Welcome to Bizarre Crimes: Essays on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Join us every day in October for a new piece of critical analysis on Tobe Hooper's legendary film, as Pop Heist's Matthew Jackson breaks down why it remains one of the greatest pieces of horror cinema of all time. Subscribe to Pop Heist so you don't miss an essay!
The film we're talking about is 83 minutes long. We're in the late 30s, which means that when you factor in credits we're about halfway along. This is the moment when the intensity ramps up, when we start to talk less about madness and more about frenzy. Someone is dead, and his death has set in motion a devastating chain of events. And yet, even with precious time ticking away and a need to put a foot on the gas, we're about to spend two minutes in a room full of dead things.