A poster for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. To the right, there is an image of Leatherface holding a chainsaw while standing in front of one of the female protagonists. She is hanging on a meat hook and grasping backwards. At the bottom of this image, overlaying Leatherface's legs, there is small white text that reads 'America's most bizarre and brutal crimes!...' To the left is large, black text that reads 'Who will survive and what will be left of them?' At the bottom of the poster is large, red text that reads 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. In small, black, subtext it reads 'What happened is true. Now the motion picture that's just as real.'
poster

MAJOR WARNING for discussions of fictional depictions of murder and similar horror movie hijinks!

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE!!!!!!!!!!!!! The LOVE of my LIFE. Texas Chainsaw was one of the introductory horror films that I watched when I was first really getting into the genre! And it has remained my all time favorite horror film ever since!!! For those who don't know, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a slasher film released in 1974! It was directed and produced by Tobe Hooper and it features the iconic slasher villain, Leatherface and his cannibalistic family as they chase and kill off a group of protagonists one by one in classic slasher movie fashion. Their house is filled to the brim with homemade household decorations made from human (and animal) parts.

The Sawyers are not only my favorite horror movie characters, but my favorite fictional characters... Ever. LOL. The Sawyer family and their character dynamics make up a huge part of my love for the movie(s)! Everything about the first movie especially feels like it was created in a lab specifically to cater to all of my long-term interests: horror, bones, and a buncha hillbilly dudes. The cinematography has such a natural, real feel to it and all the detail and character put into the environments alone was so charming that it was enough to make me fall in love with the film at first sight! In fact, in the weeks leading up to me watching the film for the first time, I had to hype myself up for it, like I was preparing to go on a date, to put it hyperbolically. HAHA.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2!!!!!!!

The second movie in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is more fast-paced and delightfully campy than the first. More importantly, it introduces a new family member to the Sawyer clan, my all time FAVORITE character in anything EVER, CHOP-TOP SAWYER!!!!!! OHH, he even has a special separate section on my site!! I do self-ship with him BIG TIME, so please keep that in mind before you explore that side of things, but I have so much to say about him that I can't fit it all in here! HEHEH...

Back on the topic of the actual movie: I love the first and second movies in very different, but equal ways!! I think the original Texas Chainsaw is more effective as horror, but the second movie is so wonderfully silly in all the right ways. I adore them both and it's difficult to choose which one I like better since they feel, tonally, very different to me. We also get some more very likeable protagonists in this film. I love Stretch and Lefty and L.G!!! It feels increasingly rare for me to like every character in a movie (especially horror movies), but all of the characters are so interesting and memorable and perfectly casted! It's such a fun watch!

What about the sequels/remakes?

Admittedly, I only really acknowledge the first and second films of the original timeline because... The others aren't really my thing unfortunately, heheh. No hate to anyone who loves them though! Funnily enough, The Next Generation was the first Texas Chainsaw film I attempted to watch (lol)! It was on TV one evening and my dad mistook it for the original so we tuned in about 3/4ths of the way through and sat in somber silence and disbelief as if we were watching a funeral service LMAO. However, I can't make a fair judgement on this film just yet. I haven't watched the whole thing (in fact, I only watched about five minutes of it before we gave up), BUT I do hope to revisit it and maybe write about it in the blog section of this site! Same with the third movie of the franchise and Texas Chainsaw 3D (which I'm really looking forward to because it has Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, and Bill Moseley)!

I have an interesting relationship with the remakes. I do like them, but they feel so separated and different from the 1974 version that it comes across as completely divorced from the original concept. Not a bad thing at all since it is a remake after all! I just forget that they're both technically Texas Chainsaw Massacres LOL. I do like the different interpretation of the original idea! And again, I really do enjoy the films, especially the prequel, but the originals will always be my most favorite ones! You can't outdo the Sawyers!!

WARNING for discussions of fictional depictions of familial abuse!

Please keep in mind that I have a habit of not checking all extracurricular pieces/sources of information about the movies and characters (such as cast interviews, behind the scenes extras, etc)... This is not due to any distaste, of course! But I tend to get... EXTREMELY shy about watching/reading new content for the series! I also like to stick to the movies for what is canon, although you will see that there are some things where I take more creative liberties with determining what is and is not true about the characters. Just consider this my version of canon, not an objective analysis! Also, I'll be covering Leatherface, The Cook, and The Hitchhiker for this section, since Chop-Top has his own dedicated corner of my site already!! Thank you for your understanding!!!

A cartoony digital illustration of a character with tan skin, freckles, and brown curly hair. He is wearing a yellow jacket and a matching yellow beanie, as well as bell bottom jeans, a white crop top, a brown belt with a round belt buckle and white shoes. He is standing with a slightly slouched posture and is raising his hand in a peace sign. He is smiling wide and looking off to the right.

LEATHERFACE!

I think it probably makes the most sense to start with the star of the films, and my favorite major slasher villain! Leatherface is interesting because of how sympathetic of a character he manages to be despite the violence that you witness from him in the original movie. This point has been dissected over and over by fans of the franchise. I often find myself not having much to say about Leatherface, or Bubba, as a result. I don't want to bore you with points you've already heard. But, I will say that his character is portrayed and written so wonderfully and thoughtfully. It's not every day you get a horror film where the protagonists AND the antagonist are both scared of each other (albeit for different reasons), but it works very well. And although Bubba is committing extreme acts of violence, it's clear that he is motivated by an extreme devotion to his family rather than bloodlust.

But this brings me to another interesting point. How much is he motivated by loyalty to the family and how much is he motivated by fear? It is undeniable that Bubba, in the first movie at least, does fear Drayton's authority. And this is for good reason. Drayton is shown to be extremely hot-headed towards his brothers to the point of cruelty (I'll talk more about this later). This leads me further to another comparison between how Bubba and Nubbins deal with their living situation in contrasting ways! Bubba, despite the maltreatment and fear, still shows a desire to treat Drayton kindly, such as when he sheepishly comes to greet him when he comes back home with Nubbins. Although it is also possible that Bubba is displaying the "fawn" defense mechanism, which is where an individual develops "people-pleasing" behaviors to avoid conflict. I tend to believe it's a little bit of both. Especially since Bubba likely knew that he messed up and that Drayton would be irate when he saw what he had done to the door.

On a different note, I want to talk about Bubba's masks and how they possibly tie into his gender expression! I've seen lots of interesting thoughts about this! And, if I remember correctly, it has been vaguely discussed by Gunnar Hansen before! So, I want to take that into consideration as well as give my own perspective, especially as a gender nonconforming person myself! I find the fact that Bubba assumes different roles when he wears certain masks super fascinating.