tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post3182091636060053955..comments2024-02-21T20:51:54.249+00:00Comments on The Celluloid Highway: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-54178142969751292762011-05-31T12:06:57.445+01:002011-05-31T12:06:57.445+01:00"Our hippy heroes in Chainsaw are bored, pett..."Our hippy heroes in Chainsaw are bored, petty, and spend most of their time bickering. They have too much time and money on their hands. They are no less repulsive than the family of misfits, but are unable to save themselves because of the flabby middle class existence that has destroyed their survival instincts."<br /><br />That's an interesting perspective. They are certainly johnny6666https://www.blogger.com/profile/16749738500273163297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-36403052279112416382011-04-25T14:57:39.955+01:002011-04-25T14:57:39.955+01:00The Native American/Colonisation reading is there ...The Native American/Colonisation reading is there in THE SHINING, but to categorically state that King didn't intend this at all cannot be verified. How your old lecturer can say that without intimate access to the workings of Mr. King's mind I dont know. <br /><br />I think the difference lies in the words 'intention' and 'interpretation'. The latter is entirely in the Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-59173067295597888322011-04-25T02:24:14.466+01:002011-04-25T02:24:14.466+01:00Interesting point. I remember attaining a lecture ...Interesting point. I remember attaining a lecture with a professor who went into great lengths proclaiming why The Shining was a comment on colonization and the abuse of Native Americans. When I asked him if he thought Stephen King had meant for it to be so when he wrote the book, he said "of course not" with obvious discontent for the question.<br /><br />So what are we dealing with Cultcinema.nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379565480254385255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-40142679577129452742011-04-24T15:34:08.574+01:002011-04-24T15:34:08.574+01:00Hi there Tiger...thanks for stopping by and for fo...Hi there Tiger...thanks for stopping by and for following the blog - Now you come to mention it I'm not 100% sure myself about the family selling barbecued meat to the public in the first one, but my memory is that their is a suggestion that they do. I shall have to go back some time and check out that plot point. I have a Blu Ray of the film now, which I haven't yet given the once over. Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-23176547689212375352011-04-24T10:13:36.203+01:002011-04-24T10:13:36.203+01:00hehe, while restricting yourself to stay under the...hehe, while restricting yourself to stay under the 1000 words limit might be frustrating, I'm writing for a magazine where my reviews cannot exceed 1300 characters including spaces! Writing every review is a long session of slaughtering my newborn darlings. <br /><br />Great review though. Really enjoyed reading it.<br /><br />It's been a long time since I saw TCM last, but as far as I Cultcinema.nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379565480254385255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-9986899122026505522011-02-04T20:51:26.754+00:002011-02-04T20:51:26.754+00:00Apologies if the tone of my response seemed combat...Apologies if the tone of my response seemed combative. My reply probably came across badly. No offence was intended, you just happened to quote a writer (Sontag) that I don't particularly admire. Sometimes it's valubale to reiterate a standard critique. In this case the other readers comments would suggest it was. I tend to write reviews that do not exceed 1,000 words, and it is sometimesShaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-35055590261623139942011-02-04T20:14:32.044+00:002011-02-04T20:14:32.044+00:00Well, my apologies, then. I was mostly reacting to...Well, my apologies, then. I was mostly reacting to your other reader comments. "Interesting take on the whole capitalism angle...," for instance. <br /><br />I've no bones to pick, but I so cherish TCM (1974) and, given that you're a talented writer, was just hoping for something more interesting than the standard America-is-Hell-and-Hates-its-Citizens, Lefty critique. (And I&#Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-84103350284680898492011-02-04T17:00:06.183+00:002011-02-04T17:00:06.183+00:00Thanks for the comment, I think it is borderline i...Thanks for the comment, I think it is borderline insulting, but I don't mind that at all. I'd have preferred it, if you hadn't opted to shelter behind the mask of anonymity...show your face and then perhaps I can show due respect to you. The first thing I'd say say is, who is saying taking the Marxist approach is original? I'm certainly not. I've read Wood and Sharret, andShaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-8176156340127289502011-02-04T07:46:38.766+00:002011-02-04T07:46:38.766+00:00With all due respect, taking the Marxist approach ...With all due respect, taking the Marxist approach to TCM (1974) is hardly original; the late Robin Wood was on to this decades ago. (Christopher Sharret also wrote a similar, oft-cited study as well.)<br /><br />Doesn't the Capitalism-is-Evil-critique--while mildly amusing--virtually trivialize the sheer force and, yes, beauty of Hooper's art? It does for me, since you save any goodies Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-72867511667171606052010-10-25T22:58:04.929+01:002010-10-25T22:58:04.929+01:00@ Will - Hi there, thanks for flagging up the weir...@ Will - Hi there, thanks for flagging up the weird sound effects, I forgot to mention that aspect in my review, they contribute a vast amount to the strange atmosphere. I think it is the horror films attitude to modernity which most allies it to the gothic novels of the 18th and 19th centuries. A suprising number of themes and anxieties date back over hundreds of years...excellent example with &Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-30840073012801626672010-10-25T20:48:00.706+01:002010-10-25T20:48:00.706+01:00Wow, I think that is the best review of this film ...Wow, I think that is the best review of this film that I have read man! Interesting take on the whole capitalism angle, I never saw it that way. But I see your points. <br /><br />I always saw the film as Tobe Hooper exploring one of his favorite themes, and a theme he kept revisiting time and time again in films like The Funhouse and Texaschainsaw Massacre 2...the disfunctional family, and how Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-6235007852844879062010-10-25T17:29:18.400+01:002010-10-25T17:29:18.400+01:00Wonderfully insightful review here, Shaun. I like ...Wonderfully insightful review here, Shaun. I like this idea of how the rise of modernization creates new horrors. Take PSYCHO, for instance: the Bates Motel gets few travelers anymore because the new highway makes the old country roads obsolete. Which leaves, of course, plenty of time for psychic wounds to fester... Yeah, over the years, TCM has really stepped to the top of my horror favorites, Will Erricksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285306262078600804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-78917487723692161112010-10-25T15:58:38.990+01:002010-10-25T15:58:38.990+01:00Thanks for the comment Stoner! - This is my kind o...Thanks for the comment Stoner! - This is my kind of horror, I love films with a subtext, but a subtext that doesnt suffer from total obviousness (Romero's films for example) and social value. In the Hollywood version of this film, Leatherface would not have been allowed to end the film wildly spinning his chainsaw in front of the rising sun, and the family wouldnt have been allowed to end theShaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-22242270903234174502010-10-25T07:45:22.847+01:002010-10-25T07:45:22.847+01:00It's unfortunate that the modern offerings in ...It's unfortunate that the modern offerings in the horrorsphere fail to capture the important underlying social and political commentary found in groundbreaking cinema from the late 60's - early 70's such as NOTLD and TCM. Don't get me wrong, I love a mindless slasher like the majority of horrorheads, but I must admit there's certainly very few modern films with the thought stonerphonichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06573438214430666233noreply@blogger.com