The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Sign in with Plex to see what you can watch and keep a watchlist.

Wikidata Q886597, film, IMDb tt0072271, TMDB 30497: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only film by that title; 5 more episodes agree.

What a model would be handed about it, for corpus:ask.

In the store as #512, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

The Rewatchables' awards

From ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan (2026-10-06):

Double feature

  1. pick The Last House on the Left: Equally disturbing, so not a good night, but an interesting snapshot of movie history.
    “I'll probably go last house on the left, although it is equally disturbing, so I don't think it would be like, it wouldn't, it wouldn't be a good night, but it is an interesting snapshot in movie history.”
    unknown · 1:30:52
  2. pick Halloween: To compare and contrast how much Halloween borrowed from Chainsaw.
    “I went Halloween just to compare and contrast like how much Halloween, crib done, chainsaw, all that stuff.”
    unknown · 1:31:20
  3. pick Deliverance: Another road trip gone wrong in the backcountry.
    “I went deliverance.”
    unknown · 1:31:14

Most rewatchable scene

  1. pick Kirk getting killed, and the lead-up to Leatherface bursting out of the metal door
    “However, my most rewatchable scene is Kirk getting killed. and they'll lead up to that.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:45:07
  2. floated The ending: Sally screaming in the truck bed while Leatherface waves the chainsaw at dawn
    “Her face covered in blood, screaming, and him screaming back, waving a chainsaw, and the dawn sun is just like,”
    Bill Simmons · 0:44:46
  3. floated The opening crawl, credits, and graveyard shot
    “I'm not gonna say the opening is a rewatchable scene, but I do really like it.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:32:34
  4. floated The hitchhiker joining the van
    “First thing, the hitchhiker joining the van.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:33:09

Best production story · The most unbelievable anecdote from the making of the film.

  1. winner The 30-hour dinner scene shoot in 100-degree heat: Cast passed out and puked outside while shooting the dinner scene.
    “Which they then did for the next 30 hours in a 100 degree, uh, summer heat.”
    unknown · 0:25:18

Peter North Award · Most effort put into a movie.

  1. winner Marilyn Burns as Sally Hardesty: Screams for 30 minutes, does her own stunts, real cuts.
    “The Peter North Award, most effort put into a movie?”
    unknown · 0:27:31

Ebert Review · The reading of Roger Ebert's review.

  1. pick The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Two stars; Ebert called it a weird achievement but without apparent purpose.
    “Roger Ebert, 2 stars.”
    unknown · 0:31:18

Todd Parker Award · Best character entrance.

  1. winner Leatherface's first appearance through the metal door
    “I'm going to give this the Todd Parker word for best character entrance.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:36:48

Dion Waiters Award · Small role, big impact.

  1. winner Gas station window washer: Bill had flagged him earlier as a Dion Waiters candidate.
    “Watching the windshield guy.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:07:58
  2. nominee Grandpa
    “I can either offer you grandpa or gas station washing the windshield guy.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:07:55

Most 1974 Thing · The most 1974 thing about the movie.

  1. nominee The hitchhiker's Polaroid camera with flashbulb attachment
    “I could offer you the Polaroid camera?”
    unknown · 0:45:28
  2. nominee Calling a girlfriend your old lady
    “Calling someone's girlfriend your old lady?”
    unknown · 0:45:53
  3. winner Hitchhikers
    “And then, uh, I think the winner is just hitchhikers.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:46:09

Flood Gundali · Something the host just enjoys about the movie.

  1. pick Kids on a normal road trip where something abnormal happens
    “Kids on a normal road trip where something abnormal happens.”
    Chris Ryan · 0:47:58
  2. pick Leatherface's run and demeanor: Compares Leatherface's run to Warren in There's Something About Mary.
    “I have leatherface moves and acts like Warren and there's something about Mary.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:48:03
  3. pick A slaughterhouse as a horror location
    “Slaughterhouse is in a horror movie.”
    unknown · 0:48:38

What Aged the Best · What has aged the best.

  1. pick The We Slaughter Barbecue sign
    “Oh, we slaughter barbecue sign?”
    unknown · 0:50:07
  2. pick The poster
    “The poster of this has aged incredibly well.”
    unknown · 0:51:16
  3. pick Daniel Pearl's cinematography
    “Uh, I think Daniel Pearl cinematography is like, easily the best aspect of this movie.”
    unknown · 0:51:58
  4. pick The film as a rich text that says something about its time
    “I would also say what's age the best is the fact that this movie is such a rich text.”
    unknown · 0:53:19

Great Shot Award · Best shot.

  1. winner The last shot, Sally in the truck bed at dawn
    “covered it the last shot.”
    unknown · 0:53:52
  2. pick Pam walking toward the house under the swing: Played for a joke about long shots of her backside.
    “Under the swing.”
    unknown · 0:53:56

Big Kahuna Burger · Best use of food or drink.

  1. winner The human sausage
    “Obviously the human sausage.”
    unknown · 0:54:28
  2. nominee Head cheese
    “I was going to say maybe also just the discussion of head cheese,”
    unknown · 0:54:30

Brock Landers Award · Best character name.

