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133-484: Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 2022 American slasher film directed by David Blue Garcia, with a screenplay by Chris Thomas Devlin , from a story by Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues . It is the ninth installment of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise . Set fifty years after the original film , the story focuses on the serial killer Leatherface targeting a group of young adults and coming into conflict with

266-427: A World War II United States Marine Corps fighter pilot, 2nd Lt. Bob Anderson. In a 1975 appearance on Sanford and Son , Larroquette played Lamont's counterpart in a fictitious sitcom based on Fred and Lamont called "Steinberg and Son". During the filming of Stripes (1981), his nose was nearly cut off in an accident. He ran down a hall into a door that was supposed to open but did not, and his head went through

399-473: A vengeful survivor of his previous murders. The project is a joint-venture production between Legendary Pictures , Exurbia Films, and Bad Hombre . The film stars Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher , Mark Burnham, Moe Dunford , Nell Hudson , Jessica Allain , Olwen Fouéré , Jacob Latimore , and Alice Krige . It is a stand-alone sequel to The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995), making it

532-516: A 2006 documentary, the movie "became the flashpoint, igniting protests across the nation". Protesters picketed theaters playing the film with placards reading, "Deck the hall with holly – not bodies!" Released in November 1984 by TriStar Pictures , persistent carol -singers forced one Bronx cinema to pull Silent Night, Deadly Night a week into its run. The widespread outrage led to the film's removal, with only 741,500 tickets sold. As interest in

665-534: A brief period. Jamie Lee Curtis , daughter of Janet Leigh , was cast as the heroine Laurie Strode while veteran actor Donald Pleasence was cast as Dr. Sam Loomis , an homage to John Gavin 's character in Psycho . Halloween 's opening tracks a six-year-old's point-of-view as he kills his older sister, a scene emulated in numerous films such as Blow Out (1981) and The Funhouse (1981). Carpenter and Hill deny writing sexually active teens to be victims in favor of

798-489: A budget of just $ 1.8 million, the film was a commercial success, grossing more than $ 25.5 million (7.6 million admissions) in North America and launched one of the most successful film series in history. A Nightmare on Elm Street provided the success that New Line Cinema needed to become a major Hollywood company. To this day, New Line is referred to as "The House That Freddy Built". The final slasher film released during

931-482: A careless fashion that makes it hard to latch onto anything substantial". For The A.V. Club , A.A. Dowd negatively compared the film to David Gordon Green 's Halloween , and said: "Isn't it kind of arrogant to position your movie as the only proper follow-up to an iconic original and then make the same blunders as the films you're retconning?" Owen Glieberman of Variety called the film "a blood-soaked but unscary footnote." David Sims of The Atlantic said that

1064-504: A device used in subsequent films Prom Night (1980) and Graduation Day (1981). Early examples include a maniac seeking revenge in The Terror (1928), based on the play by Edgar Wallace . B-movie mogul Val Lewton produced The Leopard Man (1943), about a murderer framing his crimes against women on an escaped show leopard . Basil Rathbone 's The Scarlet Claw (1944) sees Sherlock Holmes investigate murders committed with

1197-415: A family death but are murdered one by one. William Castle 's Homicidal (1961) features gore in its murder scenes, something both Psycho and Peeping Tom had edited out. Richard Hillard's Violent Midnight (1963) showed a black-gloved killer's point of view as they pull down a branch to watch a victim and also featured a skinny-dipping scene. Crown International 's Terrified (1963) features

1330-414: A few years earlier, had been very profitable. Many 1984 slasher films with brief theatrical runs found varying degrees of success on home video, such as Splatter University , Satan's Blade , Blood Theatre , Rocktober Blood and Fatal Games . Movies like The Prey and Evil Judgement were filmed years prior and finally were given small theatrical releases. Silent Madness used 3D to ride

1463-583: A five-pronged garden weeder that the killer would raise in the air and bring down on the victim repeatedly, an editing technique that became familiar in the genre. Robert Siodmak 's The Spiral Staircase (1946), based on Ethel White 's novel Some Must Watch , stars Ethel Barrymore as a sympathetic woman trying to survive black-gloved killers. The Spiral Staircase also features an early use of jump scares . British writer Agatha Christie 's particularly influential 1939 novel Ten Little Indians (adapted in 1945 as And Then There Were None ), centers on

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1596-594: A group of people with secret pasts who are killed one-by-one on an isolated island. Each of the murders mirrors a verse from a nursery rhyme , merging the themes of childhood innocence and vengeful murder. House of Wax (1953), The Bad Seed (1956), Screaming Mimi (1958), Jack the Ripper (1959), and Cover Girl Killer (1959) all incorporated Christie's literary themes. Alfred Hitchcock 's Psycho (1960) used visuals that had been deemed unacceptable by movie studios, including scenes of violence, sexuality, and

1729-555: A healthy 6.2 million. Both series fell out rather quickly, when Child's Play 3 (1991) selling only 3.5 million tickets in North America and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) selling only 3.2 million. John Larroquette John Bernard Larroquette ( / ˌ l ær ə ˈ k ɛ t / ; born November 25, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the NBC military drama series Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976–1978),

1862-471: A heart attack and is rushed to the hospital, accompanied by Ruth and the man. An investor, Catherine, along with a group of potential buyers arrive in Harlow on a large bus, distracting Melody and Dante. Meanwhile, Lila strikes up a friendship with a local mechanic, Richter, and reveals she was a survivor of a school shooting, leaving her terrified of guns. Ginny dies en route to the hospital; Ruth texts Melody before

1995-664: A home on VHS. Paul Lynch 's Humongous was released through AVCO Embassy Pictures , but a change in management severely limited the film's theatrical release. Films such as Hospital Massacre and Night Warning enjoyed strong home rentals from video stores, though Dark Sanity , The Forest , Unhinged , Trick or Treats , and Island of Blood fell into obscurity with little theatrical releases and only sub-par video transfers. Supernatural slasher films continued to build in popularity with The Slayer , The Incubus , Blood Song , Don't Go to Sleep and Superstition (the supernatural-themed Halloween III: Season of

2128-861: A masked killer. Spain's The House That Screamed (1969) features violent murders and preempted later campus-based slashers. Subgenres that influenced slasher films include splatter films , Krimi films, and giallo films. Splatter films focus on gratuitous gore. Herschell Gordon Lewis 's Blood Feast (1963) was a hit at drive-in theaters and is often considered the first splatter film. Lewis followed with gory films Two-Thousand Maniacs! (1964), Color Me Blood Red (1965), The Gruesome Twosome (1967) and The Wizard of Gore (1970). This grotesque style translated to Andy Milligan 's The Ghastly Ones (1969), Twisted Nerve (1968), Night After Night After Night (1969) as well as The Haunted House of Horror (1969). Post-World War II Germany adapted British writer Edgar Wallace 's crime novels into

