The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
29
Aug
2017
In Remembrance: Tobe Hooper
Tobe Hooper: Gone But Not Forgotten
It is with heavy heart that we report the passing of the ever so great Tobe Hooper - the man who brought us many, MANY great horror flicks, such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Poltergeist, The Fun House, Lifeforce, Salem's Lot, and Toolbox Murders - among others. His legacy of horror films are what spawned fear and intrigue on several levels for all of us here at House of Tortured Souls. We will be paying tribute to him, so stay tuned to find out how his work has influenced our work and our lives.
Here's a list of his directorial credits alone:
- Djinn (2013)
- Destiny Express Redux (2009)
- Masters of Horror (TV Series) – “The Damned Thing” (2006)
- Masters of Horror (TV Series) – “Dance of the Dead” (2005)
- Mortuary (2005)
- Toolbox Murders (2004)
- Taken (TV Mini-Series) (1 episode) – “Beyond the Sky” (2002)
- Night Visions (TV Series) (2 episodes) – “Cargo” (2002)
- Night Visions (TV Series) (2 episodes) – “The Maze” (2002)
- Crocodile (Video) (2000)
- The Others (TV Series) (1 episode) – “Souls on Board” (2000)
- Dark Skies (TV Series) (1 episode) – “The Awakening” (1996)
- Nowhere Man (TV Series) (2 episodes) – “Turnabout” (1995)
- Nowhere Man (TV Series) (2 episodes) – “Absolute Zero” (1995)
- The Apartment Complex (TV Movie) (1999)
- Prey (TV Series) (1 episode) – “Hungry for Survival”: Unaired Pilot (1998)
- Perversions of Science (TV Series) (1 episode) – “Panic” (1997)
- The Mangler (1995)
- Body Bags (TV Movie) (segment “Eye”) (1993)
- Night Terrors (1993)
- Tales from the Crypt (TV Series) (1 episode) – “Dead Wait” (1991)
- Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories (TV Mini-Series documentary) (1 episode) – “Ghosts R Us/Legend of Kate Morgan/School Spirit” (1991)
- I’m Dangerous Tonight (TV Movie) (1990)
- Spontaneous Combustion (1990)
- Freddy’s Nightmares (TV Series) (1 episode) – “No More Mr. Nice Guy” (1988)
- The Equalizer (TV Series) (1 episode) – “No Place Like Home” (1988)
- Amazing Stories (TV Series) (1 episode) – “Miss Stardust” (1987)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
- Invaders from Mars (1986)
- Lifeforce (1985)
- Billy Idol: Dancing with Myself (Video short) (1983)
- Poltergeist (1982)
- The Fun House (1981)
- Salem’s Lot (TV Movie) (1979)
- The Dark (replaced by John Cardos, uncredited) (1979)
- Eaten Alive (1976)
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
- Eggshells (1969)
- The Heisters (Short) (1964)
Now, pop in a classic, grab your favorite snack, and celebrate the scares that he gave us.
Poster Gallery of Some of Tobe Hooper's Films
Click for larger image.
08
Nov
2015
OBITUARY: Gunnar Hansen
RIP Gunnar Hansen
By Woofer McWooferson
Actor Gunnar Hansen passed away from pancreatic cancer at his home in Maine on November 7, 2015. Hansen, who is best remembered as the original actor behind the human mask face of iconic killer Leatherface in Tobe Hooper's original The Texas Chain Saw Mssacre. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, Gunnar moved with his parents to the US at age 5 with the Hansen family settling in Maine. At age 11, they moved to Texas, where Hansen attended high school at Austin High School and college at the University of Texas at Austin. In college Hansen doubled majored in English and mathematics, pursing graduate work in English and Scandinavian Studies.
Although he dabbled in theater in college, it wasn't until 1973 that he was interviewed by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, eventually landing the role as Leatherface, the iconic chainsaw wielding cannibal in 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. This was followed by The Demon Lover in 1977 after which Hansen took a decade-long break from acting. During this break, Hansen worked as a magazine writer and a magazine and book editor. Hansen returned to film in the horror spoof Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and has worked steadily in film since. Because of his imposing size (Hansen is 6' 4" or 1.93 m), he was usually cast as bad guys in horror movies, further endearing him to the horror fandom.