  1. winner Leatherface
    “It got to be Leatherface.”
    unknown · 0:55:07

CR's Flex: He Got Game Hooker Scene · The most awkward scene to have someone randomly walk in on.

  1. pick Pam getting thrown on the meat hook: Adds that the dinner scene would also need explaining.
    “I'm gonna go with Pam getting thrown on the meat hook.”
    Chris Ryan · 0:56:14

Den of Thieves Benihana Award (scene-stealing location) · Scene-stealing location.

  1. pick The chicken room
    “Um, I also had another one, which was just Den of Steve's Benihana scene stealing location for the chicken, the chicken room.”
    Chris Ryan · 0:56:33

Butch's Girlfriend Award · The weak link of the film.

  1. winner Franklin: Knows he is meant to be the weak one but finds him the worst hang.
    “I absolutely hate Franklin.”
    unknown · 0:56:56

What Aged the Worst · What has aged the worst, including expectations of a horror movie.

  1. pick No nude scene, against horror-movie expectations
    “She was very surprised there wasn't a nude scene.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:58:56
  2. pick The sound of the hammer hitting Kirk's skull
    “I think that the sound that the hammer makes when it hits Kirk's skull is aged the worst”
    unknown · 1:01:27

Vincent Hanna / Saul Rubinek Overacting Award · Best overacting, thrillers and horror only.

  1. winner The hitchhiker
    “Probably the hitchhiker?”
    unknown · 1:01:43
  2. nominee Gas station guy at dinner
    “Gas station guy at dinner.”
    unknown · 1:01:45

Hottest Take · A host's hottest take on the film.

  1. pick The hitchhiker is scarier than Leatherface
    “This guy is scarier than Leatherface.”
    unknown · 0:33:36
  2. pick Go back to nightmare shoots: Wants harder shoots, with waivers, for better performances.
    “I think we need to go back to nightmare shoots. Movie shoots.”
    Craig Horlbeck · 1:04:45
  3. pick Leatherface was the victim: Leatherface is just defending his home.
    “My hat is take.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:06:03

Casting What Ifs · Almost-castings and recasts.

  1. pick A 1974 star cast: Jeff Bridges, Rob Reiner, Ron Howard, Penny Marshall, Goldie Hawn as the final girl
    “Jeff Bridges, Rob Reiner and Ron Howard, maybe Rob Reiners in the wheelchair.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:08:29
  2. pick Tom Hanks as a guy in the van: Tom Cruise floated as the hitchhiker.
    “I have Hanks is one of the dudes in the van.”
    unknown · 1:16:54

Dennis Peck Relationship Test · Could a charming character talk their way out of the house.

  1. pick Dennis Peck: Wonders if Peck could have charmed the family.
    “Dennis Peck relationship test.”
    Craig Horlbeck · 1:08:58

Apex Mountain · Where parts of the film sit on the mountain of their genre.

  1. winner The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Blair Witch Project, as indie horror
    “Indie horror movies?”
    unknown · 1:14:10
  2. pick Laurie Strode as the most iconic final girl; Sally the most underrated
    “I think Lori's a more iconic final girl, ultimately.”
    unknown · 1:14:19
  3. winner Michael Myers as top movie murderer: Leatherface called a schedule merchant by comparison.
    “I think the answer is probably Myers because of the body of work.”
    unknown · 1:16:11
  4. winner The 1972 Ford Club Wagon van
    “I'm going to say Apex man for that.”
    unknown · 1:16:45

Hans Gruber Scale · Villain ranking on the Hans Gruber scale.

  1. pick Leatherface
    “I have Leatherface has to be a 10 out of 10.”
    unknown · 1:18:26

Borat Zag Rancid Body Award · Worst body odor.

  1. winner Leatherface: Gunnar Hansen wore one shirt for four weeks.
    “Body Odor Award also goes to Leatherface.”
    unknown · 1:18:36
  2. nominee Grandfather
    “The grandfather.”
    unknown · 1:19:06

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a film they love.

  1. pick Why not just drive away in the truck at the end
    “Still not sure why he didn't just drive away in the truck.”
    unknown · 0:44:07
  2. pick Would you survive being lifted onto a meat hook
    “Would you die right away if you were lifted onto a metal hook?”
    unknown · 1:19:47
  3. pick The van's lights left on after the hitchhiker leaves
    “They just leave it on, like morons.”
    unknown · 1:20:19
  4. pick Pam reading the zodiac book right after the hitchhiker
    “Pam immediately starts reading the zodiac book.”
    unknown · 1:21:49
  5. pick Leatherface's chainsaw never seems to run out of gas
    “That thing's running for 12 hours.”
    unknown · 1:22:14
  6. pick Sudden traffic on the dirt road at the end
    “Why is there suddenly traffic on this dirt road?”
    unknown · 1:22:28
  7. pick Sally could have used more evasive moves
    “Sally could have put some more evasive moves on him.”
    Craig Horlbeck · 1:22:56

Sequel, Prequel, Streamer, Spinoff, Remake, Untouchable · What to do with the franchise.

  1. pick The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: Rumor of a Curry Barker reboot noted.
    “Two is awesome.”
    unknown · 1:23:35

Zihuatanejo Award (what happened the next day) · What happened to the characters after the film.