2261-475: A movie on home video, resulting in shot-on-video slashers Blood Cult (1985), The Ripper (1985), Spine (1986), Truth or Dare? (1986), Killer Workout (1987), and Death Spa (1989). Lesser-known horror properties Sleepaway Camp , The Slumber Party Massacre and Silent Night, Deadly Night became series on home video. The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1985) and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) were theatrically released but neither film

2394-402: A much healthier life on home video. The Dorm That Dripped Blood and Honeymoon Horror , each made for between $ 50–90,000, became successful in the early days of VHS . Because of this change, independent productions began having difficulties finding theatrical distribution. Girls Nite Out had a very limited release in 1982 but was re-released in 1983 in more theaters until finally finding

2527-443: A nearby building; Melody is trapped but orders Lila to run away. When Leatherface appears, Melody apologizes for what they did to Ginny. As he moves in to attack, Lila attempts to shoot him, but her gun is empty. Sally shoots him instead and he flees. Before dying, she encourages Lila not to run as she will be forever haunted by him as she was. Lila then takes Sally's shotgun and pursues Leatherface into an abandoned building where she

2660-462: A new bar for acceptable levels of on-screen violence. The criticisms that began with Friday the 13th would lead to the genre's eventual decline in subsequent years. The small-budget thrillers Silent Scream and Prom Night were box office hits with 3.2 and 5.5 million admissions, respectively. Jamie Lee Curtis starred in the independent Prom Night , as well studio films Terror Train and The Fog to earn her "scream queen" title. MGM 's

2793-467: A nursing academy. Hands of the Ripper (1971) depicts the psychological trauma suffered by Jack the Ripper 's daughter, who continues the murderous reign of her father. Fright (1971) is based on the " babysitter and the man upstairs " urban legend while Tower of Evil (1972) features careless partying teens murdered in a remote island lighthouse. Pete Walker broke taboos by advertising his films' negative reviews to attract viewers looking for

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2926-445: A recurring theme in later horror films. Along with the "madman on the loose" plotline, these films employed several influences upon the slasher genre, such as lengthy point of view shots and a "sins of the father" catalyst to propel the plot's mayhem. George Archainbaud 's Thirteen Women (1932) tells the story of a sorority whose former members are set against one another by a vengeful peer who crosses out their yearbook photos,

3059-557: A revival of Gore Vidal 's The Best Man , starring James Earl Jones , Angela Lansbury , and Candice Bergen . In early 2019, he was back in New York City starring in the play Nantucket Sleigh Ride by John Guare, at the Lincoln Center Theatre. In this off-beat play, Larroquette portrayed the lead character, Edmund "Mundie" Gowery, for a three-month run. Larroquette met his wife Elizabeth Ann Cookson in 1974 while working in

3192-497: A saturation point in 1981, as heavily promoted movies like My Bloody Valentine and The Burning were box office failures. After the success of Friday the 13th , Paramount Pictures picked up My Bloody Valentine with hopes to achieve similar success. The film became the subject of intense scrutiny in the wake of John Lennon's murder , and was released heavily edited; lacking the draw of gore, My Bloody Valentine barely sold 2 million tickets in North America, much less than

3325-909: A series. Three other spoofs , Evil Laugh (1986), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), were box office disappointments; Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 sold just 2 million tickets while Jason Lives sold 5.2 million, both significantly down from their predecessors. The home video market saw the output of low-budget, tongue-in-cheek slashers like Stripped to Kill (1987), Return to Horror High (1987), and Killer Workout (1987), and previous franchises foregoing theaters for direct-to-video self-parody sequels in Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987), Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987), Slumber Party Massacre II (1987), Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989). Trying to cater

3458-544: A similar route with a cameo in Maniac Cop 2 (1990) and no participation in Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (1993). The Nightmare on Elm Street series dominated the late 1980s horror wave, with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) selling 11.5 million tickets in North America, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) following another 12 million tickets. By comparison, Friday

3591-461: A spinoff, Larroquette and Don Reo developed a show revolving around some of Larroquette's own personal demons, particularly alcoholism. The John Larroquette Show , named by the insistence of NBC, starred Larroquette as the character John Hemingway. The show was lauded by critics, but failed to attract the prime-time audience, ranking around number 97 for most of the first season. NBC threatened cancellation; however, Larroquette and Reo were granted

3724-518: A state high school speech title but decided not to attend the university. His first acting role in Hollywood was providing the opening voiceover narration for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Larroquette did this as a favor for the film's director Tobe Hooper , and was paid in marijuana . His first series regular role was in the 1970s NBC program Baa Baa Black Sheep , where he portrayed

3857-905: A subgenre of their own called Krimi films. The Krimi films were released in the late 1950s through the early 1970s and featured villains in bold costumes accompanied by jazz scores from composers such as Martin Böttcher and Peter Thomas . Fellowship of the Frog (1959), about a murderer terrorizing London, was successful in America, leading to similar adaptations like The Green Archer (1961) and Dead Eyes of London (1961). The Rialto Studio produced 32 Krimi films between 1959 and 1970. Italy's giallo thrillers are crime procedurals or murder mysteries interlaced with eroticism and psychological horror. Giallo films feature unidentified killers murdering in grand fashions. Unlike most American slasher films

3990-694: A surprising 3.9 million admissions, making a hit erotic slasher-thriller that predates blockbusters Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992) by several years. Internationally, Australia released Next of Kin while Puerto Rico's Pieces was filmed in Boston and Madrid by an Italian-American producer with a Spanish director. Italian gialli saw slasher film influences in their releases for Sergio Martino 's The Scorpion with Two Tails , Lucio Fulci 's The New York Ripper and Dario Argento 's Tenebrae . Traditional slasher films saw less frequent output. The House on Sorority Row followed

4123-476: A tongue-in-cheek mockery of cancel culture. The film's producer, Fede Álvarez , stated in an interview with Collider that the film deals with the topics of gun violence and morality. Álvarez states that the film is intentionally vague and lacks exact clarity in its themes, as it was the filmmaker's intention to explore moral and political division: "There's this theme, there's two sides of it. These people are wrong, these people are right,' because that's not how