In addition to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Demon Lover (1977), and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988), Hansen has starred in Campfire Tales (1991), Freakshow (1995), Mosquito (1995), Repligator (1996), Chainsaw Sally (2004), and Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre (2009).
In 1993 Hansen published a nonfiction travel memoir, Islands at the Edge of Time: A journey to America's Barrier Islands. From the description:
Weaving in and out along the coastlines of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina, poet and naturalist Gunnar Hansen perceives barrier islands not as sand but as expressions in time of the processes that make them.
In 2013 he wrote the nonfiction book Chain Saw Confidential: How We Made the World’s Most Notorious Horror Movie, detailing the making, distribution, and reception of 1973's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. From the description:
A critically acclaimed poet and author, Hansen tells the real story of the film, debunking myths, giving behind-the-scenes details, and offering insights on the film's reception and our enduring fascination with the horror genre today.
RIP, Mr. Hansen, you will be missed.
20
Oct
2015
BLU-RAY REVIEW: Eaten Alive (1980)
By Nick Durham
When you find a movie called Eaten Alive, there's probably two thoughts as to what kind of movie it is that pop in your head: is this a cannibal movie, or is it a fucking porno? Wait what? There is a cannibal movie called Eaten Alive? Okay, that makes sense I guess. What else is it? There's like over a hundred porno movies that have some variation of the phrase Eaten Alive in it? Okay, that makes sense too I guess. No matter what type of Eaten Alive strikes your fancy, I think you'd be better off with either the cannibal one, or any of the porno ones, than you would be with this fucking thing.
Anyway, Eaten Alive is Tobe Hooper's 1977 follow up to his landmark smash hit The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Only instead of revolving around chainsaw-wielding inbred hillbilly cannibal maniacs, this revolves around...well, inbred hillbilly maniacs and a giant fucking crocodile. The crocodile lives next door to a run down hotel owned by the mentally deranged Judd (Neville Brand), who often supplies the croc with fresh victims of those that cross his path. We get to meet a variety of people, including a fucked up couple (William Finley and Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre lead Marilyn Burns) and a dude named Buck (a pre-A Nightmare on Elm Street Robert Englund) that likes to do stuff that begins with the letter F and ends with -uck.
Okay, let's just get this out of the way: Eaten Alive is a terrible movie. I know this film has its fans, but holy fucking hell I can't stand this flick. Usually I wholeheartedly enjoy this kind of shit, but there's always been something about Eaten Alive that has rubbed me the wrong way. Whether it's the overall tone of the film to the fact that when compared to the magic Hooper made with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, this thing just can't compare. It almost comes off as being an ill-conceived parody of monster movies and backwoods living...without any laughs. Plus, it just drags on and on and on and feels like that it is NEVER going to end.
Now I could spend all day shitting on this movie, but I won't, because somehow this managed to get a wonderful Blu-ray release. Arrow Films, whom I worship day and night, has provided Eaten Alive with a fantastic physical media release here, more than this fucking movie deserves. The film's picture and sound have been remastered, a commentary by one of the film's writers and a couple actors (curiously nothing on the commentary from Tobe Hooper or Robert Englund), a new introduction from Hooper, new and vintage interviews with Hooper, Englund, and Marilyn Burns, and a featurette about the story of Joe Ball; the real-life Texas bar owner that the film is loosely based upon. Yes, Arrow has packed in a shitload of features for this fuckfest for some odd reason, don't ask me why.
To wrap things up here, I really dislike Eaten Alive something fierce. That being said, if you are a fan of this film, this Blu-ray release from Arrow Films is definitely worth picking up just for the special features alone. There's no denying that Arrow has given this film a treatment that it really doesn't deserve, but if you somehow enjoy this flick, by all means pick this release up. For the rest of us, we can keep pretending this movie never happened, just like Tobe Hooper has been pretending the past few films he's directed never happened either.
Rating: 2/5 (but the Blu-ray is super-mega-crocodile-tits)