  1. pick Sally in a coma, per the sequel
    “Canonically, Sally is like basically in a coma.”
    unknown · 1:26:16
  2. pick Sally dead of a cocaine overdose by 1976
    “I wrote down Sally was definitely dead of a cocaine overdose by 1976”
    unknown · 1:26:34
  3. pick Stephen A. Smith doing Straight Shooter after the murders
    “Stephen A. Smith doing straight shooter, the next day after the chainsaw murderers.”
    unknown · 1:25:12

Unanswered Questions · Questions the film leaves open.

  1. pick Where did the truck driver go
    “Where did the truck driver go?”
    unknown · 1:26:49
  2. pick The film's effect on hitchhiking
    “I mean, I mentioned this, but the impact this movie must have had on hitchhiking.”
    unknown · 1:28:07
  3. pick Marilyn Burns as Sally Hardesty: Why no cause of death was given.
    “So what happened, Marilyn Burns is your question?”
    unknown · 1:28:48
  4. pick Which death you would want: Kirk's, not Pam's
    “I would least want to be Pam.”
    unknown · 1:29:52

Memorabilia · A prop they would own.

  1. pick The original chainsaw
    “But I think the original chainsaw would be an amazing.”
    unknown · 1:30:13
  2. pick The hitchhiker's pouch of pictures
    “the hitchhiker's little pouch that he had.”
    unknown · 1:30:18
  3. pick The We Slaughter Barbecue sign
    “With the pictures and the sign, the we slaughter barbecue would be a good one.”
    unknown · 1:30:23

Best Worst Life Lesson · Best or worst life lesson.

  1. pick Don't pick up hitchhikers
    “But I think the real lesson is don't pick up hitchhikers.”
    unknown · 1:30:45
  2. pick Always have a full tank
    “Yeah, we're always have a full tank.”
    unknown · 1:30:47

Who Won the Movie · Who came out ahead from the movie.

  1. winner Toby Hooper: Went on to the Universal lot and Poltergeist.
    “Hooper?”
    unknown · 1:31:26

Who talked about it

Blank Check with Griffin & David

The Big Picture

The Rewatchables

Came from

What the speakers say it drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Ed Gein: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. lineage (real-life source): Ed Gein ⇒ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the host's read). The film was a little influenced by Ed Gein, whose skin masks and grave digging fascinated Hollywood.
    “it was a little influenced by the great Ed Geen.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:17:18 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Night of the Living Dead: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. lineage (inspiration): Night of the Living Dead ⇒ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the host's read). Hooper saw the line down the block for Night of the Living Dead and decided to make a horror film with his own ideas about Vietnam-era America.
    “Toby Hooper, who directed Chainsaw Massacre, went and saw Night of the Living Dead.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:03:15 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)

Led to

What the speakers say drew on it, marked the same way.

Friday the 13th: 4 lines the host's read ×4

  1. unmapped (template): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Friday the 13th (the host's read). The imposing masked killer and the final girl in Chainsaw became the slasher template Friday the 13th and Halloween used.
    “We have that, that ends up in Halloween, Friday the 13th, everything else.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:04:06 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Halloween: 2 lines the host's read ×2

  1. programming (double feature): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Halloween (the host's read). Bill pairs it with Halloween to compare how much Halloween cribbed from Chainsaw.
    “I went Halloween just to compare and contrast like how much Halloween, crib done, chainsaw, all that stuff.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Alien: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. lineage (inspiration): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Alien (the host's read). Chainsaw is what inspired Ridley Scott to make Alien.
    “Texas Chainsaw Basker is what inspired Ridley Scott to make alien.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:40 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. lineage (visual influence): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (the host's read). Tarantino wanted the Spahn Ranch sequence to feel like Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
    “Tarantino wanted it to look like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and had his crew research, Texas Chant, and the whole feel of it and how desolate it was.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:37:06 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Paranormal Activity: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. unmapped (indie legacy): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Paranormal Activity (the host's read). Chainsaw invented the no-money, unknown-actors, one-idea indie horror run that Halloween, Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity followed.
    “This, Halloween, Blur Witch, paranormal activity. We have no money. You don't know these actors.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:02:31 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022, Netflix): 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022, Netflix) (the host's read). The Netflix legacy sequel replaces the original's horror with influencers and a DEI angle.
    “It was like a DEI, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:28:47 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

The Blair Witch Project: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. industry (marketing precedent): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ The Blair Witch Project (the host's read). The 'based on true events' opening was smart and was ripped off by Blair Witch in 1999, pre-internet.
    “We didn't know any better in 1999.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:17:13 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2 (the host's read). Part 2 reuses the framework but changes the tone to slapstick comedy.
    “Texas Chainsaw Messker 2 is basically a slapstick comedy.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:27:15 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)

Connected to

Friday the 13th: 8 lines lineage ×3 contrast ×2 unmapped ×2 verdict ×1

  1. unmapped (template): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Friday the 13th. The imposing masked killer and the final girl in Chainsaw became the slasher template Friday the 13th and Halloween used.
    “We have that, that ends up in Halloween, Friday the 13th, everything else.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:04:06 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Halloween: 3 lines lineage ×1 craft ×1 programming ×1

