We’re back with the penultimate episode of Halloween Fest 2026, and we saved one of the genuinely disturbing ones for near the end. This week we review the 1974 original, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We say a lot during Halloween Fest that very little creeps us out, but this one got to us.
The surprise is how little blood there is. So why was it banned and heavily censored in places like Britain for 25 years? We talk through how Tobe Hooper builds dread with long takes, sound, and what he refuses to show us, including the famous under-the-swing shot and the fact that Leatherface doesn’t appear until about 35 minutes in.
We also get into the wild story behind the making of the film, based on the documentary we watched: a brutal Texas summer shoot with no air conditioning, a cast and crew who were barely paid, financing tied to a mob-linked distributor, and Gunnar Hansen’s rough deal for the sequels. We cover the cast, John Larroquette’s famously odd payment for the opening narration, the Ed Gein connection, and the “based on true events” trick that hooked audiences. Then we look at how this one film helped set the template for the slasher, from the masked killer to the final girl.
Mike also shares some personal history playing Leatherface at Terror on Church Street in Central Florida, and we talk sequels, ratings, and how a roughly $140,000 movie became a legend.
It’s streaming on Prime Video. Next up, we close out Halloween Fest with Backrooms. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.
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