On October 1, 1974 a film came out that laid the groundwork for many films to come. Ridley Scott cited it as the inspiration for the 1979 film ALIEN. Rob Zombie has said that it was a huge inspiration on his art, and especially his film HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. It was even inducted into the Horror Hall of Fame in 1990. It’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I was 7 years old and my parents had been divorced for about 6 and a half years. It was my Dad’s day to spend with me and he had worked earlier in the day so he passed out in his chair, hoping I would just find cartoons or Svengoolie would be on to keep me occupied. But Saturday afternoon television in Racine, WI around 1986. I didn’t really wanna watch Bowling for Dollars or ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
That’s when I saw it. A tape sitting in the VCR half ejected. So I pushed it in, sight unseen.
Now if this had been something other than what it was, this kind of post might not be happening, because I’d be filming people having sex in Silicon Valley right now. But I digress…
The tracking started as the tape began to play and I saw who I would later come to find out is Pam, running from a large man in a very weird mask, that I would later come to realize was made from human flesh. He grabbed her and drug her back into the house and chucked her on a meat hook.
Now most kids reaction at that age would be to turn the tape off and head toward the fetal position. I paused the tape. The horror on her face was fascinating to me and I didn’t know why. I had, up until that point, been a afraid of the standee of Freddy Kruger in the video store so much that I would run my Dad’s tapes in with my eyes closed. So why was I so fascinated with Leatherface and his family of serial killing cannibals?
I still don’t know why, but I am thankful that I saw it. It’s molded me into the horror director that I am today. (Some folks may want to blame the film for that in a negative ha)
Now and forever…
Ron Purtee 