‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ legacy chronicled in new documentary

Documentary filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe (The People vs. George Lucas) waited until his early 20s to see The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Philippe watched a lot of horror movies as a kid, but Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic was something he avoided for years.

“I was a huge cinephile, but [Texas Chain Saw] felt too real and dangerous – like it was going to mess me up,” Philippe, 52, told MySA during a recent interview. “So, I waited and waited and waited.”

Living in New Haven, Connecticut at the time, Philippe, who was born and raised in Switzerland, went to rent the movie at a local video store one evening. He wanted to finally face his fears.

“When it got to the dinner scene, I just couldn’t take it anymore,” Philippe said. “I had to turn it off and go outside and walk around the block. I had to take a deep breath and remind myself that we live in a beautiful world. Then, I went back in and finished the film.”

Now, Philippe is sharing how others like him were impacted by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In the documentary Chain Reactions, he interviews five people in the film industry to get five different perspectives about the horror flick. This includes horror writer Stephen King (Misery) and actor and comedian Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille).

“Chain Reactions is a film about the ways in which Texas Chain Saw gets under your skin,” Philippe said. “For me, it was about finding people who had a personal relationship with the film.”

In Chain Reactions, Oswalt remembers he first saw the movie at his friend’s house on VHS on a small color TV. He compares some of the shots and themes to the 1922 silent film Nosferatu.

“The visuals and the film itself are ferocious and primitive and not quite human,” Oswalt said in the documentary. “If you can face the horror of it dead on without blinking, then there’s poetry in you not blinking at it.”

During King’s segment, the best-selling author described the reason he loves horror movies so much is because “reality and the outrageously crazy could merge together” in a convincing way.

“It just feels like you can’t tell where fact ends and fiction begins,” King said. “[Texas Chain Saw] is scary in a way … that Hollywood movies don’t seem to be able to replicate. It puts us all in touch with our primal fears.”

Philippe said there is nothing definitive about cinema. Everyone has their own thoughts and theories about movies and brings their own experiences. That’s what he wanted to highlight in Chain Reactions. He did the same with past documentaries like Doc of the Dead, which explored the impact of zombie movies, and 78/52, which explored the impact of the shower scene in Psycho.

“I love to pick the brains of extraordinary thinkers and artists and people who love movies,” he said. “Texas Chain Saw is a film that you can absolutely deconstruct.”

Chain Reactions is screening one night only on Friday, October 17, at The Texas Theatre in Dallas at 7:15 p.m.

This article originally published at ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ legacy chronicled in new documentary.