Chain Reactions documentary about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is streaming on Shudder

Movieweb reports that Chain Reactions, a documentary by Alexandre O. Philippe about Tobe Hooper's 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, is now streaming on Shudder.

Philippe, who previously made films about George Lucas, Psycho, Alien, the zombie subgenre and The Exorcist, takes an unconventional approach here by focusing on five horror figures rather than assembling a large chorus of commentators. The film features Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author Stephen King and filmmaker Karyn Kusama, with each "Chapter" letting them describe their personal connection to the movie. The piece highlights Oswalt's stand-up take on the title, Miike's recollection of first seeing the film after missing Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, Heller-Nicholas's thoughts on cultural interpretations shaped by limited copies, King's remarks that the film both frightened and inspired him, and Kusama's reading of the film's intentional and accidental metaphors.

The documentary has a 98% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes and is listed with a September 20, 2024 release date and a 103-minute runtime. It is available to stream on Shudder, and its critical reception places it among the more highly regarded horror documentaries mentioned in the report.

Key Topics

Culture, Chain Reactions, Alexandre O. Philippe, Shudder, Patton Oswalt, Stephen King