NEED TO KNOW
- Patton Oswalt shared his apocalypse theory that explains the gruesome events in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- “It’s like the sun itself has become diseased and is bathing the world in this madness,” the actor said in Chain Reactions
- The new documentary explores the lasting impact of Tobe Hooper’s independent horror movie on the genre
Patton Oswalt has answers for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
The horror aficionado, 56, shared his apocalypse theory that explains the gruesome events in the 1974 independent horror movie about a group of friends attacked by the cannibalistic killer Leatherface and his equally disturbed family.
During an interview in the new documentary Chain Reactions, Oswalt said his theory is linked to the movie’s opening credits, which feature shots of “red storms just blazing on the surface of the sun.”
“In the rest of the movie, people are always looking up at the sun. It’s like the sun itself has become diseased and is bathing the world in this madness, and it’s starting to take hold,” the actor speculated.
Oswalt continued to say that he believes the entire planet is affected by the apocalyptic event, even though the movie only follows a few people.
“Leatherface seems terrified and horrified by the fact that people are in the house and doesn’t quite know what to do. In a weird way, up to this point, I feel like Leatherface was just digging up bones, but maybe he wasn’t really killing anybody. He was just digging stuff up and making arts and crafts out of it, and furniture,” the Emmy winner added.
“Now people are being fed into the slaughterhouse,” Oswalt continued. “First, he clobbers the guy with a hammer the way you would just stun a cow. Then he grabs the woman, and with no diabolism or passion, he just hangs her on a hook and turns back to his work because that’s what you do.”
“After he’s killed the third guy, he goes into the front room and he looks out the front window, like ‘What is happening? What is happening? Why are people coming to this house?’ It’s like he’s not prepared for this,” he recalled of the popular movie.
Once Leatherface’s family returns to the home and starts yelling at him, the comedian noted, “It’s like the world is starting to go crazy.”
The movie’s ending provides more evidence for Oswalt’s theory. “That last shot of Leatherface waving his chainsaw at the sky. It’s this bright red ugly sun, like we saw in that first image. The sun storms. The madness is fully taking hold of the earth, and Leatherface is trying to kill the sun with his chainsaw,” he said.
“The world is now going insane. It’s an apocalyptic event,” the actor concluded. “That’s what I think is going on in that movie.”
Chain Reactions, directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, explores the impact that Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had on the horror genre. In addition to Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King and Karyn Kusama shared their experiences with the flick.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Per the synopsis, the documentary “goes to the heart of how a scruffy, no-budget independent film wormed its way into our collective nightmares and permanently altered the zeitgeist.”
Chain Reactions opened in New York City and Los Angeles on Sept. 19 and expands nationwide on Sept. 26.
Read the full article here