  1. programming (double feature): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Halloween. Bill pairs it with Halloween to compare how much Halloween cribbed from Chainsaw.
    “I went Halloween just to compare and contrast like how much Halloween, crib done, chainsaw, all that stuff.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Obsession: 2 lines people ×1 lineage ×1

  1. lineage (handmade lineage): Obsession → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Foundational horror films like Night of the Living Dead and Chain Saw were handmade and unpolished, an essential quality Obsession shares in kind though not in quality.
    “But so if you look back at Night of the Living Dead or, um, Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Last House on the Left or even Halloween to some extent.”
    The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ with Griffin Newman! · 0:17:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Paranormal Activity: 2 lines unmapped ×2

  1. unmapped (lesson): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Paranormal Activity. Chainsaw shows that with no budget and no actors, good taste and a good eye is enough, as with Blair Witch and Paranormal.
    “if the director and probably the editor just have good taste. If they just have a good eye, anything can work.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:34:17 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)

The Blair Witch Project: 2 lines industry ×1 unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (feeling): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Blair Witch Project. Craig says watching Chainsaw on VHS left him asking 'was that real?' the same way Blair Witch did.
    “The same way I felt with Blair Witch, where I was like, was that real?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:03:42 · Craig Horlbeck (0.80 sure it was them)

The Last House on the Left: 2 lines unmapped ×1 programming ×1

  1. programming (double feature): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Last House on the Left. Chris picks Last House on the Left for a double feature as an equally disturbing snapshot of movie history.
    “I'll probably go last house on the left, although it is equally disturbing”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:30:52 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)

Alien: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (inspiration): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Alien. Chainsaw is what inspired Ridley Scott to make Alien.
    “Texas Chainsaw Basker is what inspired Ridley Scott to make alien.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:40 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Carol Clover: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (theory): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Carol Clover. Clover's final-girl essay singles out Sally Hardesty from Texas Chain Saw.
    “She identifies Sally Hardesty from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 0:47:05 · Adam Nayman (0.50 sure it was them)

Daniel Pearl: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): Daniel Pearl → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Pearl's cinematography is called the best aspect of the film, looking far better than the shoestring budget should allow.
    “I think Daniel Pearl cinematography is like, easily the best aspect of this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:58 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Deep Throat: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (financing): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Deep Throat. Chainsaw was financed by a mob-linked company that also did Deep Throat and needed to launder its profits.
    “this company that also did Deep Throat and had money that needed to wash the money from Deep Throat”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:11:42 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Deliverance: 1 line programming ×1

  1. programming (double feature): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Deliverance. A guest pick for a double bill: road trip gone wrong.
    “Oh, my God. Road trip gone wrong.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:17 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)

Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (hitchhiking): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker. Bill thinks the ABC TV movie Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker, not Chainsaw, was the final nail in hitchhiking.
    “Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker during the height of ABC TV movies in the 70s.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:46:39 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Dirty Harry: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (1970s genre birth): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Dirty Harry. Chainsaw is one of eight 1970s films (Dirty Harry, Deep Throat, Last House, Godfather II, Jaws, Rocky, Star Wars, Superman) that spawned the next 50 years of genres.
    “if you just go those 8 movies, that's kind of what would become the next 50 years of movies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:14:53 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)

Ed Gein: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (real-life source): Ed Gein → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The film was a little influenced by Ed Gein, whose skin masks and grave digging fascinated Hollywood.
    “it was a little influenced by the great Ed Geen.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:17:18 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Fargo: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (true-story claim): Fargo → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Fargo's true-story card is compared to Texas Chain Saw's loose Ed Gein basis.
    “Texas Chainsaw Massacre says it's based on a true story, and you're like, yeah, Ed Gane killed people.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:48:25 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Flesh and Blood: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): Flesh and Blood → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Speaker says the movie is like Texas Chainsaw in having no one to root for, though someone corrects that you root for someone there.
    “it's like the fucking Texas Chainsaw Massacre or something.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Flesh+Blood · 0:49:45 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Friday the 13th Part 2: 1 line verdict ×1

  1. verdict (underrated final girl): Friday the 13th Part 2 → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Bill nominates the Friday the 13th Part 2 girl as most underrated final girl, alongside Sally.
    “I would say the girl on Friday the 13th part, too.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:14:36 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Green Room: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (feels real): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Green Room. Chainsaw scares because the evil is not supernatural, unlike Jason, Freddy, Myers or The Exorcist; Blair Witch and Green Room are the modern realistic ones.
    “there's a bunch of movies that are scary, but this is, this scares me because it feels so real.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:04:22 · Craig Horlbeck (0.70 sure it was them)

In Cold Blood: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → In Cold Blood. Ebert contrasted the film with true-crime In Cold Blood, which studied the killers' compulsions; Chainsaw has no motivation or background, just terror.
    “A true crime movie like Richard Brooks is in cold blood, which studies the personalities and compulsions of the 2 killers”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:31:47 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Jaws: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (70s realism): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Jaws. Like Jaws, the 70s films feel true to life because of location shooting and actors who look like real locals.
    “All those people in Jaws, you're just like, you are, you do live in in this town.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:15:56 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)

Martin Scorsese: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (admirer): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Martin Scorsese. Scorsese, Spielberg, Tarantino and Friedkin all loved it.
    “Scorsese loves this movie. Spielberg thought this movie was incredible”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:48 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)

