Mysticism and mythology in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre claims to be based off true events, the opening crawl narrated by
John Larroquette describes it as a tragedy that befell a group of five youths, and one of the most
bizarre crimes in the annals of American history. The film-making style is not far off from a
documentary, with few ‘cinematic’ shots, and an emphasis on showing the grit and grime of the
characters, and the setting. Despite this however there is an undercurrent of the supernatural running
throughout the film.
The first, and most obvious, is the Hitchiker. Picked up from the side of the road by the unfortunate
cast, his appearance is disheveled. He has a birthmark across his face that looks like a bleeding
wound. These sort of marks are often considered to have greater meanings, though that is very
dependent on culture. In some, it is affected by past lives, and may show where the previous
reincarnation was killed. The first interaction with him is describing how cows were butchered, by
hammer swings to the forehead, which may be the same place he was struck.
In other cultures it is described as an unfulfilled need from the mother, and is in the shape of what’s
lacking. While his mother is never seen in the film, there are a number of things lacking in the
Sawyer family. Still another explanation is it is caused by what the mother eats during pregnancy, in
this case human meat. A final potential cause for the mark is a fearful or strange experience during
pregnancy. The timeline of the Chainsaw films is murky, but given the number of cars and remains
it’s possible they have been killing for decades, and she would have been involved with earlier
massacres.
The Hitchhiker discusses the slaughterhouse, and how his family worked there. After showing the
group pictures of the grisly results, he borrows a knife, and uses it to cut his hand. Bloodletting is a
common practice in mystical rituals, though most of the time it would ask for the victim’s blood to
direct a curse or other spell. In this case however he uses it to terrify the occupants of the vehicle,
perhaps in preparation of a future charm.
The next thing he does it to take a picture of the group, and after it is developed he shows it around,
before demanding money. In this way it mimics tales of faeries, demanding payment in exchange
for services. After they decline he becomes incensed, and burns the photograph, using various
implements from his pouch. Photographs, in common belief, have been linked to ‘capturing souls’,
or similar. While there are no historical records indicating this, it was part of the cultural osmosis
and thus was an influence in the film.
Assuming that the photograph has in fact captured the souls of those in it, then setting fire to it can
mean one of two things. The first is that it frees them from prison, releasing them to the aether. The
other is that it dooms them to hell, consigning them to their fate. The film is presented as a lookback
at a massacre, so the fate of those in it is already sealed by the opening narration, and this incident is
foretelling the end that is to come.
After he burns the photo he then takes out his own blade, and cuts Franklin. In a number of cultures
there is the idea of a blood bond. When two individuals share blood it creates a connection between
them. While different knives are used to create the wounds on the Hitchhiker, and Franklin, they are
wielded by the same person, and the connection is certainly there. Franklin is an obese, wheelchair
bound character who is seen as a nuisance to the other characters in the van. He is annoying, has
little social awareness, and complains regularly. Most of these traits however are amplified after the
incident with the Hitchhiker.
Before the encounter he is certainly a bit strange, offering details about slaughterhouses
unprompted, and playing with a knife. After however he seems to embrace delusions, become
increasingly agitated and neurotic, and blow raspberries.
That last is a seemingly innocent gesture, but it is also a feature shared with the Hitchhiker. After he
is thrown out of the van he makes the same noise, and gestures that Franklin would later do after
being apparently slighted by the other members of the group. The Hiker would do raspberries again
after Sally is captured, and tortured by the family. These of course could be a simple coincidence,
but there are increasing similarities between the two characters.
Also of note is that the group stops at a gas station owned by members of the Sawyer family. Jerry
goes inside, and buys some of the barbeque. Despite apparently buying a large amount, the only
member of the group seen eating it, is Franklin. The strange behaviour happens after he begins to
chow down on the unknown meat, and even though he seems to express distaste for the snack, he
continues to imbibe in several different scenes.
The Hitchhiker leaves a final mark on the van as it drives off, creating a crude pictogram in blood.
