Metal and horror movies have always been connected, but it’s hard to imagine any horror movie with as much of an influence on metal as 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The tale of a cannibal family living in the Texas countryside, its ranks including a chainsaw-wielding human butcher nicknamed Leatherface, Tobe Hooper’s film is a marathon of paranoia, disbelief, and unholy gore that showed countless horror fans and metalheads the true face of terror. Now, it looks like fans will take another trip to Texas, as a new website and poster have revealed that a fresh film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is on it sway.
As reported by Bloody Disgusting, Legendary Pictures launched a new website for the franchise, where users are told to turn their sound on, at which point the high-pitched keening noise which opens the original film can be heard. Also included is a poster with the following caption: “In 1974, the world witnessed one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history. In 2021, the face of madness returns.”
Whether this film will be another remake — Bloody Disgusting points out that Fede Alvarez, who remade Evil Dead in 2013, has long been rumored to be behind a new take on Texas Chainsaw Massacre — or another sequel within the existing franchise has not yet been made clear. The film was remade in 2003 to acclaim from critics and horror fans alike.
One heavy metal star who owes more than can be expressed in words to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is Rob Zombie, whose debut film House of 1,000 Corpses and its central family the Fireflies are heavily influenced by the movie. In 2017, the shock rocker paid homage to Tobe Hooper’s vision in Rolling Stone around the time of Hooper’s death.
“To call The Texas Chain Saw Massacre a ‘slasher film’ or ‘just’ a horror movie is an insult at best,” wrote Zombie. “It is a film that stands side by side with some of the best films of its time – one every bit as powerful as Taxi Driver, Jaws, A Clockwork Orange and The Godfather. It is a true classic. Some people say that you’re only as good as your last project. That’s complete nonsense: Art has no timeline or expiration date. And for that reason, Tobe Hooper now resides along side the greats of cinema history.”
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Words by Chris Krovatin
