Happy first day of Halloween!
To properly celebrate the season, I’m going to be highlighting the horror films that were released each day leading up to Halloween. Starting out strong, October 1st marks the openings of both Tobe Hooper’s original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and George A. Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead, making this first post a double feature.
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1 October 1974)
Dir. Tobe Hooper | Cinematography Daniel Pearl
Technically an indie film upon its release, the original Texas Chainsaw film has since become a classic horror staple. It has been described as one of the few horror films to possess “the authentic quality of a nightmare”, and is widely thought of as one of the scariest films in the genre’s history. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre spawned a franchise consisting of eight sequels, remakes, and/or spin-offs as well as a video game adaptation.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1 October 1968)
Dir. George A. Romero | Writers John Russo and George A. Romero
Yet another indie-turned-classic horror flick, Romero’s first Night of the Living Dead movie was heavily criticized at the time of its release due to its “extreme gore”. Of course, now modern audiences find the film outdated in regard to its violence, and the film has become a cult classic. Romero went on to make five other Living Dead films, and his infamous zombie film series later sparked two additional remakes.
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