Since we're heading into the spooky season! This is a perfect time to re-visit one of the ultimate horror films.

On October 1st, 1974, Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" had it's premiere in Austin, Texas (The major release would be on October 11th)! Theatres in the Capital Region (Albany, Colonie, etc.) are having 50th anniversary screenings to commemorate! 

The audience embraced this film! They had never seen anything like it before or since and even though the reception from critics was mixed at the time, the film was a HUGE success grossing over $30 million on an approx. $140,000 budget! This was a highly influential film which set the stage for "slasher" horror film genre to follow like "Halloween", Friday The 13th", "A Nightmare On Elm Street", etc. A franchise was born with up to date, seven sequels prequels, a remake, comic books and video games!

This film had a lot of cultural hot buttons bubbling beneath the surface of the plot and story: The American family Life at the time, violence against women (still a hot button issue), vegetarianism, the Vietnam War, the gas shortage of the 70's, a couple of real life serial killer cases, etc.

The home video of this film has a HUGE story as well! I currently own a limited edition 4K/Blu-ray edition (which is out of print), but now there's a 50th anniversary edition that includes the VHS & a replica chainsaw! Click here! Crazy!

We discussed this film & legacy in more detail and you can listen to our podcast by clicking here!