The Texas chain saw massacre: the film that terrified a rattled nation

Description

"When Tobe Hooper's low-budget slasher film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, opened in theaters in 1974, it was met in equal measure with disgust and reverence. The film--in which a group of teenagers meet a gruesome fate when they stumble upon a ramshackle farmhouse of psychotic killers--was banned in several countries and was pulled from many American theaters after complaints of its violence. Despite the mixed reception from critics, it was enormously profitable at the domestic box office and has since secured its place as one of the most influential horror movies ever made. In [this book], cultural critic Joseph Lanza turns his attentions to the production, reception, social climate, and impact of this controversial movie that terrified an already-rattled America. Joseph Lanza transports the reader back to the tumultuous era of the early 1970s, defined by political upheaval, cultural disillusionment, and the perceived decay of the nuclear family, in the wake of Watergate, the onslaught of serial killers in the US, and mounting racial and sexual tensions. [This book] sets the themes of the film against the backdrop of America's political and social climate to understand why the brutal slasher flick connected with so many viewers. As much a book about the moment as the movie, Joseph Lanza's engaging and nuanced work grapples with the complications of the American experience."--Dust jacket.;The zeitgeist blew through -- "Cryptoembryonic" journey -- Scary weather -- "I was the killer!" -- "The cost of electricity" -- "Grisly work" -- "A whole family of Draculas" -- The cook and the "crook" -- "You think this is a party??" -- Leatherface and Lovelace -- You're gonna meet some mental people -- No country for "just an old man".;"In [this book], cultural critic Joseph Lanza turns his attentions to the production, reception, social climate, and impact of this controversial movie that rattled the American psyche" --Amazon.com. The zeitgeist blew through -- "Cryptoembryonic" journey -- Scary weather -- "I was the killer!" -- "The cost of electricity" -- "Grisly work" -- "A whole family of Draculas" -- The cook and the "crook" -- "You think this is a party??" -- Leatherface and Lovelace -- You're gonna meet some mental people -- No country for "just an old man".