My Cousin Vinny: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (theme): My Cousin Vinny → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Bill and Stan's film-school movie of the experience would be Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the legal system.
    “It's basically Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the legal system.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘My Cousin Vinny’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:29 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Night of the Living Dead: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (inspiration): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Night of the Living Dead. Hooper saw the line down the block for Night of the Living Dead and decided to make a horror film with his own ideas about Vietnam-era America.
    “Toby Hooper, who directed Chainsaw Massacre, went and saw Night of the Living Dead.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:03:15 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)

Nocturnal Animals: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (Texas dread): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Nocturnal Animals. Nocturnal Animals touches the same fear of a long empty road in the wrong part of Texas.
    “There was a great movie a couple years ago called Nocturnal Animals that Tom Ford directed that kind of touches into this”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:11:01 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (visual influence): Once Upon a Time in Hollywood → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Tarantino wanted the Spahn Ranch sequence to feel like Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
    “Tarantino wanted it to look like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and had his crew research, Texas Chant, and the whole feel of it and how desolate it was.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:37:06 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Psycho: 1 line verdict ×1

  1. verdict (killer ranking): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Psycho. On the movie-murderer Mount Rushmore, Norman Bates and Lecter go up there; Bill picks Myers because of the body of work.
    “I think the answer is probably Myers because of the body of work.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:16:11 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Quentin Tarantino: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (admirer): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino wrote that Chainsaw is one of the few perfect movies ever made.
    “To me, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the few perfect movies ever made.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:00:56 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Resident Evil: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (horror boom): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Resident Evil. Horror is Hollywood's new singles and doubles; Backrooms, Resident Evil and Obsession are the year's successes.
    “The new singles and doubles of Hollywood is horror.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:06:27 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)

Robert A. Burns: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): Robert A. Burns → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The art director's scavenged animal parts and bones built the chicken room, called maybe the creepiest room in horror history.
    “there's a lot of research about the, uh, the art director, just going around Texas and picking up decomposing animal parts”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:37:47 · Bill Simmons (0.35 sure it was them)

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Miasma restages the sex, death, chase and catharsis of the classic final-girl structure differently from Texas Chain Saw.
    “in a very different way than, you know, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 0:57:44 · Adam Nayman (0.50 sure it was them)

Terrence Malick: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (visual comp): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Terrence Malick. Leatherface in the field with lens flare looks like a Malick movie, accidental poetry loaded with dread.
    “there's the shot in that movie of leatherface in the field with the sort of lens flare in the sun where suddenly it feels like you're watching like a Terrence Malik movie”
    The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ with Griffin Newman! · 0:20:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022, Netflix): 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022, Netflix) → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The Netflix legacy sequel replaces the original's horror with influencers and a DEI angle.
    “It was like a DEI, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:28:47 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Thanksgiving: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (gimmick): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Thanksgiving. Slasher gimmicks (Freddy, Chucky, Orphan, Thanksgiving) are compared with Leatherface.
    “I thought that Thanksgiving that came out a couple years ago. I thought that guy had a good gimmick.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:09:28 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)

The Ice Storm: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (theme): The Ice Storm → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Fennessey places the film between Deep Throat (1972) and Texas Chain Saw (1974) as culture coarsened after Watergate.
    “This movie takes place right in between those 2 things.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Ice Storm’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:28:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

The Innocents: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Innocents. Sean's horror test: supernatural or extraordinarily visceral. Chainsaw is gory, The Innocents ghostly.
    “So Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not supernatural, but it is incredibly gory and violent.”
    The Big Picture · The 10 Best Horror Movies of the Decade | The Big Picture · 0:10:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

The Social Network: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (equity screwing): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Social Network. The cast being diluted out of their cut is the worst version of the Social Network equity scene.
    “It was like the worst version of that social network scene”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:12:21 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2 → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Part 2 reuses the framework but changes the tone to slapstick comedy.
    “Texas Chainsaw Messker 2 is basically a slapstick comedy.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:27:15 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)

There's Something About Mary: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (physical comedy): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → There's Something About Mary. Leatherface moves and runs like Warren, the character in There's Something About Mary.
    “I have leatherface moves and acts like Warren and there's something about Mary.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:48:03 · Craig Horlbeck (0.60 sure it was them)

Where it came up

What was said about it, by kind

contrast (7)

  1. contrast (contrast): Flesh and Blood → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Speaker says the movie is like Texas Chainsaw in having no one to root for, though someone corrects that you root for someone there.
    “it's like the fucking Texas Chainsaw Massacre or something.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Flesh+Blood · 0:49:45 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast): Friday the 13th → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Leatherface's real tragedy is that he is just a private man; Jason and Freddy have trauma backstories that Leatherface lacks.
    “I don't think that they ever unlocked like what's what's Leatherface's trauma”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:16:38 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. contrast (contrast): Friday the 13th → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Craig finds it hard to come off Chain Saw and Sally to this film's final girl.
    “It's hard to come off of Texas Chainsaw.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:42:21 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → In Cold Blood. Ebert contrasted the film with true-crime In Cold Blood, which studied the killers' compulsions; Chainsaw has no motivation or background, just terror.
    “A true crime movie like Richard Brooks is in cold blood, which studies the personalities and compulsions of the 2 killers”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:31:47 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2 → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Part 2 reuses the framework but changes the tone to slapstick comedy.
    “Texas Chainsaw Messker 2 is basically a slapstick comedy.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:27:15 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)
  6. contrast (contrast): Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022, Netflix) → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The Netflix legacy sequel replaces the original's horror with influencers and a DEI angle.
    “It was like a DEI, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:28:47 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  7. contrast (contrast): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Innocents. Sean's horror test: supernatural or extraordinarily visceral. Chainsaw is gory, The Innocents ghostly.
    “So Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not supernatural, but it is incredibly gory and violent.”
    The Big Picture · The 10 Best Horror Movies of the Decade | The Big Picture · 0:10:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

