Editorials
[Butcher Block] 2003’s ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Kickstarted the Major Wave of Modern Extreme Horror
Butcher Block is a weekly series celebrating horror’s most extreme films and the minds behind them. Dedicated to graphic gore and splatter, each week will explore the dark, the disturbed, and the depraved in horror, and the blood and guts involved. For the films that use special effects of gore as an art form, and the fans that revel in the carnage, this series is for you.
It’s often Saw or Hostel that credited as the first to usher in the way of excessively gory horror dubbed “torture porn,” but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake deserves more credit. It didn’t just beat them both to the theaters by over a year, but it started the wave of both extreme horror and remakes of well-known properties thanks to its massive success at the box office. While a much slicker production than the gritty documentary style aesthetic of the original, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre really went for the jugular in brutal kills and bloodletting.
In this version, the fivesome that will soon find themselves in a battle for their lives are traveling across Texas for a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. Even though it’s set in 1973, it keeps the modern audience in mind by addressing the horrors of hitchhikers straight away in its character introductions. Erin (Jessica Biel) is the clear designated final girl with a heart of gold, and her boyfriend Kemper (Eric Balfour) seems to be the group ringleader. There’s the nerdy friend Morgan (Jonathan Tucker), and horndog Andy (Mike Vogel) who’s getting intimately acquainted with the friendly hitchhiker, Pepper (Erica Leerhsen), the group picked up prior to the film’s opening. She certainly seems normal, so hitchhikers aren’t bad in 1973, right?
So, when they drive past a very despondent and pale young woman on the side of the road, Erin’s heart goes out. She looks more victim than dangerous, anyhow. Once in the backseat of their van, the woman (played by Lauren German) mumbles incoherently, pulls out a gun from between her bloodied legs, tells them they’re all going to die, and blows her brains out in front of them. The camera captures the horrified reactions from the group as it dollies out backwards through the gaping hole in her skull. It’s a visceral proclamation that despite the modern polish, this remake is not going to be for the faint of heart.
The remake dramatically expanded the size of the homicidal family (now named the Hewitt family), and switched up the third act, but it adheres closely to the original in a lot of ways. Leatherface’s first kill is nearly identical to Kirk’s death in the first film, and his second kill also involves a meat hook. The only difference is that the person, Andy, is left to suffer on that hook until the final girl can come put him out of his misery much later. Leatherface also cuts his own leg with his chainsaw in a final act chase sequence, just like in the original. John Larroquette reprised his role as the narrator, and Daniel Pearl returned to handle cinematography, bringing more masterful camerawork to the franchise that kickstarted his career.
But, back to the gore. The effects were handled practically, and it should surprise no one that they were done by Greg Nicotero and KNB EFX Group. If you want hyper-realistic gore, or impressive creature effects, you call the 35+ year veteran. Nicotero’s first brush with this series was with Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, as makeup supervisor. He and KNB’s exemplary work on the 2003 film meant that his company was involved in all of the subsequent Chainsaw films post reboot; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and Texas Chainsaw 3D. No matter how you feel about these films, the gore always delivers.
Before making his directorial feature debut in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Marcus Nispel (who also resurrected Jason Voorhees in 2009’s Friday the 13th) was a designer and painter. Between his artistic eye and Pearl’s always stunning cinematography, this remake exists in that weird crossroads of ugly and beautiful. It’s a gorgeous film with a vicious bite. When the question of why remakes have become so prevalent pops up, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the answer. Audiences ate this remake up, making this the highest grossing film of the franchise even with inflation. There were plenty of remakes before, and since, but the Hollywood reboot craze began in earnest with this one.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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