#Paul A. Partain

[weirdlookindog]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - VHS Cover

[mariocki]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

"Things happen here about... they don't tell about. I see things. You see, they say it's just an old man talking. You laugh at an old man. There's them that laughs and knows better."

[horrororman]

Remembering Paul A. Partain (May 3, 1946 - January 28, 2005).🕯

#TheTexasChainSawMassacre

#PaulAPartain

#horror

[spookytuesdaypod]

spooky tuesday is a (now not so new!) podcast where we’re breaking down all of our favorite slashers, thrillers, monster movies and black comedies on the new scariest day of the week.

how has it taken us this long to cover one of the most influential films in horror history? on our latest episode of spooky tuesday, we're throwing it back to one of the very first final girls with the texas chain saw massacre (1974). the film that both introduced Leatherface to the world and invented the power tool as an instrument of psychological damage, this scary '70s story made a lasting impact on both the culture and hitchhiking crime statistics. but there's more to talk about than just that. despite the torture porn connotations of the franchise at large, the original flick is pretty subtle — and it's absolutely stunning, too.

give spooky tuesday a listen on apple podcasts, spotify, iheart radio, or stitcher

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

I know these words get tossed around often but I mean it when I say The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the scariest films ever made. Even if you don’t agree, its influence on the horror genre is undeniable.

Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns), her paraplegic brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) and their friends Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail), and Pam (Teri McMinn) are travelling by van through the countryside to visit an old family home. After encountering a disturbed hitchhicker (Edwin Neal), they cross paths with a family of cannibals.

Immediately striking is the picture’s knack for feeling more documentary than fiction. The conversations between the young adults are innane and they speak over each other like normal friends do. Aside from the news-like voice over (by John Larroquette) at the beginning, little about what you see foreshadows what’s coming. When characters die, the violence is brief, almost as if the cameraman is eager to leave the scene of a real-life crime. When the film’s most memorable character, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), appears, it’s out of nowhere and shocking. At any point, you’re never quite sure who the main character is and therefore, you never know quite when the picture will end. Similarly, there are no character arcs or typical “film-y” conventions. Many of the most frightening and shocking scenes happen during the day, adding extra credibility to this tale of horror.

These elements combined make this a living nightmare. The violence is often left to your imagination. You see just enough to know you don't want to see more. It’s a nearly overwhelmingly bleak film, particularly when the cannibals overwhelm the heroes and laugh about the fact that they’ve done this before and plan on doing this again. While many horror films play up the morbid humor inherent to a killer picking people off one by one in increasingly gruesome ways, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre piles on the dread relentlessly. A prolonged scene has Sally running from the chainsaw-wielding maniac, screaming at the top of her lungs. It just keeps going and going. You wonder when it’s going to stop because it makes you uncomfortable. But that’s the thing. You’re uncomfortable because you can’t do anything about it and you know, deep down, that no one is coming to save her from those dark woods. It’s traumatizing and gives a double-meaning to the picture’s tagline “Who will survive, and what will be left of them”?

By the time your mind comes to grips with what’s just happened, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has already moved on. You’re never given the footing necessary to recover from what you see. Just thinking about the film's final scene gives me chills. The use of music, the camera work, the lightning, the simple but effective scares and the realistic presentation make this 1974 film still terrifying today. (On Blu-ray, October 26, 2018)

[screencapsus]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.

[charleslee-valentine]

Paul and Ed visiting the chainsaw house circa 2001

[duranduratulsa]

Now showing on DuranDuranTulsa's Horror Show...The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) on glorious vintage VHS 📼! #movie #movies #horror #thetexaschainsawmassacre #texaschainsawmassacre #tobehooper #RIPTobeHooper #leatherface #gunnarhansen #ripgunnarhansen #marilynburns #ripmarilynburns #EdwinNeal #terrimcminn #paulapartain #rippaulapartain #JimSiedow #ripjimsiedow #AllenDanziger #williamvail #JohnLarroquette #vintage #vhs #70s #durandurantulsa #durandurantulsashorrorshow

[worrygutz]

Marilyn Burns and Paul Partain briefly discussing Tobe Hooper’s behind the scenes manipulation antics (from the Texas chainsaw discussion and commentary)

@charleslee-valentine

[the-spooky-mind-of-spiderwish]

[1whimsicalgal]

Shooting Daniel Pearl’s Infamous Dolly Shot (From Pam’s POV) Or How I Got Lucky In Spite Of Myself.