craft (4)

  1. craft (craft): Robert A. Burns → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The art director's scavenged animal parts and bones built the chicken room, called maybe the creepiest room in horror history.
    “there's a lot of research about the, uh, the art director, just going around Texas and picking up decomposing animal parts”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:37:47 · Bill Simmons (0.35 sure it was them)
  2. craft (last shot): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Halloween. Chainsaw's last shot is an all-time ending, rivaled only by Halloween's empty Myers shots; Chainsaw is judged better.
    “It's an all-time greatest last shot other than possibly Halloween, Myers not being there at the end.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:44:34 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft): Daniel Pearl → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Pearl's cinematography is called the best aspect of the film, looking far better than the shoestring budget should allow.
    “I think Daniel Pearl cinematography is like, easily the best aspect of this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:58 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. craft (visual comp): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Terrence Malick. Leatherface in the field with lens flare looks like a Malick movie, accidental poetry loaded with dread.
    “there's the shot in that movie of leatherface in the field with the sort of lens flare in the sun where suddenly it feels like you're watching like a Terrence Malik movie”
    The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ with Griffin Newman! · 0:20:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

industry (2)

  1. industry (marketing precedent): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Blair Witch Project. The 'based on true events' opening was smart and was ripped off by Blair Witch in 1999, pre-internet.
    “We didn't know any better in 1999.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:17:13 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. industry (financing): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Deep Throat. Chainsaw was financed by a mob-linked company that also did Deep Throat and needed to launder its profits.
    “this company that also did Deep Throat and had money that needed to wash the money from Deep Throat”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:11:42 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

lineage (10)

  1. lineage (lineage): Friday the 13th → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Friday borrowed the seemingly friendly helper who turns out hostile and the killer who keeps getting back up.
    “a seemingly friendly helper who ends up being not friendly, the Texas chainsaw move.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:46:48 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage): Friday the 13th → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The cemetery-warning figure at the start of Chain Saw parallels Ralph.
    “The guy in the beginning at the cemetery at Texas Chainsaw Massacre, he kind of warns everybody of what's to come.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:47:50 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. lineage (ancestor): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Halloween. Halloween felt like it invented modern horror, but on rewatch Chainsaw is the real ground zero.
    “whenever I watch Chainsaw, I'm like, no, actually this is ground zero.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:03:01 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. lineage (inspiration): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Night of the Living Dead. Hooper saw the line down the block for Night of the Living Dead and decided to make a horror film with his own ideas about Vietnam-era America.
    “Toby Hooper, who directed Chainsaw Massacre, went and saw Night of the Living Dead.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:03:15 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
  5. lineage (real-life source): Ed Gein → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The film was a little influenced by Ed Gein, whose skin masks and grave digging fascinated Hollywood.
    “it was a little influenced by the great Ed Geen.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:17:18 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
  6. lineage (rip-off): Friday the 13th → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The final girl running to Jason's mom for help copies Sally running to the gas station guy.
    “Friday the 13th rips it off.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:41:15 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. lineage (inspiration): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Alien. Chainsaw is what inspired Ridley Scott to make Alien.
    “Texas Chainsaw Basker is what inspired Ridley Scott to make alien.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:40 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  8. lineage (visual influence): Once Upon a Time in Hollywood → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Tarantino wanted the Spahn Ranch sequence to feel like Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
    “Tarantino wanted it to look like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and had his crew research, Texas Chant, and the whole feel of it and how desolate it was.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:37:06 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  9. lineage (lineage): Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Miasma restages the sex, death, chase and catharsis of the classic final-girl structure differently from Texas Chain Saw.
    “in a very different way than, you know, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 0:57:44 · Adam Nayman (0.50 sure it was them)
  10. lineage (handmade lineage): Obsession → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Foundational horror films like Night of the Living Dead and Chain Saw were handmade and unpolished, an essential quality Obsession shares in kind though not in quality.
    “But so if you look back at Night of the Living Dead or, um, Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Last House on the Left or even Halloween to some extent.”
    The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ with Griffin Newman! · 0:17:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (cast profit parallel): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Obsession. The cast not sharing in the profits recalls the Obsession set designer's complaint as that film took off.
    “Kind of reminds me of what happened with obsession.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:05:33 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

programming (3)

