No one in the audience was laughing-unless it was a part that was intended to be funny. In fact, Chain Saw is one of the few horror movies that hasn't dated at all. And yet, this new print did not diminish the film's raw, terrifying power. The whole movie sparkled in a kind of stark panache. Scenes that were once too dark to distinguish shapes were now much clearer. For one thing, the print we watched last night was beautiful, and according to Hansen, superior even to the original print, which was marred by some naifs who accidentally mucked up the color of the film and made everything look several shades off. Seeing horror movies with an audience is so different from watching them at home, and even though I had seen Texas Chain Saw on the big screen before, it wasn't until last night that the movie really struck me as something truly masterful. He also wrote a book chronicling the making of this seminal horror film, Chainsaw Confidential, which I'm planning to read. He's a good-natured, honest, funny man and the crowd was obviously enamored of him. Hanson speak-so eloquently-about his experiences making that film during some long, hot summer days in Texas in 1973. Last night I attended a special screening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), celebrating its 40th anniversary and featuring a live in-person appearance by actor Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface.
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