CHAIN REACTIONS (2024)

In select theaters this weekend, will expand to more theaters on September 26th from Dark Sky Films!
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe.
Starring Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller- Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama.
Check out the trailer here!!

A group of cinephiles; Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller- Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama, talk about how Tobe Hooper’s horror epic, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE influenced them personally and creatively in this fascinating set of interviews pieced together by Alexandre O. Phillippe, the documentary filmmaker behind DOC OF THE DEAD, 78/52, and THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS.

I’m one of those cinephiles who love to watch the special features on DVD’s, even for bad movies. It helps me as a viewer to understand not only what when on in the making of the film, but where those devious ideas originally come from. It’s why I have an expansive DVD/BluRay collection to this day and why, most likely, I’ll never get rid of it. I have an unquenchable desire to learn not only about horror films, but about what makes them work, not work, and where these despicable ideas come from.

The film does a wonderful job of splicing interviews with the various people with footage from the film, as well as clips from other similar instances in cinema. For all involved in the interview process, there is nary a negative word said about TCM. Instead, one can tell this is a film made by people who love the movie with interviewees who love the movie just as much.

You’ll fear fun stories from each interviewees first contact with the film, as well as their first reactions and how each subsequent viewing sat with them. You’ll hear funny anecdotes from Patton Oswalt, who offers up his comic wit to the terror a young geek kid gets from seeing this movie for the first time. You’ll see the notorious filmmaker Takashi Miike, himself responsible for some of the most heinous scenes in film history, reminisce about how he intended to go see Charlie Chaplin’s CITY LIGHTS one afternoon, but saw TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE instead. You’ll see Karyn Kusawa talk about the film being a stark reflection of American society. You’ll see award winning critic Alexandra Heller- Nicholas discuss how the film called to her and how it perturbed the boys she grew up with that this film resonated do much with her. And you’ll see Stephen King take a break from being an idiot on social media for a minute and talk about how making horror is about crossing barriers and breaking boundaries.

The thing is, I would love to see a movie do a set of interviews with another group of people, talking about their history with Hooper’s classic film. It’s one of the few movies that I am not only curious about it, but how other people reacted to it. Personally, I remember watching TERROR IN THE AISLES and while it served as a wonderful checklist of films I wanted to see as a young kid, the one I needed to see the most was TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Honestly, I remember the sequence featuring Leatherface more than I do my first viewing of the film.

Whatever the view, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE is one of those movies that I can never get enough of. I see new things every time I watch it. The movie is such a kaleidoscope of different horror sights, sounds, and primal feelings. I simply loved CHAIN REACTIONS. And if you love THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, then this is going to be one you won’t want to miss.

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Music Written by Tim Heidecker
Music & Arrangement by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy https://youtu.be/PDySbxQgZMg
(I do not own this music)