Editorials
[It Came From the ‘80s] The Gory Comedy of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’
With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
If you happened to catch the new Child’s Play, then you know that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 plays a major part in the film, both in the dark humorous tone and in Chucky’s understanding of death. Tobe Hooper’s follow up, released over a decade after his seminal The Texas Chain Saw Massacre disturbed audiences, took a drastically different approach with his cannibalistic clan. Mostly by going for broke in terms of pitch-black comedy and over the top characters. That major shift appalled critics and audiences at time of release, though reception has long since warmed to this sequel’s wackiness.
Set 13 years after the events of the first film, the Sawyer clan have retreated from their home and taken up residence in an abandoned amusement park elsewhere in Texas. The change in habitation hasn’t stopped their hunger for human flesh; it’s only shifted their method of obtaining it. When their latest hunting adventure is accidentally recorded on air of a local radio station, the Sawyer clan becomes laser focused on erasing all evidence- including the station employees. Of course, they didn’t anticipate that the uncle of their previous victims would be out for vengeance.
Armed with a much bigger budget thanks to production company and distributor Cannon, it should surprise no one that a good chunk of that went to special makeup effects. With none other than legendary special makeup effects artist Tom Savini behind them, as well as a talented crew that included Gabe Bartalos (Darkman, Brain Damage), Bart Mixon (1990’s It, 3 from Hell), Jon Vulich, Shawn McEnroe (The Blob, Night of the Creeps), Gino Crognale (The Walking Dead, Scream 2), and Mitch Devane (Men in Black, The Frighteners).
That budget shows right out of the gate, during the opening sequence that reintroduces Leatherface (now played by Bill Johnson), the preserved corpse of the Hitchhiker (referred to as the Muppet in the script), and final girl Vanita ‘Stretch’ Brock (Caroline Williams) as she overhears Leatherface slaughter his latest victims- a pair of drunk high schoolers driving on a deserted stretch of highway. The stunt work required for this scene alone is demonstrative of the higher budget, and impressive as Leatherface uses his Muppetized brother to dance on the back of the pickup truck racing down the road parallel to the victims’ car. But the complexity is compounded by the special makeup effects that overlaps the stunt work as Leatherface brings his saw down upon the teens. While a stunt driver was steering the vehicle, the special effects crew was working in tandem to make the fake head of the victim split open, with calf brains and blood spilling forth.
Of course, it’s impossible to mention this sequel without bringing up Bill Moseley’s Chop-Top, the metal-plated and deranged Vietnam vet. His character fills the void left behind by the Hitchhiker’s death, and also provides explanation to the amusement part setting of the Sawyer clan; Chop-Top bought it with the intent to turn it into “Nam-land.” It makes for a visually exciting set piece that sets the stage for the final showdown between Stretch and Lefty (Dennis Hopper) versus the Sawyer clan.
Screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson considered this sequel to be a coming of age story for Leatherface, though one steeped in insanity and humor. That comes across in the way Leatherface is interested in Stretch, and how it causes him to stand up to his family in certain ways. Because of that narrative aspect, it makes sense that it would be this wacky film that would inspire Child’s Play, as young teen Andy Barclay also has an arch based in growth. Both revel in the gore and wacky slasher madness, too, which makes it easy to see why The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 would’ve been a jarring sequel to see upon initial release.
From child-eating witches to village-burning dragons, fairy tales have always had a foot in the horror genre. That’s why it makes sense that, for every The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are also darker and more adult-oriented stories about magical worlds inhabited by ravenous monsters and cruel villains.
Funnily enough, these sinister tales were precisely the ones that I gravitated towards back when I was a kid, and I was reminded of this while watching Netflix’s recently released I Am Frankelda, Mexico’s first ever feature-length stop-motion animation and one hell of an entertaining parable about the intersection between fiction and reality.
In honor of this special kind of horror-adjacent fairy tale, today I’d like to share this list recommending six Dark Fantasy films that horror fans might enjoy.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining Dark Fantasy as fantastical stories that don’t shy away from the more macabre elements that fuel classic fairy tales. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own grim favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
I’m fascinated by bizarre attempts at blockbuster filmmaking – especially when the resulting movies are somehow still fun despite their corporate-mandated origins. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is precisely one of these strangely compelling studio projects, as this surprisingly successful action-thriller boasts a lot of heart (and tongue-in-cheek humor) for a CGI-heavy creature feature.
Directed by Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola, Witch Hunters re-frames the classic fairy tale as an origin story for a duo of badass monster-slayers. Of course, it’s the flick’s anachronistic aesthetic and overall visual flair that make it stand out from other action-horror endeavors from around the same time.
5. The Wolf House (2018)
Made in the tradition of faux cursed films in the same vein as Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made, the eerie backstory to 2018’s Chilean animated flick The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo in the original Spanish) already makes it a nightmarish experience before the flick even really begins.
After all, the movie is presented to us as a faux propaganda film produced by the leader of a death cult (heavily inspired by the real life Colonia Dignidad), with this hybrid animated feature using complex movie magic to simulate a single uninterrupted shot as it tells the story of a lazy young girl who runs away from an isolated colony and encounters a creepy old house in the woods.
4. The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Out of all the Monty Python alumni, Terry Gilliam has had the most interesting career outside of the original comedy group. From fascinating canceled projects (such as his scrapped adaptation of Watchmen) to dystopian parodies that feel more relevant by the minute (1985’s Brazil), even his “lesser” films are still intriguing in their own way.
2005’s The Brothers Grimm is one such project, with this peculiar movie attempting to combine the comedian-turned-filmmaker’s unique visual style with a more blockbuster-oriented plot reimagining the titular brothers as con-artists rather than mere writers. The end result isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it’s still a legitimately fun ride with plenty of memorable monsters and wonderful performances by both the late, great Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.
3. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010)
2010’s Dante’s Inferno game may have a reputation as something of an unapologetic God of War clone, but I’d argue that the now-obscure game was aesthetically unique enough to deserve a bigger fanbase. However, while the title remains trapped on the seventh console generation, its highly underrated anime adaptation is a lot easier to get a hold of!
Animated by 6 different studios in order to make the 9 circles of hell feel unique from each other, this may not be a completely faithful adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s poem, but it’s still one heck of a great (not to mention gory) time that I’d highly recommend to fans of Netflix’s take on Castlevania.
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
My personal favorite entry in the Underworld franchise, Rise of the Lycans, is a highly ambitious prequel that actually works better if you haven’t had the story spoiled to you by the previous Underworld films.
While the rest of the series features plenty of urban fantasy elements as the movies combine machine guns and modern environments with gothic storytelling, Patrick Tatopoulos’ prequel fully embraces its fantastical origins and tells a classic tale about a doomed romance between a werewolf and a vampire amid a medieval uprising.
And the best part is that we get a lot more Michael Sheen as the fan-favorite Lucian.
1. Solomon Kane (2011)
One of my personal favorite movies on this list, MJ Basset’s criminally underseen adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s other iconic warrior is thoroughly steeped in horror ambience and features plenty of memorable monsters. However, it’s also a classic origin story for a swashbuckling hero that wouldn’t feel out of place in a tabletop RPG.
While I’ve already written about how the film deftly combines both horror and fantasy elements without breaking the bank, I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend the bizarre movie where James Purefoy expertly plays a puritan John Wick.
It’s just too bad that we never got the other films in this intended trilogy.
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