Episode 125 of The Film ‘89 Podcast is our 2024 Halloween Horror Special and joining Skye and regular co-host John Arminio, is author, podcast producer, filmmaker and expert in all things horror related, J. Blake Fichera. Last year it was The Exorcist, and the focus of this year’s Halloween episode is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of another equally remarkable, influential and iconic horror classic, Tobe Hooper’s, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Made on a meagre budget with a cast of unknowns, Hooper’s film would quickly achieve iconic status and go on to permeate popular culture like few other horror films before it. It would become hugely influential but would never be equalled in terms of its almost documentary approach to the fictional events it depicts, inspired by the exploits of real life killers such as Ed Gein. The guys discuss the making of the film and explore the many layers of sociopolitical commentary that Hooper intentionally or even subconsciously weaved into this macabre work of art, a stunningly shot, meticulously crafted, grimy and unsettling masterpiece of horror cinema, laid bare by the experts at Film ‘89.