While the characters do wonder about it, there is no definitive conclusion in the text. Though it
doesn’t match any symbol exactly, there are similarities between it and the Astrological sign for
Saturn, if it were reversed. Reversed imagery in Tarot generally means negative consequences, or
bad omens. Compounding this sign, is that Pam reads from a magazine detailing Astrology for the
coming months, including “When malefic planets are in retrograde — and Saturn is malefic — their
maleficies are increased.” Again Saturn, and promising harm.
Astrology came into popularity in America during the late 1960’s, becoming a staple in Newspapers
and other print media. Famously Nancy Reagan hired the services of an astrologer after the
assassination attempt on her husband, though he was dismissed when it got out to the public. In a
2005 poll it was found that 25% of people still believed in the Astrology, or that the positions of
celestial bodies could impact people’s lives. It is not dissimilar from religious practices of prophecy,
or the Word of God delivered through prophets, but simplified so that the layperson can understand
it.
So while the alignment of Saturn seemed to indicate harm, did it have any influence on the events
depicted? As with all the supernatural elements, there is no confirmation one way or the other. The
character’s fates are caused by their own actions, it is not Leatherface hunting them, but rather
intruding upon his house, his domain, that causes their deaths. But it’s possible they were inclined
to do those actions by factors outside of their control, because of the alignment of planets, or a curse
upon them.
Regardless of the cause, these innocent travelers were slaughtered by a beast. While Leatherface is
purportedly human, a mentally deficient giant who wears the skins of his victims as a mask, that is
not how he acts in the film. From his very first appearance, it is not human screams, or yells, but
those of a pig. Notably a pig in pain, and distorted as though from a distance, or down an echoey
hallway. While there are more human noises later, as well as actions, none of the vocalizations
reach that of more than a babe, before they can speak.
Leatherface is a beast, chained to one environment, abused by his family and fed scraps that he
makes himself. In other words, he is the Minotaur. In Greek Mythology, Minos the king of Crete,
prayed to the gods for a blessing. They offered a snow-white bull, which he was to sacrifice. Instead
he was enamoured with the beast, and offered another as a substitute. As the Gods often were,
Poseideon was spiteful at the ruse, and cursed Minos’ wife to fall in love the bull. This resulted in a
twisted child, half man, and half-cow. Most depictions have a bull head, and a human body, but in
the Middle Ages it was more popular the other way around, similar to a centaur.
Whatever the case the new creature had no food source, and required human flesh for sustenance.
This disturbed the king so much he had an enormous Labyrinth constructed, and the Minotaur
hidden away in the depths of it. Periodically he would send prisoners into the maze to be devoured.
Eventually the Greek hero Theseus set out to put a stop to it, heading into the maze and using thread
such that he didn’t get lost. He beheaded the beast, and was successful in his quest.
The parallels are obvious. Leatherface has a deformed face, and is abused by his family. He wears a
mask, and hides in his abode until an unsuspecting victim wanders in, and then is subsequently
killed and eaten. When Leatherface encounters the victims he treats them just like meat, killing
them with a swift blow to the head, or hanging them up on hooks, or stowing them in freezers. They
aren’t people to him, but meat.
The Labyrinth takes two forms here. The first is the house itself. It is a twisting, churning entity
where the geography feels like it shifts, and as the characters explore more all they find is additional
depravity, and death. There are bones, human and animal, roosters in cages, and a grizzly
mummified corpse of ‘grandma’ and ‘grandpa’, though he is later discovered to be alive at the ripe
old age of 120. While it is a house, it is also a prison, and a factory, and a graveyard.
Then there is the surrounding area. After the others have gone, only Sally and Franklin are left.
They head out into the dark woods to find their missing friends. This was actually shot at night, and
with the moon covered by clouds there are only slight blue highlights that give a hint of where the
landscape even is. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Leatherface appears, and slices Franklin with
his chainsaw. What follows is a chase sequence through the woods which seem to lean in around
Sally, grappling and twisting, cutting her with their vines.