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4256-452: A violent exploitation film, with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert famously despising the film. Siskel, in his Chicago Tribune review, revealed the identity and fate of the film's killer in an attempt to hurt its box office, and provided the address of the chairman of Paramount Pictures for viewers to complain. The MPAA was criticized for allowing Friday the 13th an R rating, but its violence would inspire gorier films to follow, as it set

4389-527: A virginal " final girl " survivor, though subsequent filmmakers copied what appeared to be a "sex-equals-death" mantra. When shown an early cut of Halloween without a musical score, all major American studios declined to distribute it, one executive even remarking that it was not scary. Carpenter added music himself, and the film was distributed locally in four Kansas City theaters through Akkad's Compass International Pictures in October 1978. Word-of-mouth made

4522-416: A wave of "dream" slashers that included Dreamaniac (1986), Bad Dreams (1988), Deadly Dreams (1988), and Dream Demon (1988). Of those films, Bad Dreams was a minor hit with 2.4 million admissions. Paramount Pictures released the parody April Fool's Day (1986) with hopes to start a sister series to its Friday the 13th property, though the film's modest 3.5 million admissions never led to

4655-589: A wave of protest from the National Organization for Women (NOW), who picketed the film's screening on the University of Iowa campus. The year's most controversial slasher was William Lustig 's Maniac , about a schizophrenic serial killer in New York. Maniac was maligned by critics. Vincent Canby of The New York Times said that watching the film was like "watching someone else throw up." Lustig released

4788-456: A wealthy, wisecracking, narcissistic psychopath with a habit of stabbing his gay lovers to death, won him his fifth Emmy Award. He reprised the role for one episode in 2002, for which he was once again nominated for an Emmy Award. He also appeared in an episode of The West Wing as White House Counsel Lionel Tribbey. In 2003, Larroquette reprised his narration for the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . From 2004 to 2006, he played

4921-427: Is a whodunit featuring a subplot depicting creative death sequences on a secluded lakeside setting, which greatly inspired Friday the 13th (1980), its 1981 sequel and subsequent slashers. Sergio Martino 's Torso (1973) featured a masked killer preying upon beautiful and promiscuous young women in retribution for a past misdeed. Torso 's edge-of-your-seat climax finds a sensible "final girl" facing off with

5054-436: Is ambushed and attacked. Melody arrives and takes Leatherface's chainsaw before using it to uppercut him, knocking him into a pool of water where he sinks to the bottom. They escape and Lila finds Sally's hat and puts it on before starting the morning drive back home. Leatherface emerges, still alive, and drags Melody out of the car before decapitating her with his chainsaw in the middle of the street. A horrified Lila watches as

5187-551: Is discussed in film studies as being a young woman (occasionally a young man) left alone to face the killer's advances in the movie's end. Laurie Strode ( Jamie Lee Curtis ), the heroine in Halloween , is an example of a typical final girl. Final girls are often, like Laurie Strode, virgins among sexually active teens. Others have called the trope "self-mythologising" based on a handful of especially high-profile examples, asserting that its prominence has been overstated – particularly

5320-513: Is envisioned and embedded into the public psyche as the main and most marketable/recognisable character, even if his screentime is dwarfed in any specific film by the nominal protagonists. The Scream film series is a rarity that follows its heroine Sidney Prescott ( Neve Campbell ) rather than masked killer Ghostface , whose identity changes from film to film, and is only revealed in each entry's finale. Another alleged trope frequently associated with slasher discourse - and horror more broadly -

5453-669: Is that of the "black character(s) dying first" (often formulated as " always dying first"). Actual analyses of the films, such as a 2013 investigative piece in Complex , have found that the trope is largely self-mythologising as opposed to being a statistical reality (per Complex, in only 10% of the fifty analysed movies, all containing one or more speaking black characters, did any of them die first). The appeal of watching people inflict violence upon each other dates back thousands of years to Ancient Rome , though fictionalized accounts became marketable with late 19th century horror plays produced at

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5586-429: Is visually and thematically a precursor to John Carpenter 's Halloween (1978), as young women are terrorized in a previously safe environment during an iconic holiday. Like Halloween , Clark's film opens with a lengthy point-of-view , but it differs in the treatment of the killer's identity. Despite making $ 4,053,000 on a $ 620,000 budget, Black Christmas was initially criticized, with Variety complaining that it

5719-457: Is what it says it is. You have your Texas, your chainsaw, your massacre." Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, describing it as "a jolting little slasher that should repulse and satisfy those with a suitably depraved idea of what they are clicking into." Jonathan Dehaan of Nightmare on Film Street said: " Texas Chainsaw Massacre is as violent and as blood-soaked as any of

5852-615: The 1937 British film ) and Peter Cushing starred in Corruption (1968). Hammer Studios , a London-based company, followed Psycho 's success with Taste of Fear (1961), Maniac (1963), Paranoiac (1963), Nightmare (1964), Fanatic (1965), The Nanny (1965), and Hysteria (1965). Hammer's rival Amicus had Robert Bloch , author of 1959 Psycho novel , write the script for Psychopath (1968). Francis Ford Coppola 's debut, Dementia 13 (1963), takes place in an Irish castle where relatives gather to commemorate

5985-543: The AIDS crisis , the film's portrayal of the gay community fueled subsequent backlash once the virus became an epidemic. Low budget exploitative films New Year's Evil , Don't Go in the House and Don't Answer the Phone! were called-out for misogyny that dwelled on the suffering of females exclusively. Acclaimed filmmaker Brian De Palma 's Psycho -homage Dressed to Kill drew

6118-720: The Grand Guignol . Maurice Tourneur 's The Lunatics (1912) used visceral violence to attract the Guignol's audience. In the United States, public outcry over films like this eventually led to the passage of the Hays Code in 1930. The Hays Code is one of the entertainment industry's earliest set of guidelines restricting sexuality and violence deemed unacceptable. Crime writer Mary Roberts Rinehart influenced horror literature with her novel The Circular Staircase (1908), adapted into

6251-623: The Hallmark Channel mystery series McBride (2005–2008). Larroquette was born in New Orleans , Louisiana , on November 25, 1947, the son of Berthalla Oramous, a department store clerk, and John Edgar Larroquette Jr., who was in the United States Navy. His paternal grandfather, John Larroquette Sr., was born in France and emigrated to the United States in 1895. Larroquette grew up in

