So I just saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre... - Page 2

Hooper had a notorious drug problem. I've met the guy and he does seem a little damaged as a result. It's the only explanation I can offer as to why he never made another film nearly as good as the original CHAINSAW.

I do enjoy CHAINSAW 2, FUNHOUSE, LIFEFORCE and POLTERGEIST (yeah yeah, Spielberg blah blah, it's still Hooper's name on the film) to varying degrees.

This is the second thread in two days in which I've commented on famous directors and their drug abuse. I think I'm the one with the problem.

I think Eaten Alive is crazy and interesting. Same with Lifeforce, and TCM2 is some kind of masterpiece. But I don't think Hooper ever had technique to fall back on like Carpenter or the intellect of a Cronenberg, so his hackwork stinks, which is -sadly - the last twenty years of his career.

The original Chainsaw is that lightning-in-a-bottle, perfect storm type of film. It has that post Manson seventies sensibility, the energy of young hungry filmmakers going for broke and an unhinged quality that simply could never be replicated. Rob Zombie may try and try, but he'll never capture the true spirit of that film.

The kills are quite violent, they just aren't bloody or gory. When wheelchair-boy (Franklin?) gets murdered it's shot from behind the chair with Leatherface cutting him up from the front; you know exactly what's happening, you just can't quite see it.

Also, the scene where the girl on the meathook screams while Leatherface starts disassembling her boyfriend. The hook is in her back so you don't see the penetration, but you know it's there. The boyfriend's body is positioned with the head out of view, but you know that's what Leatherface is carving away at. The sound definitely helps, but that tableaux is extremely nightmarish in and of itself.

Off on a tangent: when Marilyn Burns has her finger sliced so Grandpa can suck the blood, the prop blood-squirting razor they intended to use wouldn't squirt properly, so they actually cut her finger open.

On Eaten Alive: saw it recently, couldn't believe how sloppy it was. Notable only for Marilyn Burns yet again bound and menaced by a psycho (if you're into that sort of thing), and Englund's great line "My name is Buck, and I'm here to fuck" that was used by QT in Kill Bill.

The version of this anecdote I always heard was that they didn't tell her they were going to cut her in order to get a more visceral reaction. Like dropping Rickman on "2" in the Die Hard finale.

The version Gunnar Hansen tells is that he took it upon himself to do that.

Yeah, that's a great commentary track.

Note to self: never make a movie with Gunnar Hansen.

I've never been able to bring myself to watch this a 2nd time. I enjoyed (is that the right word?) it when I saw it, but I never needed to endure it again. Plus, it was a Halloween midnight screening. Kind of hard to beat that experience.

Or convention appearance. Or 5. He likes telling that one.

What, are we holding it against the guy now that he doesn't have 3-4 even crazier stories about making the movie to trot out?

No, he's a very articulate and interesting storyteller. But I've noticed the more he tells these stories (especially the one about being offered a part in the remake) they get more vivid and detailed. I'm just amused, not judgmental.

My brain didn't register it as very gory. One reason that, while I acknowledge it's a great film, and one I did enjoy, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have when I 1st saw it. Going by the title alone, TCM should have had a TON of gore. In my 13 or so year old naivete, I was kind of disappointed that it didn't.

The answer's no, but I'm an apologist for SALEM'S LOT. There's a lot of camp & silliness (Fred Willard!), but the overall mood is effective. For a TV mini-series, some real scares.

It was on IFC or something a while back, so I recorded it and watched it. It was just a very bizarre movie. Seemed like it was part of a bigger story that had been clipped out. Everyone is so over the top, it sort of becomes hilarious to watch.

I recently got to see Eaten Alive on the big screen (in a double feature with Halloween II) and enjoyed it. Well, maybe enjoyed isn't quite the right word, as it's a bit of a chore to sit through at times, but I found it worth watching because it's so relentlessly bizarre and grotesque. Hooper seems to be channeling some over the top southern gothic stage play by way of TCM. Just such a strange film. I suppose watching it by yourself on TV might not be as satisfying as watching it with an audience in a movie theater, but I still found it worthy of recommending to people who like this sort of thing. It's no TCM but it's a fascinating oddity.

What was the print quality like on that double feature?

Not great, but still pretty good. I've seen worse prints of older movies like this. Halloween II, in particular, looked surprisingly good. Eaten Alive seemed a bit more worn, but it just added to the experience.

You're in Philly, right? Have you ever been to an Exhumed Films screening? If you have then you know the range of quality of their prints, and I'd put these two on the better end of the spectrum for them. And like I said, when the prints aren't as good it just sort of adds to the grindhouse feel of the experience.

Exhumed Films is great. We don't have anything nearly as cool as the Beverly, but it's neat that there's something like this for cult movie fans in Philadelphia.

Exhumed is a great bunch with their hearts in the right place, so I don't want to sound negative when I say their print quality is all over the place. Sometimes what they end up with is out of their control. They once screened Phantom of the Paradise and it was so spliced and faded that it was nearly unwatchable. On the other hand, they showed Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3D, and a beautiful print of Pieces.

Their 24 hour marathon is coming in a couple weeks.

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said you know the range of quality if you've been to any of their screenings - iit's quite wide. But I figure it can't be helped for the most part, and so far I haven't seen anything that was truly unwatchable. I think we're lucky to have something like this at all. Plus, again, it's a little bit of that grindhouse feel anyway.

I'll be there at the 24 hour (actually 25, because the clocks change) marathon. I went last year and it was a total blast. I actually made it through the whole thing. And yes, the print of Pieces was very nice. That movie was arguably the highlight of the event for me. They showed some classics that were really cool to see on the big screen, but I'd never seen Pieces before and it's a deliriously entertaining film, perfect for that setting.

Better shots - again, 16mm, 1974 equipment:





I visited the house on Thursday:



It's all cute now. The metal door is gone, but the kitchen's in the same spot.

That is too fucking cool. Do they advertise their history as a (grind)house of murder and cannibalism?

There's an understated plaque out front that mentions the movie. While I was there a bunch of goth kids showed up taking pics of everything. The owner seemed pretty okay with the connection.

Interesting color scheme, considering.

What, no impaled-woman-on-a-meathook souvenir keychains? Gyp.

It looks delightful.

I thought TCM is good but as much fun as TCM2, which I consider to be a camp masterpiece.

Hooper is definitely sporadic at best. I really love his version of SALEM'S LOT too. His recent Toolbox Murders remake wasn't as bad as some of his stuff.

House of 1000 Corpses is the best "TCM remake" ever