![]() ![]() In the film, Sally (Marilyn) goes through hell. Years later, when Burns talked about her performance and experience on set, it sounds about as gruesome and graphic as the film itself. ECO was commonly used for low-budget films intended for 35mm film blowups in that era. When the 4K film restoration was done, the 16mm Ektachrome Commercial (ECO) camera original was scanned. Burns’ performance in the film was about as real as it gets based on the low-budget nature of the production and how independent film was made back then. Marilyn Burns, star of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, passed away in 2014 at the unfortunately early age of 65. So how do we reassess The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? Clover does ask, “Does the Final Girl mean ‘girl’ to her female viewers and ‘boy’ to her male viewers?” Clover endows the Final Girl in most slasher films with what she calls “boyish qualities” and (smartly) analogizes her with the killer and brings up the “male-dominated audience.” Now, when the book was published the horror audience might have populated as such, but that is no longer the case. And this is where some of the Final Girl theories fall apart in the modern age. There is no argument that Sally is a helluva character! No spoilers, but the grand finale of the film is one of the most terrifyingly hell-raising OMFG is-this-really-happening-moments to watch, especially as a female viewer. This was a break-out year and watershed moment for women in the horror world. But in either case, from 1974 on, the survivor figure has been female” Clover is, of course, talking about Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chain Saw when she mentions 1974. She alone looks death in the face, but she alone also finds the strength either to stay the killer long enough to be rescued (ending A) or to kill him herself (ending B). ![]() If her friends knew they were about to die only seconds before the event, the Final Girl lives with the knowledge for long minutes or hours. Clover writes, “The image of the distressed female most likely to linger in memory is the image of the one who did not die: the survivor, or Final Girl…She is abject terror personified. Texas Chain Saw’s Sally Hardesty conforms quite well to many of Clover’s defined terms. Clover, author of the groundbreaking book Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film and creator of the Final Girl theory did a lot for the idea of women in the horror genre. ![]() While the idea of the “final girl” gets mentioned in every article and conversation about slasher films, it was borne from Marilyn Burns’ portrayal of Sally Hardesty in this incredible film, shot on 16mm in burning hot Texas.Ĭarol J. While there are numerous reasons to attend this screening just based on the fact that it’s a damn fine film, the value of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is also one of major critical acclaim to women in the horror community and those who write about the value of horror. Theatrical viewing is the only way to do this show. It’s just not the same as watching it at home, no matter how dark your room is or how you dress the night up. If you have not seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974) or Torso (Sergio Martino, 1973), do yourself a favor: cancel your plans and get yourself to the New Beverly. On the evening of Friday, October 7 th, the New Beverly will be showing one of the most spectacular horror double features you may ever witness on the big screen. We can multi-task like you wouldn’t believe! But we still lead the genre, underscoring a strange premise that women have the innate capacity to, depending on the film, be monstrous, feared and/or heroic and strong survivors. It is true that there are problematic aspects to some horror films featuring women as primary characters. Works like Supernatural (Victor Halperin, 1933), Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925), Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968), Paranoia (Umberto Lenzi, 1969) and many more films playing this month highlight women’s roles in the horror film. As you will see, the New Beverly is keenly aware of this fact. From the very beginning, women have been active and necessary components of scary movies. ![]() Whether we have been brutalized or survived, horror films have been one of the primary genres that feminist film theory has studied because it is so female-centric. When we speak of the horror film genre, we cannot do so without talking about the critical part that women have played in its establishment. ![]()
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