6384-432: The Halloween -clone He Knows You're Alone sold nearly 2 million tickets, though Paramount Pictures John Huston -directed Phobia only sold an estimated 22,000 tickets. Two high-profile slasher-thrillers were met with protest, William Friedkin 's Cruising and Gordon Willis ' Windows , both of which equate homosexuality with psychosis . Cruising drew protests from gay rights groups, and though it pre-dates

6517-557: The Ninth Ward of New Orleans , near the French Quarter . He played clarinet and saxophone through childhood and into high school. He attended Holy Cross School through his sophomore year before involuntarily moving to Francis T. Nicholls High School to finish his secondary education. It was his senior year at Nicholls High School that he first discovered acting. He was offered a scholarship to Louisiana State University after winning

6650-631: The Son of Sam slayings, cashed-in on headlines and public fascination. Wes Craven modernized the Sawney Bean legend in The Hills Have Eyes (1977) by building upon themes presented in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre . The Hills Have Eyes was another huge financial success, relaunching Craven's career after it had been damaged by controversy surrounding his previous film, The Last House on

6783-563: The TNT series The Librarians (2014–2018). In 2011, he made his Broadway debut in the musical revival of Frank Loesser 's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying alongside Daniel Radcliffe . He played J. B. Bigley in a role for which he received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical , and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical . The following year he starred as William Russell in

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6916-505: The counter-culture and traditional conservative values, with the film's squealing antagonist Leatherface carrying a chainsaw and wearing the faces of victims he and his family eat. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre spawned imitators and its false "based on a true story" advertisements gave way to reenactments of true crime . The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), based on the Phantom Killer case, and Another Son of Sam (1977), based on

7049-563: The drive-in success of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Toolbox Murders was quickly and cheaply shot but did not generate the interest of the former films. Exploitative Killer's Delight is a San Francisco-set serial killer story claiming to take inspiration from Ted Bundy and the Zodiac Killer . Leading up to Halloween 's October release were August's gialli -inspired Eyes of Laura Mars (written by John Carpenter) and September's " babysitter in peril " TV Movie Are You in

7182-403: The telekinesis -themed slasher Tourist Trap was initially unsuccessful, it has undergone a reappraisal by fans. 1979's most successful slasher was Fred Walton 's When a Stranger Calls , which sold 8.5 million tickets in North America. Its success has largely been credited to its opening scene, in which a babysitter ( Carol Kane ) is taunted by a caller who repeatedly asks, "Have you checked

7315-444: The "Golden Age" of slasher films. Notable slasher films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Black Christmas (1974), Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Child's Play (1988), Scream (1996), and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Many slasher films released decades ago continue to attract cult followings . The slasher canon can be divided into three eras:

7448-457: The 13th Part III , the first slasher trilogy, was an enormous success, selling 12 million tickets and dethroning E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial from the top of the box office. The film's iconic hockey mask has grown to pop-culture iconography . Universal Pictures had a tiny release for Death Valley , while Columbia Pictures found modest success with Silent Rage . Independent distributor Embassy Pictures released The Seduction to

7581-639: The 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) sold approximately 4.5 million tickets each, less than half of the Elm Street films. The personality-driven appeal of Freddy Krueger was not lost on filmmakers, as characters like Chucky and Candyman were given ample dialogue and placed in urban settings that had largely been ignored by the Golden Age. Chucky's Child's Play (1988) and its 1990 sequel sold over 14.7 million tickets combined, while Candyman (1992) sold

7714-404: The 15 million sold by Friday the 13th the year beforehand. Thematically similar to My Bloody Valentine , The Prowler hoped to lure an audience with gore effects by Friday the 13th 's Tom Savini but large MPAA edits contributed to its failure to find a nationwide distributor. Suffering similar censorship was The Burning , which also employed Savini's special effects, though it does mark

7847-628: The Black Cat (1972) paying homage to Hitchcock's film. Gialli were popular in American cinemas and drive-in theaters . Thriller Assault (1971) and Spanish mystery A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1974) share many traits with Italian gialli . Death Steps in the Dark (1977) spoofed the familiar conventions found in giallo films. Despite successes from Deep Red (1975) and The Blood-Stained Shadow (1978), giallo films gradually fell out of fashion by

7980-489: The Broadway revival of Gore Vidal 's The Best Man (2012) directed by Mike Nichols starring James Earl Jones , Candice Bergen , and Angela Lansbury . He made his film debut by providing the opening narration of the horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), following which he appeared in films such as Stripes (1981), Choose Me (1984), Blind Date (1987), Madhouse (1990), Richie Rich (1994), and

8113-585: The Golden Age of slasher films is 1978–1984, with some scholars citing over 100 similar films released over the six-year period. Despite most films receiving negative reviews, many Golden Age slasher films were extremely profitable and have established cult followings . Many films reused Halloween 's template of a murderous figure stalking teens, though they escalated the gore and nudity from Carpenter's restrained film. Golden Age slasher films exploited dangers lurking in American institutions such as high schools, colleges, summer camps, and hospitals. Cashing in on

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8246-843: The Golden Age slasher waned, Wes Craven 's A Nightmare on Elm Street revitalized the genre by mixing fantasy and the supernatural in a cost-effective way. Craven had toyed with slasher films before in Deadly Blessing (1981), though he was frustrated that the genre he had helped create with The Last House on the Left (1972) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) had not benefited him financially. Developing A Nightmare on Elm Street since 1981, Craven recognized time running out due to declining revenues from theatrical slasher film releases. A Nightmare on Elm Street and especially its villain Freddy Krueger ( Robert Englund ) became cultural phenomenons. On

8379-417: The Golden Age such as Too Scared to Scream (filmed in 1981, released in 1985), The Mutilator (filmed in 1984, released in 1985), Blood Rage (filmed in 1983, released in 1987), Killer Party (filmed in 1984, released in 1986) and Mountaintop Motel Massacre (filmed in 1983, released in 1986) found video distribution. Mirroring the punk rock movement, novice filmmakers proved anyone could make

8512-432: The Golden Age, The Initiation , was greatly overshadowed by A Nightmare on Elm Street (though both films feature dreams as plot points and a horribly burned "nightmare man"). The success of A Nightmare on Elm Street welcomed in a new wave of horror films that relied on special effects, almost completely silencing the smaller low-budget Golden Age features. Despite A Nightmare on Elm Street 's success, fatigue hit