When I came on the set that morning in Quick Hill, Texas, our make-up artist Dottie was repairing my make-up. I looked out of the corner of my left eye, over at the swing where I knew I was supposed to sit for our next scene of Pam approaching the house. Perplexed, I noticed Daniel Pearl, our cinematographer, lying down on his stomach, hunched over his camera, UNDER the swing, and exactly where I was soon to park my posterior. I noticed Danny wasn’t moving. He was settled in. I asked Dottie as she was powdering my face, “Hey, Dottie, what’s Daniel doing under the swing?” She mumbled something similar to “Idunno…”, and quickly walked away.

They told me they were ready and where I was to sit. Huh?? No way. Yes, the stories are true. I freaked out, 😱 Pam and Tobe began to argue, me refusing to do the shot. Meanwhile, and totally Unbeknownst to me, this was immediately following a giant argument he’d just had with the money dudes, the investors, who didn’t want him to do this new shot that Daniel had come up with the night before, at all. They were ranting at him, telling him that they HAD to stick to the storyboard. .. or else (btw, dpearldp tells that delicious story on his IG - link below). Well, I had No Clue what it was either. I was protecting my cheeks… if you read me. Chewing on his cigar stub, and none too happy with his troublesome actress playing ‘Pam’, Tobe had had enough and said, “Aw, goddamnit, Teri, we’re gonna shoot all around it!!!” Hmmmm, I’m thinkin’, ‘shoot-all-around-it’? Just what the hell does that mean? Anyway, I shut up and sat down, however, remaining highly, highly suspicious. I later learned that everyone, except me, was in on the tracking shot.

All I could think of was my mother 😲 O.M.G. (who was unsupportive at best of my chosen career) and my Aunt Gerry, who were both super-duper religious. I could literally picture them coming unglued when they saw it. Before it was released a year later, I dreaded watching myself on screen and THAT scene, having never seen dailies, I was haunted by the thought of watching it.

When it was released in October ’74, I was living in Dallas and drove with a friend to see it at a Saturday matinee in Tomball, TX, along with 300 screaming kids. When the scene started, my eyes were covered 🫣 I watched through my fingers, scared to death, and NOT of Leatherface. There, up on the screen, in CinemaScope and vivid Technicolor, were my cheeks in those red shorts… O.M.G. 🥶🥵

They certainly did "shoot all around it"!!! The irony of all my worry, neither one of them ever saw it. 😂

That scene has been taught in directing classes across the world for decades, and the 1974 film is held in the film archives of MoMA, The Smithsonian, and The Academy /Oscars.org.

MoMA recently announced a weeklong celebration the 50th anniversary of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre August 8-14, when members of the film’s creative team will join to discuss The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s production and legacy.

How fortunate we are.

As many of you know, I didn’t come out of anonymity as 'Pam for ’35 years, till March 2008, when, Bill ‘Kirk’ Vail and I both first appeared at a humongous Cherryhill, NJ, Monster-Mania Convention.

Cut to 2008 when my sweet Aunt Gerry was in her 90's, I went to visit her in Arkansas at her apartment in Peachtree Village for a few days, and I told her, "Aunt Gerry, did you know I'm famous?" She said, "You are??" I said, "I certainly am." 😎 I got out my Mac, opened it to FB and showed her the shot above. She giggled and smiled. She loved it! We enjoyed a really good laugh together.💞😂

Tobe and Kim had apparently seen my picture in the Austin American Statesman for a play I was doing with Frank Sutton (Gomer Pyle's Sargent) at @Mary Moody Northern Theater. My eyes were closed in the picture.😂 They had called the theater and our director, Ed Mangum, gave me the message when I came in for rehearsals. I was to return their call.

WHO KNEW??? Certainly, none of us!

🎥 Follow our amazing cinematographer, Daniel Pearl, for his post & POV on filming this scene, at dpearldp's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvtejukgJIP/ as well as many more great stories from his 50-year career. Daniel's website: danielpearldp.com/

[literarysiren]

In a year surprisingly awash with disabled characters in genre film, I made these two companion pieces, and one of them even inspired a podcast episode. I'm a Franklin Hardesty apologist.

[horrororman]

Remembering Paul A. Partain (November 22, 1946 - January 28, 2005).🕯

#horror

[halloweenmoviewatchlist]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

[horrorwaveofgrain00000]