“How lucky we are, as cinephiles, to have The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
It’s no exaggeration to call The Texas Chain Saw Massacre one of the most influential films in cinematic history. Tobe Hooper’s nightmarishly staggering 1974 film has managed to transcend the pop culture zeitgeist and quietly become the backbone upon which so many horror franchises were born. There’s no Michael Myers without Leatherface and the Sawyer family; no Jason Voorhees, no Freddy Krueger.
Yet so often, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is left out of the conversation on horror classics. It’s something I’ve written about extensively in the past – and in Chain Reactions, it seems that cultural wrong is finally being resolved.
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, Chain Reactions is a documentary consisting of five interviews with people outwardly influenced by Hooper’s film. They range from renowned horror directors like Karyn Kusama to industry titans like Stephen King, covering the scope of professions within the business. That breadth is its main strength: Philippe really taps into just how influential Texas Chain Saw is, and how it not only influenced so much horror in later years, but the cinematic inspirations it drew from as well.
It starts with a side-by-side comparison with the 1922 classic Nosferatu, leading all the way to contemporary releases like Midsommar and even Avengers Assemble. For cinephiles, it’s an absolute dream: a chance to see how everything from its use of the sunlight to some of its subtle shot composition has a lineage in horror history.
Yet it’s the people interviewed in Chain Reactions that really make or break the film. My personal standout was Audition director Takashi Miike explaining the strange circumstances under which he first saw the film, how it compared with 1980s Japanese horror culture, and ultimately how it influenced his own approach to on-screen violence and terror along the way.
Yet the real coup here is an in-depth interview with Stephen King, widely considered the master of contemporary horror. His is a particularly interesting perspective because he’s the only interviewee who knew Hooper in real life – that adds a depth to his appreciation as we get to glean more about the man who made it all possible. While others, like critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, focus more on their personal reaction to the film, King instead frames its historical importance and lineage in the horror canon.
At points during King’s section, which is by far the longest, you do feel that Philippe is slightly in awe of the author. As opposed to other interviewees – especially Heller-Nicholas and Patton Oswalt, who appears first – King’s anecdotes are allowed to go on for much longer regardless of their relevance to the topic. It’s understandable, given his prestige and the weight his name carries, but the film does occasionally veer away from the topic at hand.
While the end result is undeniably appreciating the film more, you do have to wonder, too, if Chain Reactions‘ structure is the best approach. Rather than going through one topic at a time – say, looking at its production, its banning in several countries, and its reputation and impact – the film segments itself by interviewee instead. It’s no problem, but the whole thing could have felt more cogent had all of the interviewees been present throughout, covering the same topics by intercutting footage rather than going from person to person.
None of that detracts from the film’s main argument, though: that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the definitive American horror films. If Stephen King himself can’t convince you, nobody will. Of course, fans of the source material who are familiar with the film’s minutiae will get more out of this than casual observers, but the adoration for Hooper’s work is evident in every frame and quote.
★★★½
Chain Reactions is available on DVD & Digital in the UK & Ireland from October 27, 2025.
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