![]() The sequel is about the insanity (and the horror) of trying to turn something as singular as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre into a mass-produced commodity. Part of the dysfunctional genius of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 is the extent to which the film serves as its own punchline. ![]() In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, the 1960s live on in the decrepit zombie-like form of “Chop Top” Sawyer (Bill Moseley), a Vietnam veteran in his “Sonny Bono wig-do.” However, Chop Top’s decaying form works as a metaphor for the franchise itself. If The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was about the brutal destruction of 1960s idealism in the early 1970s, then the sequel is about how that generation “ sold out” in the 1980s, in the way that many accused Jerry Rubin of doing. Hooper was boldly satirizing the era itself. Sally Hardesty has been described as “ the first ‘final girl.’” It was controversial The Los Angeles Times described the movie as “ a despicable film,” and the British Board of Film Classification refused to certify it. It was an “ indie-before-there-were-indies.” It helped establish Austin as a haven for filmmakers, something that its sequel would further more than a decade later. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a hugely important moment in American cinema. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre predates many comparable classics of American franchise horror, from John Carpenter’s Halloween to Sean Cunningham’s Friday the 13 th to Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street. Its release date coincided perfectly with the Canadian release of Bob Clark’s Black Christmas, although it preceded the American release by a couple of months. ![]() It hit screens a year after The Exorcist. Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre arrived in 1974. The result is a movie that has a brand but is lacking an identity. It is a product of the same market forces that led to David Gordon Green’s Halloween, Nia DaCosta’s Candyman, and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Scream. It is the “back-to-basics” requel to a beloved cult classic that even returns to the original title. It is a movie that feels very much like the cynical chasing of a trend. This weekend, Netflix released David Blue Garcia’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has always been something of an oddity among the major long-running horror series, particularly those classified as “slashers.”
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