The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

“The old way... with a sledge! You see, that way's better. They die better that way.”

---

Loosely inspired by the crimes of Ed Gein that took place in Marshfield, Wisconsin, yet marketed as an account of true events, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was initially so shocking and vile to audiences and critics, that they found little artistic merit for it. Texas Chain Saw has since then garnered acclaim and is widely recognized as one of the most influential horror films of all time. The one-two-three punch (or stab) of Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Halloween are what ignited the slasher saturation of the late 70s and early 80s after all, which then introduced us to popular figures like Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th and Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street series.

Although Texas Chain Saw was certainly off-putting to audiences when it was first released, it seems somewhat tame looking at it today compared to other films, whether they belong to the horror genre or not. I saw one great remark about this film that said simply “you’ll see more gore in a Steven Segal film” (though I could not find a source for that). While this film is relatively light on gore, it still undoubtedly fits Linda Williams’s notion of the body genre. Texas Chain Saw follows Williams’s observed temporal disruption in the horror genre, “which raises the anxiety of not being ready, the problem, in effect, of ‘too early!’” (Williams, 11). Almost all of the major events in the film happen when a character walks in on a situation that they were unprepared for. This obviously happens with the first appearance of the mascot killer, where Kirk stumbles upon an unprepared Leatherface, who quickly kills him because of it. However, I think that one of the most important and fitting temporal disruptions in the film is also one of the most subtle ones. In the beginning of the film, the gang stops at a gas station to fill up their van, still not knowing the identity of the man who runs it. The owner tells them that he is out of gas and is waiting for someone to come fill his tank, while trying to convince the group to wait for his supply to come in. This was the film’s first instance of “too early!” It was both a blatant statement that this was indeed a horror film, and a subtle foreshadow of how the rest of the events of the film would unfold. Texas Chain Saw is actually full of subtle foreshadowing clues, which is one of the things I love about it, whether it is small fictional radio broadcast about grave robbing, or a prolonged conversation about the execution of cattle.

Unlike Texas Chain Saw’s successors, I do not think this film is overtly about sexual repression or the punishment of sexuality, although John Carpenter would beg to differ that his film represents the latter. Even though Kirk and Pam were probably planning to do more than just swim in the creek, the film is relatively light on explicit sexual content, especially compared to later films in the slasher genre. Texas Chain Saw is more concerned about the disruption of gender roles within the ideal nuclear family. While Carol Clover notes that neither Leatherface nor the hitchhiker show “overt signs of gender confusion” (Clover, 195), she also states that the horror picture’s “killer is not fully masculine” (Clover, 204). Leatherface is rightfully frightening, but he is never intimidating. This is for two reasons, the first is that he carries a child-like demeanor, never fully forming sentences and exhibiting all kinds of baby fat. The second goes back to gender role disruption. There is noticeably an absence of live women from the murderous family. Because of this, Leatherface has been allocated the maternal role of the household. He exhibits this position by playing the housekeeper, since he never leaves the house until the end, and cuts up and refrigerates the bodies (preparing the family’s food) while he is indoors. He also sports motherly attire with his apron and some light make-up and maintains it throughout dinner. Aside from his iconic face, his care-taking role is what cements Leatherface as the main killer of the film.

As director Tobe Hooper grew up in the 1950s, he was constantly surrounded by the image of the nuclear family. The disruption of this ideal image was a constant fear during post-WWII Americana. His experience with this led him to integrate this fear as an underlying theme to Texas Chain Saw. Hooper further developed this theme in his 1982 supernatural horror film Poltergeist, which is a personal favorite of mine. While Texas Chain Saw was about the absence of a mother, Poltergeist explored the idea of the maternal role not being strong enough to protect one’s children. It is almost fitting that Texas Chain Saw expressed a need for a mother and Poltergeist displayed the need for more than just a mother's presence.