The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - April 20, 1984

Although it had been on home video for a few years, thanks to Charles Band's Wizard Home Video label, New Line Cinema dusted off Tobe Hooper's seminal and harrowing horror classic for a theatrical re-release. Tagging along with it seems to be another re-release, the surreal melding of Alien with Kramer vs Kramer that was Xtro. Although this newspaper ad misprints the film's title as Extro. So it goes.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 12, 1974

Being all of seven years old at the time of its original release, it should come as no surprise that I have zero memory of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. My introduction to the film came post Salem's Lot (1979), The Funhouse (1981), and Poltergeist (1982). 

The first time I watched it was on home video, that grainy and somewhat fuzzy looking transfer courtesy of Wizard Home Entertainment, and found the film to be every bit as unnerving and intense as its lurid title implied it would be. Although that spell was broken when my dad strolled into the living room, just as Sally Hardesty jumps through a window and gets chased across the front lawn by Leatherface, and asked me, "What the hell are you watching?"

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," I told him.

He sighed, shook his head, and muttered, "Figures it'd be Texas." Then he turned and walked out of the room.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) / Massacre At Central High (1976) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 30, 1982

Although both films were most likely on home video by 1982, that fact did not stop New Line Cinema from dusting off both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Massacre At Central High (1976) as a double-feature theatrical re-release that very same year.

As much as I would have relished the opportunity to be able to see this double-bill at the nearby Coliseum Drive-In, the way mythical-god intended them to be viewed, that was not to be.

While I do remember watching Massacre At Central High at some point, the only thing I remember about it is the diving board scene. If you've seen the film, you know the scene.