8645-630: The House Alone? Of them, The Eyes of Laura Mars grossed $ 20 million against a $ 7 million budget. Influenced by the French New Wave 's Eyes Without a Face (1960), science fiction thriller Westworld (1973) and Black Christmas (1974), Halloween was directed, composed and co-written by Carpenter, and produced and co-written by Debra Hill on a budget of $ 300,000 provided by Syrian-American producer Moustapha Akkad . To minimize costs, locations were reduced and time took place over

8778-464: The Left (1972). Following holiday-themed exploitation films Home for the Holidays (1972), All Through the House (1972) and Silent Night, Bloody Night (1973), Christmas horror film Black Christmas (1974) uses horror as a board to debate social topics of its time, including feminism , abortion, and alcoholism. Using the "killer calling from inside the house " gimmick , Black Christmas

8911-661: The Los Angeles production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! as Old Max in 2009. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as J B. Biggley alongside Daniel Radcliffe . He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in the show. He appeared on Broadway in

9044-549: The NBC sitcom Night Court (1984–1992; 2023–present ) for which he received four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards wins for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series during the earlier incarnation, the NBC sitcom The John Larroquette Show (1993–1996), the David E. Kelley legal drama series The Practice (1997–2002), the ABC legal comedy-drama series Boston Legal (2004–2008), and

9177-469: The Scarecrow brought the genre to the small screen. Two sequels had bigger body counts and more gore than their predecessors, but not higher box office intakes. Friday the 13th Part 2 sold 7.8 million tickets and Halloween II sold 9.2 million. Both sequels sold under half of their original film's tickets, though they were still very popular ( Halloween II was the second highest-grossing horror film of

9310-718: The Witch , though part of the Halloween franchise , does not adhere to the slasher film formula). Alone in the Dark was New Line Cinema 's first feature film, released to little revenue and initially dismissed by critics, though the film has gained critical reappraisal. Director Amy Holden Jones and writer Rita Mae Brown gender-swapped to showcase exploitative violence against men in The Slumber Party Massacre , while Visiting Hours pitted liberal feminism against macho right-wing bigotry with exploitative results. Friday

9443-413: The abandoned Texas town of Harlow, to auction off old properties to create a trendy, heavily gentrified area. While inspecting a dilapidated orphanage, the group discover it is still occupied by an elderly woman called Ginny. When she claims she has papers to prove she still owns the property, an argument breaks out, briefly interrupted by a silent and towering man from upstairs. Ginny then collapses from

9576-520: The audience reaction was generally negative. In August, Álvarez stated that overall audience response at test screenings was mostly positive, emphasizing that the film remains respectful to the first film's legacy. That same month, it was revealed that Colin Stetson served as composer for the film. In October 2020, the film was initially stated for a theatrical release sometime in 2021. However, in August 2021,

9709-432: The bus with the buyers. Dante manages to stumble out of the orphanage where he is discovered by Richter before bleeding to death. Richter enters the orphanage and is attacked and killed by Leatherface. Melody retrieves the car and bus keys from his body before fleeing the house, reuniting with Lila. They get on the bus, pursued by Leatherface who slaughters all of the people aboard, including Catherine. Melody and Lila escape

9842-600: The carnage and come across Sally who locks them in her car before entering the orphanage to finally confront Leatherface. She holds him at gunpoint, demanding he remember the pain he inflicted on her and her friends, but is met by only silence before Leatherface walks away. Leatherface then attacks the sisters in Sally's car but they are saved by Sally who shoots him. Sally gives Melody the keys to drive away before pursuing Leatherface. Leatherface ambushes and fatally injures Sally. Melody hits Leatherface with Sally's car before crashing into

9975-416: The chance to retool the series, which saw it carry on for just over two more seasons, ending during its fourth season after 84 episodes, the last six of which were not aired. The show has a loyal cult following, although the series has never received an official home video release from Warner Bros. In 1998, he guest-starred on three episodes of the legal drama The Practice . His portrayal of Joey Heric ,

10108-495: The children?" Less successful were Ray Dennis Steckler 's burlesque slasher The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher and Abel Ferrara 's The Driller Killer , both of which featured gratuitous on-screen violence against vagrant people. The election of Ronald Reagan as the 40th president of the United States drew in a new age of conservatism that ushered concern of rising violence on film. The slasher film, at

10241-722: The classical (1974–1993), the self-referential (1994–2000) and the neoslasher cycle (2000–2013). Slasher films typically adhere to a specific formula: a past wrongful action causes severe trauma that is reinforced by a commemoration or anniversary that reactivates or re-inspires the killer. Built around stalk-and-murder sequences, the films draw upon the audience's feelings of catharsis , recreation , and displacement , as related to sexual pleasure. Paste magazine 's definition notes that, "slasher villains are human beings, or were human beings at some point ... Slasher villains are human killers whose actions are objectively evil, because they’re meant to be bound by human morality. That’s part of

10374-402: The depraved, using a "no press is bad press" mantra with The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), Frightmare (1974), House of Mortal Sin (1976), Schizo (1976) and The Comeback (1978). Other filmmakers followed Walker's lead, as posters dubbed Blood and Lace (1971) as "sickest PG-rated movie ever made!", while Scream Bloody Murder (1973) called itself "gore-nography." By 1974

10507-435: The exploitation film battled political correctness and their popularity waned, and while films like The Love Butcher (1975) and The Redeemer: Son of Satan (1976) were accused of promoting bigotry, the low-budget independent film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) became a major hit and the most commercially successful horror film since The Exorcist . The story concerns a violent clash of cultures and ideals between

10640-409: The fate of the potential sequels would largely depend on the financial and critical reception to Leatherface . By December 2017, Lionsgate and Millennium Films had lost the film rights, due to the amount of time it took to release Leatherface . In August 2018, it was reported that Legendary Pictures had entered preliminary negotiations to purchase the film rights to Texas Chainsaw Massacre , with

10773-457: The fear that the genre is meant to prey upon, the idea that killers walk among us." Films with similar structures that have non-human antagonists lacking a conscience, such as Alien or The Terminator , are not traditionally considered slasher films (though many slasher antagonists are superhuman, have supernatural traits, or possess slightly warped or abstract anthropomorphic forms both physically and metaphysically). The final girl trope

10906-559: The feature film debuts of Brad Grey , Holly Hunter , Jason Alexander , Fisher Stevens , Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein . Profits of Halloween and Friday the 13th drew studio interest, to varying success. Warner Bros. 's Eyes of a Stranger (402,386 admissions) and Night School (420,818 admission), Paramount Pictures ' The Fan (1.1 million admissions), Universal Pictures The Funhouse (2.8 million admissions), and Columbia Pictures Happy Birthday to Me (3.8 million admissions). CBS ' TV movie, Dark Night of