  1. programming (double feature): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Last House on the Left. Chris picks Last House on the Left for a double feature as an equally disturbing snapshot of movie history.
    “I'll probably go last house on the left, although it is equally disturbing”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:30:52 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. programming (double feature): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Deliverance. A guest pick for a double bill: road trip gone wrong.
    “Oh, my God. Road trip gone wrong.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:17 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. programming (double feature): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Halloween. Bill pairs it with Halloween to compare how much Halloween cribbed from Chainsaw.
    “I went Halloween just to compare and contrast like how much Halloween, crib done, chainsaw, all that stuff.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

theme (3)

  1. theme (1970s genre birth): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Dirty Harry. Chainsaw is one of eight 1970s films (Dirty Harry, Deep Throat, Last House, Godfather II, Jaws, Rocky, Star Wars, Superman) that spawned the next 50 years of genres.
    “if you just go those 8 movies, that's kind of what would become the next 50 years of movies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:14:53 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
  2. theme (theme): My Cousin Vinny → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Bill and Stan's film-school movie of the experience would be Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the legal system.
    “It's basically Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the legal system.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘My Cousin Vinny’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:29 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. theme (theme): The Ice Storm → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Fennessey places the film between Deep Throat (1972) and Texas Chain Saw (1974) as culture coarsened after Watergate.
    “This movie takes place right in between those 2 things.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Ice Storm’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:28:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

unmapped (18)

  1. unmapped (true-story claim): Fargo → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Fargo's true-story card is compared to Texas Chain Saw's loose Ed Gein basis.
    “Texas Chainsaw Massacre says it's based on a true story, and you're like, yeah, Ed Gane killed people.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:48:25 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (admirer): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino wrote that Chainsaw is one of the few perfect movies ever made.
    “To me, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the few perfect movies ever made.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:00:56 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (indie legacy): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Paranormal Activity. Chainsaw invented the no-money, unknown-actors, one-idea indie horror run that Halloween, Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity followed.
    “This, Halloween, Blur Witch, paranormal activity. We have no money. You don't know these actors.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:02:31 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. unmapped (template): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Friday the 13th. The imposing masked killer and the final girl in Chainsaw became the slasher template Friday the 13th and Halloween used.
    “We have that, that ends up in Halloween, Friday the 13th, everything else.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:04:06 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. unmapped (horror boom): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Resident Evil. Horror is Hollywood's new singles and doubles; Backrooms, Resident Evil and Obsession are the year's successes.
    “The new singles and doubles of Hollywood is horror.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:06:27 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  6. unmapped (final girl prototype): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Friday the 13th. Sally is the ground-zero prototype final girl later ripped off in every Friday the 13th and most Halloween movies.
    “she's the prototype ground 0 final girl that then gets ripped off.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:06:46 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. unmapped (gimmick): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Thanksgiving. Slasher gimmicks (Freddy, Chucky, Orphan, Thanksgiving) are compared with Leatherface.
    “I thought that Thanksgiving that came out a couple years ago. I thought that guy had a good gimmick.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:09:28 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
  8. unmapped (Texas dread): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Nocturnal Animals. Nocturnal Animals touches the same fear of a long empty road in the wrong part of Texas.
    “There was a great movie a couple years ago called Nocturnal Animals that Tom Ford directed that kind of touches into this”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:11:01 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
  9. unmapped (70s realism): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Jaws. Like Jaws, the 70s films feel true to life because of location shooting and actors who look like real locals.
    “All those people in Jaws, you're just like, you are, you do live in in this town.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:15:56 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  10. unmapped (peer cluster): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Last House on the Left. Ebert said Chainsaw belongs with Night of the Living Dead and Last House on the Left as films better than the genre required; also listed as indie-horror example in the 70s genre run.
    “it belongs with 9 Living Dead, last house to the left, films that are really a lot better than the genre required.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:31:32 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  11. unmapped (hitchhiking): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker. Bill thinks the ABC TV movie Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker, not Chainsaw, was the final nail in hitchhiking.
    “Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker during the height of ABC TV movies in the 70s.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:46:39 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  12. unmapped (physical comedy): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → There's Something About Mary. Leatherface moves and runs like Warren, the character in There's Something About Mary.
    “I have leatherface moves and acts like Warren and there's something about Mary.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:48:03 · Craig Horlbeck (0.60 sure it was them)
  13. unmapped (admirer): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Martin Scorsese. Scorsese, Spielberg, Tarantino and Friedkin all loved it.
    “Scorsese loves this movie. Spielberg thought this movie was incredible”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:48 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  14. unmapped (feeling): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Blair Witch Project. Craig says watching Chainsaw on VHS left him asking 'was that real?' the same way Blair Witch did.
    “The same way I felt with Blair Witch, where I was like, was that real?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:03:42 · Craig Horlbeck (0.80 sure it was them)
  15. unmapped (feels real): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Green Room. Chainsaw scares because the evil is not supernatural, unlike Jason, Freddy, Myers or The Exorcist; Blair Witch and Green Room are the modern realistic ones.
    “there's a bunch of movies that are scary, but this is, this scares me because it feels so real.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:04:22 · Craig Horlbeck (0.70 sure it was them)
  16. unmapped (equity screwing): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → The Social Network. The cast being diluted out of their cut is the worst version of the Social Network equity scene.
    “It was like the worst version of that social network scene”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:12:21 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  17. unmapped (lesson): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Paranormal Activity. Chainsaw shows that with no budget and no actors, good taste and a good eye is enough, as with Blair Witch and Paranormal.
    “if the director and probably the editor just have good taste. If they just have a good eye, anything can work.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:34:17 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  18. unmapped (theory): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Carol Clover. Clover's final-girl essay singles out Sally Hardesty from Texas Chain Saw.
    “She identifies Sally Hardesty from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 0:47:05 · Adam Nayman (0.50 sure it was them)

verdict (3)

