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 this film remains one of the greatest pieces of horror cinema of all time. Subscribe to Pop Heist so you don't miss an essay!
The cemetery from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's opening scene, the same one that Sally and her friends are about to visit, is in Leander, Texas, maybe a 20-minute drive or so from where I'm sitting as I type this. If you go there, you might recognize some key angles, certain obelisk-topped monuments, or the gentle slope of the grounds. But cinematic heritage aside, it's one of hundreds just like it scattered through Central Texas, grassy and sun-parched and often featureless save for the monuments arranged there. And yet it isn't just like them at all, because each burial ground has its own aura, its own character, and through the magic of film, this one is rendered positively radioactive.