11039-516: The film "feels unnecessary and anonymous, leaning on crass visual shocks while failing to match the unsparing brutality of its lodestar." Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press gave the film 1/4 stars, writing: "Did we really need another? And sadly, given the lack of imagination, creativity or even basic attention to logic in a perfunctory and downright silly script, the answer seems a resounding "Nope."" Lauren Milici of Total Film remarked that

11172-566: The film alongside Sarah Yarkin, Moe Dunford , Alice Krige , Jacob Latimore , Nell Hudson , Jessica Allain , Sam Douglas , William Hope and Jolyon Coy . In March 2021, it was revealed that Mark Burnham had been cast as Leatherface , replacing Gunnar Hansen , while Olwen Fouéré was cast as Sally Hardesty , replacing Marilyn Burns . Production was initially slated to begin on May 4, 2020. Principal photography commenced on August 17, 2020, in Bulgaria . However, after being unimpressed with what

11305-411: The film as a cautionary tale against gentrification, as well as one plays with the concept of social media . Sonny Bunch of The Bulwark wrote that the film's protagonists, Gen Z social media influencers who move to a small Texas town, can be viewed as both "a plague of iPhone-carrying locusts" and sympathetic within the film's context. Cathy Gunning of Screen Rant also believed the film tackled

11438-421: The film mocked "opportunistic hipsters" who move from California to Texas, while defending the local Texan rednecks, who are proven right in their suspicions. O'Neal also wrote that the film features an amusing and "ludicrous" scene, in which a group of party-goers record Leatherface on their phones, with one threatening to cancel him , before he proceeds to brutally murder them. The scene was generally perceived as

11571-609: The film unrated on American screens, sidestepping the MPAA to still sell 2.2 million tickets at the box office. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho 's influence was felt two decades later in Cries in the Night and The Unseen . Joe D'Amato 's gruesome Italian horror film Antropophagus and the Australian slasher Nightmares showed that the genre was spreading internationally. Slasher films reached

11704-465: The film was revealed to skip a theatrical release and would instead be released exclusively on Netflix . In October 2021, during an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) on the social media site Reddit , Álvarez stated that the film was most likely planned for an early 2022 release date. On December 3, 2021, a first look of the film was released, along with the announcement of its February 18 release date. The film debuted at number two on Netflix's global charts during

11837-441: The film would focus on an older-aged Leatherface. The filmmaker revealed that the production took an "old school" approach to filmmaking, noting vintage lenses and practical effects used for the gore. The following month, the film was officially titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre . It was believed at one point that the title had changed to Texas Chainsaw Begins but Devlin denied this. In May, it was reported that after test screenings ,

11970-530: The first film. Garcia said it was a challenge to make Bulgaria look like Texas, but they leaned into the idea that it looked more like West Texas , near the Fort Davis mountains. Garcia praised production designer Michael Perry and set decorators Asen Bozilov and Joey Ostrander for building a good replica of a Texas town, even if there wasn't enough barbed wire to fully emulate Texas. By March 2021, Álvarez announced that production had completed, while confirming that

12103-403: The first installment of the original continuity in 27 years. After the release of Leatherface in 2017, Lionsgate had plans for five more films in the franchise. However, the studio lost the rights due to the time it took to release it. Legendary acquired the franchise's rights, with Álvarez and Sayagues serving as producers alongside Pat Cassidy , Ian Henkel, and Kim Henkel , who co-wrote

12236-405: The gore, but Leatherface may have irrevocably lost his ability to terrify." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 34 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Valerie Complex for Deadline Hollywood wrote: "The real horror here is the modernizing of the content by merging social media, social issues and Twitter buzz words in

12369-410: The height of its commercial power, also became the center of a political and cultural maelstrom. Sean S. Cunningham 's sleeper hit Friday the 13th was the year's most commercially successful slasher film, grossing more than $ 59.7 million and selling nearly 15 million tickets in North America. Despite a financial success, distributor Paramount Pictures was criticized for "lowering" itself to release

12502-432: The innocent, virginal qualities ascribed to putative final girls - and that, in the 21st century, the trope has been filtered through the lens of parody, subversion, and self-aware humour (e.g. Final Girl ) rather than deployed sincerely. When slasher films become franchises, they typically take on villain protagonist characteristics, with the series following the continued efforts of their antagonists, rather than any of

12635-474: The killer in an isolated villa. Umberto Lenzi 's Eyeball (1975), which unfolds in an Agatha Christie manner, is noted by some as a slasher precursor, as American tourists are targeted by a killer wearing a red raincoat. The influence of Hitchcock's Psycho extended also to gialli , with films such as The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971) and The Crimes of

12768-444: The killer's disposable victims, including any individual entry's heroes or final survivor(s) (who, in so far as they continue to appear within the series, are often killed off immediately after their next on-screen appearance, which has become its own trope). Examples of antiheroes around whom the respective series have become centered include Michael Myers , Freddy Krueger , Jason Voorhees , Chucky and Leatherface . The antagonist

12901-588: The man goes berserk and murders the officers driving the ambulance, leading it to crash. When Ruth awakens, she witnesses the man, revealed to be Leatherface, cutting off Ginny's face to wear as a mask. Ruth manages to radio for help before being killed by Leatherface, who makes his way back to Harlow. During a property auction, Melody reads Ruth's texts and prepares to leave with Lila. Richter overhears them talking about Ginny's death and takes their keys, agreeing to give them back once they provide proof they rightfully removed Ginny from her home. Melody and Dante return to

13034-631: The mid-1970s as diminishing returns forced budget cuts. Films such as Play Motel (1979) and Giallo a Venezia (1979) exploited their low-budgets with shocking hardcore pornography . The early 1970s saw an increase in exploitation films that lured audiences to grindhouses and drive-ins by advertising of sex and violence. Robert Fuest 's And Soon the Darkness (1970) set off the '70s exploitation wave by maximizing its small budget and taking place in daylight. The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio (1971) follows an insane killer who stalks and murders victims at

13167-422: The most gruesome horror movie, you've gotta be chaotic and it cannot be preachy. It's not school time." The film's director, David Blue Garcia, said in an interview with Polygon that while the film had social commentary, he did not wish for the film to make "a statement" on political issues, and described the film's gun politics as "very nuanced." In June 2024, a digital pinball table was released inspired by