  1. verdict (verdict): Friday the 13th → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Slasher Mount Rushmore: Leatherface, Myers, Kruger, Jason, with Ghostface the next tier.
    “so Leatherface, Myers, Kruger, Jason.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:16:17 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. verdict (underrated final girl): Friday the 13th Part 2 → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Bill nominates the Friday the 13th Part 2 girl as most underrated final girl, alongside Sally.
    “I would say the girl on Friday the 13th part, too.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:14:36 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. verdict (killer ranking): The Texas Chain Saw Massacre → Psycho. On the movie-murderer Mount Rushmore, Norman Bates and Lecter go up there; Bill picks Myers because of the body of work.
    “I think the answer is probably Myers because of the body of work.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:16:11 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Fun items about it

  1. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Leatherface's entrance: no music, a metal door opens, hammer to the head, convulsing like a fencer, a second hit, then the door slams. Chris and Bill call it one of the great scares and best character entrances.
    “Metal door opens. The scariest guy you'll ever see in your life is just there.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:05:16 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Dinner scene shoot: John Dugan refused to redo 5-hour grandpa makeup, so they shot it all in 30 hours, 100 degrees, rotting food, blackout curtains, cast puking outside. Edwin Neal called it worse than Vietnam.
    “filming that scene was the worst time of my life, and I had been in Vietnam with people trying to kill me.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:25:46 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Hot take from Bill: the hitchhiker is scarier than Leatherface, because everyone has met someone fully gone in a bar who wants to show them a knife.
    “This guy is scarier than Leatherface.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:33:36 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Most rewatchable scene: Kirk getting killed, with the lead-up. Craig also points to the opening, the hitchhiker, the chicken room and the gas station.
    “my most rewatchable scene is Kirk getting killed.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:45:07 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Most 1974 thing: the hitchhiker's Polaroid with flashbulb, 'chain saw' as two words, 'old lady' for a girlfriend, and hitchhikers themselves.
    “And then, uh, I think the winner is just hitchhikers.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:46:09 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The We Slaughter Barbecue sign and the gas station aged best; the real gas station is now a horror-themed barbecue restaurant and motel in Texas.
    “Oh, we slaughter barbecue sign?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:50:07 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Facts: 83 minutes, 868 edits, one chainsaw, one outfit, a $60,000 shoot (later $125K budget with promotion); it made $31 million; Ebert gave it 2 stars.
    “There are 868 edits and an 83 minute movie, which apparently is a lot.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:34 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Best character name: Leatherface, who is only ever named when his brother calls him Leatherface; title debates note the film nearly went by Head Cheese or Saturn's Return.
    “They worked on Saturn's return.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:55:36 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Only one chainsaw death in the whole movie (Franklin), prompting the joke that it should be Texas Hammer Massacre.
    “I mean, in some ways, Texas Hammer Massacre didn't go really the same.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:00:45 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Bill's hottest take: Leatherface was the victim, just defending his property in his own house with a hobby of taxidermy.
    “Leatherface was the victim.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:06:04 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Craig's life lesson: the real lesson is don't pick up hitchhikers and always have a full tank; Bill notes the lesson from Miyagi is get gas when you need it.
    “don't drop below a half tank.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:07:10 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Casting what-ifs: Bill's 1974 big-cast version has Jeff Bridges, Rob Reiner (wheelchair), Ron Howard, Penny Marshall and Goldie Hawn as the final girl. The real unknown actors are what makes it work. Cruise or Hanks gag in the van.
    “Jeff Bridges, Rob Reiner and Ron Howard, maybe Rob Reiners in the wheelchair.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:08:29 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Money story: financed by mob-linked money (the Deep Throat producers), cast kept signing away shares, company went bankrupt, New Line bought the stuff and belatedly paid; nobody went on to a career.
    “They ended up getting financing from basically the mob.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:11:42 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Hans Gruber villain scale: Leatherface is a 10 out of 10, shattering the ceiling.
    “I have Leatherface has to be a 10 out of 10.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:18:26 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Who won the movie: Tobe Hooper, who got the best career out of it, at the Universal lot with Spielberg, directing Poltergeist.
    “Hooper? Yeah, I think so.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:26 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Sally is the final girl almost by default, barely a character, and her ride away on the truck is one of the greatest moments in any movie.
    “That's one of the greatest moments in any movie, not just horror movie.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 0:58:15 · Adam Nayman (0.55 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: A rep house's original print broke at the exact moment Sally jumps into the truck; the audience was freaked out by the abrupt ending.
    “the print broke.”
    The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ With Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, and Jane Schoenbrun! · 0:58:42 · Adam Nayman (0.50 sure it was them)

Who the speakers said made it

As said on the shows, not checked against the real credits.