The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Raw in its documentary footage, this movie became one of the most influential horror films. “The film seemed like the pornography of hell,” the British Censorship Board ruled , cancelling its distribution in England for 23 years. Shady financing, rumored with the mob, did not help. Nevertheless, anyone who sees this picture will never forget the screams of Marilyn Burns and is guaranteed nightmares. For a complete analysis why this has become a classic horror film, read Joe Bob Briggs’ essay below.
Leatherface loves his chainsaw,
Its redneck alligator teeth
Grinding with implacable steel.
Leatherface’s in stitches, grinning,
Disemboweling good as well as bad
Because both are complicit.
Quite messy with his food, Leatherface
Left one girl on a hook to die, chopping
Her boyfriend in a meat grinder.
It’s the new abattoir art of the Seventies.
Leatherface loves to feed his dead parents
Armadillo roadkill or runaway teens.

Leatherface’s the last minstrel whiteface,
A grizzled alt-right pumpkin head modeled on
What armed militants wear in the hills.
Leatherface’s bestial Minotaur smells like
A cave painting of Picasso’s bull, full of
Spitting blood, goring rotting entrails.
Leatherface coos in his comfy chair,
Pops a brew, flips on Vietnam body counts,
And scoops out the brains of the war
Hawks who sent us there.
[Disposable Poem September 24, 2017]
Dr. Mike