13300-407: The movie a sleeper hit that was selected to screen at the November 1978 Chicago Film Festival, where the country's major critics acclaimed it. Halloween grew into a major box office success, grossing over $ 70 million worldwide and selling over 20 million tickets in North America, becoming the most profitable independent film until being surpassed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990). Though

13433-546: The movie called Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pinball. An attraction based on the film will open at Six Flags Fright Fest through early September to November 3, 2024. Three action figures of Leatherface from the film were released by Hiya Toys in 2024. Slasher film Critics cite the Italian giallo films and psychological horror films such as Peeping Tom (1960) and Psycho (1960) as early influences. The genre hit its peak between 1978 and 1984 in an era referred to as

13566-700: The movie failed to honor the original, writing: "It's a formulaic film about a group of kids who get chased by a killer. Take Leatherface out of the equation and you could easily mistake it for any other horror." Writing for TheWrap , William Bibbiani said: "Garcia clearly knows that this is the film's ultraviolent slasher centerpiece, and he absolutely delivers on all that gory promise." Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: " Texas Chainsaw Massacre doesn't exactly offer anything new, but gorehound fans who rejoice at watching people's innards fall out of their bodies will find much to appreciate." Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail wrote: " Texas Chainsaw Massacre

13699-489: The original film. Duo filmmakers Ryan and Andy Tohill were initially signed on as directors, but were replaced with Garcia due to creative differences. Filming took place in Bulgaria in August 2020. Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released on February 18, 2022, on Netflix and received generally negative reviews from critics. Fifty years after Leatherface 's killing spree in 1973 , young entrepreneurs Melody and Dante, Melody's sister Lila and Dante's girlfriend Ruth travel to

13832-462: The original in the revival. On February 13, 2024, while talking to reporters, Larroquette admitted feeling a little sad when he first walked on the set of the Night Court revival, due to being one of the only cast members from the original run still living. But as time went on, he started feeling better and credited co-star/executive producer Melissa Rauch for rejuvenating the franchise. Instead of

13965-516: The orphanage to find them. Sally Hardesty , the sole survivor of Leatherface's previous killing spree and now a battle-hardened Texas Ranger , learns of Ruth's attack and heads out to investigate. At the orphanage, Melody discovers the papers and realizes that Ginny was wrongfully evicted. Leatherface arrives at the orphanage and attacks Dante, mutilating him. Melody hides as Leatherface retrieves his chainsaw from his bedroom. A thunderstorm hits Harlow as night falls, and Catherine and Lila take cover in

14098-479: The play Enter Laughing . They were married July 4, 1975, as that was the only day they had off from rehearsals. Cookson brought her daughter Lisa from a previous relationship into the marriage, and she and Larroquette would have two sons together, Jonathan and Benjamin. Jonathan co-hosts a comedy podcast called Uhh Yeah Dude . Larroquette battled alcoholism from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 10, 2007, he joked, "I

14231-477: The protagonists of gialli are frequently (but not always) jet-setting adults sporting the most stylish Milan fashions . These protagonists are often outsiders reluctantly brought into the mystery through extenuating circumstances, like witnessing a murder or being suspected of the crimes themselves. Much like Krimi films, gialli plots tended to be outlandish and improbable, occasionally employing supernatural elements. Mario Bava 's A Bay of Blood (1971)

14364-678: The public of adult action thrillers that were popular in the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone 's cop-thriller Cobra (1986) is a thinly-veiled slasher film advertised as an action movie, and sold 13.2 million tickets. The home video market made stars out of character actors such as Terry O'Quinn and Bruce Campbell , whose respective independent horror-thrillers The Stepfather (1987) and Maniac Cop (1988) found more support on home video than in theaters. Quinn returned for Stepfather II (1989) but chose not to reprise his role in Stepfather III (1992), Destroyer (1988), while Campbell followed

14497-603: The real-life crimes of Richard Speck , promoted star Charles Bronson 's justice-for-all character above its horror themes. Robert Hiltzik 's Sleepaway Camp was a home video hit, being unique for its pubescent victims and themes of paedophilia and transvestism . Sleepaway Camp featured homosexual scenes, which were taboo at the time. In Canada, whodunit Curtains had a brief theatrical life before finding new life on VHS, while criticism toward American Nightmare ' s portrayal of prostitutes, drug addicts, and pornography addicts hurt its video rentals. Sledgehammer

14630-505: The same general plot as Prom Night (1980) with guilty teens stalked and punished for a terrible secret. The Final Terror borrows visual and thematic elements from Just Before Dawn (1981), as Sweet Sixteen borrows from Happy Birthday to Me (1981). The most successful slasher of the year was Psycho II , which sold over 11 million theatrical admissions. The film also reunited original Psycho (1960) cast members Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles . 10 to Midnight , inspired by

14763-423: The same year, it was announced that the film would serve as a sequel to the original film and feature a 60-year-old Leatherface, notably similar to the approach that Blumhouse Productions took with their Halloween films. In February 2022, Álvarez clarified that the events of the original sequels took place in the film's continuity. In October 2020, it was announced that Elsie Fisher had been cast to star in

14896-495: The self-driving car takes her out of Harlow. Leatherface dances in the street with his chainsaw and Melody's head. Additionally, John Larroquette reprises his role as the film's narrator, having provided voice over for the original film, the 2003 remake and its prequel . Initially during the development of Leatherface (2017), the producers had the film rights and intention to make five more Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. In April 2015, producer Christa Campbell stated that

15029-416: The sequels that came before it, even if it is without a defined purpose." Following the film's release, many journalists and film critics commented on its themes of gun violence and gentrification , as well as minor commentary on social media and influencers . Lex Briscuso of Paste wrote that the film is "ultimately conservative in its messaging." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com interpreted

15162-894: The shot of a toilet flushing. The film featured an iconic score by Bernard Herrmann that has been frequently imitated in slasher and horror films. That same year, Michael Powell released Peeping Tom , showing the killer's perspective as he murders women to photograph their dying expressions. Psycho was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins garnering universal acclaim for his role as Norman Bates . This notice drew bankable movie stars to horror films. Joan Crawford starred in William Castle 's Strait-Jacket (1964) and in Jim O'Connolly 's Berserk! (1967), while Albert Finney starred in MGM 's Night Must Fall (1964) (a remake of

15295-475: The silent film The Bat (1926), about guests in a remote mansion menaced by a killer in a grotesque mask. Its success led to a series of "old dark house" films including The Cat and the Canary (1927), based on John Willard 's 1922 stage play , and Universal Pictures ' The Old Dark House (1932), based on the novel by J.B. Priestley . In both films, the town dwellers are pitted against strange country folk,