What ends this leg of the chase is the house. At first, it seems like salvation. A glowing beacon
amongst the darkness. But, like a moth to a flame, all that it leads to is death, and destruction. After
a brief detour she is forced to flee into the blackness again. This time it seems even more
treacherous, as now there is no hope left. Previously a home would be a symbol of safety, and
warmth. That had been desiccated, and now she was running away but with no clear goal, or place
that may actually lead away from a grisly fate.
There is a major change from the myth however, as there is no Theseus. Not in this film at least,
although in the sequel there would be such a hero. On its own though, there is no one to save the
day. In the end when Sally escapes, it is only with her life, not sanity or vindication.
Historically the myth of the Minotaur has roots in the politics of the time. The Cretans were a
powerful nation, and demanded tributes from others. The Athenians would offer this tribute of
young men and women, and it’s possible this was done by a priest in a Bull mask. Horror films are
modern myths, and just like in the tales of old groups of youths are sacrificed to mythical monsters,
sometimes in the guise of men.
The Minotaur is not the only myth that has influenced the film however. Tobey Hoober has
described it as modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel. The story of course is that the two titular
siblings are wandering through the woods, when they come upon a cabin of sweet treats. Inside they
find a kindly old woman, but she is revealed to be a cannibal witch and kidnaps the pair. She locks
them up, and attempts to fatten them for the slaughter. Though she attempts to burn them alive, they
outwit her and trick her into the oven herself, and they are able to flee as she cooks alive.
The comparisons are obvious, and the eponymous characters can be seen as either Sally and
Franklin, or Kirk and Pam. The latter of which are the first to encounter the witch, and both are
turned quickly into food. They are the many children who were slaughtered before the current story.
While the house is not made of gingerbread, or cakes, it represents two things that are much more
useful in the modern day, gas, and meat.
While the inspirations are much more allegorical, a direct inspiration was the legend of Sawney
Bean. He was said to be the head of a 45 member cannibal clan in 16th century Scotland who killed
and ate over 1000 people in the course of twenty five years. They hid in a cave on the coast, which
was covered at high tide. Then they would sneak onto the road and kidnap travelers, bringing them
back to feast upon. Sometimes body parts would wash up on nearby shores, but the townspeople
blamed innkeepers, and even after searching the shoreline they decided no humans could live in the
caves.
Their downfall was a married couple. They accosted them on the road, but while they slew the wife
the husband was able to fend them off with pistol and sword, before a large group approached them.
Though the clan fled, a group, possibly led by James VI, headed off to finally find them. Using
bloodhounds they were able to root out their home, and found the lair. Body parts coated the floors,
and hung from the ceiling, with barrels full of limbs. While tales differ on what happened next, they
were all killed, and that was the end of the clan.
In all the mythological inspirations, good always triumphs in the end, and the villains are slain. In
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre however, that's not the case. While the Hitchhiker is killed, it is by
luck, rather than design, and the patriarch of the family, and Leatherface are free from punishment,
or karma. This represents the shift in attitude towards stories, as well as the environment the film
was released in. During the 70's the United States was in a depression, with the Vietnam war
becoming eternal, and shortages in all walks of life. This wasn't a time for fairytales, but it was a
time for modern stories to take over.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is unique in the myth it spreads however, as it was purported to be
an account of true events. It was not only its own myth, but it spread far beyond the film itself. The
actor for Leatherface even encountered those who claimed that someone they knew had been in
prison with the ‘real Leatherface’. It was always second or third hand, maybe an uncle was friends
with someone, or a cousin had met the man. Thus the legend, and the myth of the Texas Chainsaw
Massacre spread, to the point many accepted what it said at face value, that it was a true event.
Mysticism, and myths, have grown to define what made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre so unique.
While it is grounded in reality, it spreads beyond it, with increasing tendrils seeping into the
foundations of the culture at the time, and still to this day.