Universal didn't get its hit, but at least Hooper got away with this. The best one laughs, closing out the movie with the blackest punchline of all. Others claw with broken limbs at props long lost. But don't let the studio budget fool you - there's no mistaking the controlled hysteria of a hundred antique robots coming to life.
Cinematographer Andrew Laszlo, fresh from "The Warriors," shoots it all in lavish anamorphic widescreen, flaring even the farthest bulbs into pink supernovas. Hooper had always wanted to do a " carnival movie" and his excitement glows on the screen like so much candy-colored fluorescence. So, when the meddling kids inevitably meddle and see something heinous, their terror carries a tinge of responsibility - that's what they get for gawking after the geek show. The carnival's gyrating attractions and fool's gold sparkle may be Vegas to the latest crop of teenagers, but to the barkers, it's home. All the carnies want is a moment of your time and the change from your soft pretzel. In "The Funhouse," the misfit family is on the defensive.
The sum of all these false starts and failed do-overs is the most uniquely uneven series in the genre. Most of the continuations feel like remakes, with only the actual remake receiving a stylistically consistent follow-up, which happens to be the first of two prequels. On account, the Texas Chainsaw franchise makes up for being shorter than any of its contemporaries by being weirder. Sequels compounded that misunderstanding by baptizing marquee maniac Leatherface in the slurry of his victims, alternately exaggerating and reducing him, rendering him the same as any other slasher icon. The film's immediate and lasting reputation as a grisly endurance test is only half deserved.
Director Tobe Hooper consulted the Motion Picture Association of America constantly, even before heading to the editing room, in hopes of landing a PG rating. He failed, but the result is an optical illusion that lets the viewer see more than they're ever actually shown. In 2017 there was yet another prequel, Leatherface, which failed to generate any real buzz.And yet, the original film is not especially gruesome. Then there was the confusing (and terrible) Texas Chainsaw 3D, which was apparently meant to be a direct sequel to the original movie although the timeline didn't add up at all (for instance: star Alexandra Daddario, who was 25 at the time of release and looked even younger, was supposed to be playing a character about to turn 40). That remake spawned a prequel (which was not pretty good, all things considered). The film spawned several sequels, and then a 2003 remake (which I thought was pretty good, all things considered). Released in 1974, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a horror classic that still has the power to terrify and disturb. Elsie Fisher, Sarah Yarkin, Jacob Latimore, and Moe Dunford star. If it is, you can rest assured that the sisters will find themselves running afoul of Leatherface and his cannibal redneck family, too. However, all of the Tohill's footage has been thrown out, so I'm not 100% sure how much of that is still accurate. The version the Tohills were making was reportedly about a woman who drags her teenage sister out to Texas on a business trip.