15428-434: The slasher genre, and its popularity had declined substantially. The home video revolution, fueled by the popularity of VHS , provided a new outlet for low-budget filmmaking . Without major studio backing for theatrical release, slasher films became second only to pornography in the home video market. The drop in budgets to accommodate a more economic approach was usually met with a decline in quality. Holdovers filmed during

15561-409: The studio intending to adapt television and film installments. The following year, Fede Álvarez signed onto the project as producer. In November 2019, Chris Thomas Devlin joined the production as screenwriter. In February 2020, Ryan Tohill and Andy Tohill were hired to serve as directors for the film, with Angus Mitchell signed on as cinematographer after collaborating on The Dig (2018). In May of

15694-466: The success of Friday the 13th Part III (1982), though the effect did not translate to the VHS format. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter brought the saga of Jason Voorhees to a close, with his demise the main marketing tool. It worked, with The Final Chapter selling 10 million tickets in North America, hinting the series would continue even if Jason's demise marked a shift in the genre. This shift

15827-406: The time, a record. Night Court ran on NBC from 1984 until 1992. Larroquette, Harry Anderson (as Judge Harry Stone), and Richard Moll (as bailiff Bull Shannon) appeared in every episode of the series. There was talk of spinning Dan Fielding off into his own show, but Larroquette said no to the idea. Later, Larroquette ended up on the 2023 series continuation as the only regular character from

15960-460: The title role in the McBride series of ten Hallmark Mysteries television films. In 2007, he joined the cast of Boston Legal playing Carl Sack , a serious, ethical lawyer (the polar opposite of his more famous lawyer character, Dan Fielding). He also guest-starred in the drama House where he played a previously catatonic father awakened to try to save his son. From 2014 to 2018, Larroquette

16093-413: The topic of gentrification, though with less subtlety than the original. Elisa Guimarães of Collider wrote that the film satirizes everyone "from influences to bankers", and attempts to tackle the topics of "school shootings, gun control, gentrification, historical racism, [and] cancel culture", though the author believes it failed at doing so well. Guimarães believed much of the film's intended messaging

16226-408: The undead have nothing to do with the film. Distributors were aware of fading box office profits, and they were attempting to hoodwink audiences into thinking long-shelved releases like Mortuary were different. The public had largely lost interest in theatrically released slashers, drawing a close to the Golden Age. Production rates plummeted and major studios all but abandoned the genre that, only

16359-512: The week of its release—it was viewed by subscribers for 29.2 million hours. It ranked at number three on the global charts the further week. Five days after its release, the film still ranked at number one on Netflix's top ten lists in the United States, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, among other regions. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 30% of 162 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's consensus reads: " Texas Chainsaw Massacre doesn't skimp on

16492-425: The window in the door. Larroquette played Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding on Night Court ; the character was initially rather conservative, but changed after the sitcom's creator Reinhold Weege came to learn more about Larroquette's sense of humor. The role won him Emmy Awards in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988. In 1989, he asked not to be considered for an Emmy Award. His four consecutive wins were, at

16625-473: The world works for us. The world is a f*cking mess and [there's] shades of gray and there can be all sorts of characters in both sides of the story, so that's the way we approached it. We wanted you to walk out of it and go, 'Wait, but I still don't have an answer! Who was right and wrong?' Because that is the way that life works. I know that some movies do give you an answer and they take a strong point of view. For us, in something like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's

16758-829: The year behind An American Werewolf in London ). Independent companies churned out slasher films Final Exam , Bloody Birthday , Hell Night , Don't Go in the Woods... Alone! , Wes Craven 's Deadly Blessing and Graduation Day . Fantasy and sci-fi genres continued to blend with the slasher film in Strange Behavior , Ghostkeeper and Evilspeak . The international market found Italy's Absurd and Madhouse and Germany's Bloody Moon . Straight-to-video productions cut costs to maximize profit. The independent horror film Madman opened in New York City's top 10, according to Variety , but soon fell out of theaters for

16891-400: Was a "bloody, senseless kill-for-kicks" flick that exploited unnecessary violence. Despite its modest initial box office run, the film has garnered critical reappraisal, with film historians noting its importance in the horror film genre and some even citing it as the original slasher film. Jumpstarted by the massive success of John Carpenter 's Halloween (1978), the era commonly cited as

17024-601: Was a regular on The Librarians as Jenkins (actually the long-lived Camelot knight Sir Galahad ), who provides support to the Librarians as a researcher and caretaker. His starring roles include the 1989 film Second Sight with Bronson Pinchot , and Madhouse with Kirstie Alley . Other films in which Larroquette had significant roles include: Blind Date , Stripes , Meatballs Part II , Summer Rental , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , JFK , and Richie Rich . Larroquette made his musical stage debut in

17157-431: Was embraced by fans or critics and took steep box office declines from their predecessors; still, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning was a modest hit opening at the top of the box office and finishing its run with 6.2 million admissions. Rushed into production, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) became the highest grossing horror film of 1985. The success of the first two Elm Street films inspired

17290-459: Was emphasized by the controversy from Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984): Unlike the recent appearance of other Christmas horror films, including the same year's Don't Open till Christmas , promotional material for Silent Night, Deadly Night pictured a killer Santa with the tagline: "He knows when you've been naughty!" According to Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film ,

17423-530: Was filmed, the studio fired Ryan and Andy Tohill. David Blue Garcia was hired to replace them as director. The footage shot by the Tohill brothers would not be used, with Garcia starting over on the production. Director of photography Angus Mitchell left the project along with the directors and was replaced by Ricardo Diaz. Garcia and Diaz were given a very short amount of time for preparation and worked off of "shorthands and bullet points", as well as their understanding of

17556-414: Was shot-on-video for just $ 40,000, with a gender-reversal climax showing Playgirl model Ted Prior as a "final guy." Other home video slashers from the year include Blood Beat , Double Exposure , and Scalps , the latter claiming to be one of the most censored films in history. Releases began to distance from the genre. The poster for Mortuary features a hand bursting from the grave, though

17689-508: Was too vague, saying that it is unclear as to whether the film is pro-gun rights or pro-gun control, and accused the film of being "racist" for its scene involving several characters arguing over the presence of a Confederate flag . Kimberly Myles of the Los Angeles Times noted that the film dealt with "social commentary on school shootings, gentrification and racism", while being unsubtle about it. Sean O'Neal of Texas Monthly believed

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