4 STAR REVIEW
Thank you so much to Skyhorse Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Anyone that knows me knows that I’ve been obsessed with horror movies since a very young age (thanks Mom and Dad). I love that this author wrote basically a tell all about how the movie idea came to be and all of the history behind it.
When the movie first premiered in 1974 some viewers were engrossed while others were disgusted. Due to its violence and gore it was actually banned from many countries and pulled from US theaters because of its extreme violence. Tobe Hooper didn’t let that stop him though and the movie ended up being called one of the most influential horror movies of all time.
I loved how this book touched on what all went on in the 1970s that inspired certain aspects of the movie. It incorporated so many political views, other serial killers in the US, and racism and sexism. It was more than just a horror movie, it included a lot that was going on at the time.
Tobe Hooper touched on such a violent decade and made this book so much more than just about the horror film. Even though the budget for the movie was slim, he made it work and now there have been numerous sequels to the movie that seems to have made horror movies.
His writing style and details about the history of the 70s were so enjoyable to read and I learned many new things that I didn’t know about then. This was a great book if you’re into The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies and want to hear more about the backstory.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Joseph Lanza is the author of several books that center on independent film. His book Gravity: Tilted Perspectives on Rocketships, Rollercoasters, Earthquakes, and Angel Food (St. Martin’s Press/Picador, 1997) was well-received and was selected for the Los Angeles Times’ Best Non-Fiction Books list of 1997. Phallic Frenzy: Ken Russell and His Films (Chicago Review Press, 2007) received positive reviews from Financial Times. He lives in New Jersey.
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