Random Film Observation #478 :: How to Properly Accessorize Your Blood and Leather for that Special Dinner Engagment.

I always pride myself whenever I notice something new in a film I've watched, like, a gazillion times before. And I get an even bigger charge of endorphins if the latest observation hasn't, as far as I know, been picked up by anyone else. And so, there I was, watching Dark Sky's new 40th Anniversary BluRay transfer of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) as part of the ever-plodding along Cult Movie Project; and as I boggled at how clean and crisp the transfer was, we finally reached the notorious family dinner scene, where I noticed something. Something Leatherface was wearing...

And as I rewound and then freezed the frame for a longer and closer look, I realized that when he dressed up for dinner, our gibbering man-child (Hansen) decided to wear the bracelet Pam (McMinn) had been wearing.

It becomes even more obvious it's the same bracelet in the scenes during the climax when our villain gives chase and eventually falls and chainsaws his own leg. And crystal clear in the outtake reel, also included on the BluRay.

I assume he confiscated the jewelry after capturing, skewering, and stowing his latest victim away in the freezer. (Note how he wears nothing during the capture.)

This discovery also got me to thinking, wondering, What if... Tober Hooper and Kim Henkel had wanted the character to take on more of the attributes of his victims. And perhaps that was also Pam's face he was wearing. And maybe, just maybe, they wanted him to wear Pam's whole ensemble. And then I wondered what that would look like.

Artist interpretation.

And with that, I shuddered, and finished the film, hoping it would help wipe out that mental image. Obviously, this didn't work. And so, I decided to scrawl it down and share it with you all. Sorry about that. Still, that BluRay was pretty awesome and then some.

Other Points of Interest: 

Newspaper ads for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at the Morgue.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Vortex :: Bryanston Distributing / P: Jay Parsley, Tobe Hooper / D: Tobe Hooper / W: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper / C: Daniel Pearl / E: Larry Carroll, Sallye Richardson / M: Wayne Bell, Tobe Hooper / S: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen