponton	....	grip
Lynn Scherwitz	....	key grip (as Linn Scherwitz)

Other crew
George Baetz	....	production assistant
Jerry Bellnoski	....	production assistant
Mary Church	....	script girl
Jim Crow	....	production assistant
Paula Eaton	....	production assistant
Tom Foote	....	production assistant
Paulette Gochnour	....	production assistant
Charlie Loving	....	production assistant
Sally Nicolau	....	production assistant
N.C. Parsley	....	production assistant
Robert Pustejowski	....	production assistant (as Robert Pustejovski)
David Spaw	....	production assistant
Ray Spaw	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Vortex

Distributors

• Bryanston Distributing (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Jugendfilm-Verleih (1978) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1980) (Canada) (theatrical) (re-release)
• New Line Cinema (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• René Chateau Productions (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Wizard Video (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Media Home Entertainment (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Converse Video (1985) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (1990) (Finland) (VHS)
• Cinema Mondo (1996) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Elite Entertainment (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Dex Entertainment (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Dark Sky Films (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Blue Dolphin Film Distribution (1999) (UK) (VHS)
• CMV Laservision (1999) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Future Film (2001) (Finland) (DVD) (2004)
• Future Film (2001) (Finland) (VHS)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Pioneer Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Dark Sky Films (2006) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Stormovie (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Astral Films (????) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Succéfilm AB (????) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Astral Video (????) (Canada) (VHS)
• Astral Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Bac Films (France) (re-release)
• Cine Art Filmes (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Converge Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Force Video (2000) (Australia) (DVD)
• New Line Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Raven Pictures International
• Reserva Especial (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Rosebud Communications Releasing
• Skorpion Home Video (unknown) (Italy) (VHS)
• Triangle Video (1985) (Canada) (video)
• Turbine Medien GmbH (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (????) (UK) (VHS)
• Video Movies Leerdam (VML) (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Video Treasures (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  titles: opticals & prints
• Screen Time Images  film restoration
• Todd-AO Studios  sound mix (as Todd/AO)

Also Known As:

"The Devil of Punishment" - Japan (English title)

Runtime:

83 min | Germany:75 min (new longer Version) | 88 min (Unrated Edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Chile:(Banned) (re-rating) (1978) | Chile:18 (original rating) | Denmark:15 (video rating) | France:-16 (re-rating) | France:X (original rating) | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:(Banned) (original rating) | Iceland:16 (re-rating) | Ireland:(Banned) (original rating) | Ireland:18 (re-rating) | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:(Banned) (video rating) | Norway:18 (re-rating) (1997) (uncut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:(Banned) (1984) | USA:R (Approved No. 24009) | Singapore:(Banned) | West Germany:(Banned) (1985-2011) | New Zealand:R18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (re-rating: 2004) | Sweden:15 (re-rating: 1994) (cut) (re-rating: 2001) (uncut) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (2001) (uncut) | UK:18 (re-rating: 1999) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (original rating: 1974) | UK:R (original rating: 1975) | Finland:(Banned) (1984) | Finland:K-18 (1996) | UK:(Banned) (original rating) | Italy:VM14 (re-release) (uncut) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Brazil:(Banned) (original rating) | Brazil:18 (1998) | Australia:(Banned) (original rating) | Belgium:16 (video rating) | West Germany:18 (cut) | New Zealand:R16 (re-rating) (2007) (uncut) | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 (cut DVD version) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Germany:18 (re-rating) (2011)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Vortex

Trivia:

The van the kids drive was owned by location sound recordist Ted Nicolaou.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After the crazy man cuts his own hand, he laughs and waves the knife. Watch carefully and you can see the hose behind the blade the blood came through.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator:The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother, Franklin. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But, had they lived very, very long lives...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Midnight (1982)

Soundtrack:

POCO A POCO NO

All the remakes and imitators are just swimming in its wake...

With the recent box-office success achieved by the latest remake of 1974's `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' it's worth looking back at Tobe Hooper's original horror classic.

The movie tells a fairly simple tale at heart. A group of five teenagers driving through rural Texas happen upon a deranged, cannibalistic family. Psychological terror and chainsaws ensue.

Yet despite this simplicity, what is it about `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' that continues to succeed so with its audience? Outside of one memorial scene involving a meet hook; the movie is not particularly gory by today's standards. The film's characters and actual scares are not that remarkable.

The power of `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' lies in its atmosphere and in what H.P. Lovecraft called `the oldest and strongest kind of fear': the fear of the unknown. The later of these two staples of great horror is often cast aside in modern horror movies-especially in those churned out by the great Hollywood engine. Instead, every mystery must be explained away, every mask ultimately pulled from a monster's face, and not a moment of exposition is spared. It is interesting to note that the filmmakers behind the latest `Chainsaw' film chose to implement all three of these stylistic vices in their remake.

In the original, the feeling of dread and mounting paranoia creeps over the viewer in slow but steady waves. The first scene in the film depicts a desecrated grave with a voiceover of radio newscast, immediately followed by an opening credits sequence set against a backdrop of roaring solar flares. This, along with some idle astrological chatter on the part of one of the teenagers early on, leads to a feeling of cosmic disarray in the lonely Texas hills they traverse.

Questions about the villain's mask or the field of cars under camouflage netting are left for the viewer to answer on his or her own. At worst, in the loss of any acceptable answer, they are forced to ponder that terrible and limitless gulf of the imagination: the unknown.

In it's later stages, the film becomes a cacophonous world of throat-peeling screaming, blood-shot eyes, laughter, and grinding machinery. One is forced to recall the solar flares in the film's opening credits. In the climax of famous dinner scene, there is a feeling of cosmic forces pressing in on reality and warping it into some crude mockery of order, as if the world were but a TV or radio signal distorted into madness by flares on the surface of the sun.

In the 29 years since `The Texas chainsaw Massacre' hit theaters, there have been countless imitators and four additional films in the franchise, three of them remakes. Yet as loved and influential as the original classic has been, many who would seek to emulate its vision seem to overlook its true strengths.