Takashi Miike Says ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ Made People Think Texas Was Unsafe

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had a strong impression worldwide.

Filmmaker Takashi Miike, 65, recalled how the release of the 1974 horror movie left audiences in Japan afraid of the Lone Star State. 

He spoke about his first time watching the independent slasher flick when he was just 15 years old in the documentary Chain Reactions.

“Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights was having a revival. I went to watch it, but the screening was sold out,” Miike recalled. Therefore, he went to see The Texas Chain Saw Massacre instead, which was titled The Devil’s Sacrifice in Japan. 

“I went into it by chance, with a good disposition since I’d originally planned on watching City Lights. Then, the movie started. It was an old theater. Shochikuza in Osaka. There were pillars in the theater. It was perfect for horror,” the Japanese director remembered. 

The R-rated movie had a huge impact on viewers, according to Miike. “Up until that point, movies had been something safe. For the first time, I felt that movies could be something dangerous. As I watched the film, the characters became more endearing. I started to feel affection for them. By the end, I was rooting for them and laughing out loud,” he said. 

The Ichi the Killer director continued to describe how those in Japan perceived the movie. “I had never experienced a film like that. In Japan, at the time, because of that film, everyone thought Texas was a dangerous place. How can I put it? A desolate landscape,” he explained.

Chain Reactions, directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, details the impact that Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had on the genre and those in the film industry. The documentary features interviews from Miike, Patton Oswalt, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King and Karyn Kusama, as well as never-before-seen footage.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, starring Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen and Jim Siedow, follows a group of friends who are attacked by the cannibalistic killer Leatherface and his equally disturbed family.

The movie was a box office success and grossed over $30 million worldwide. It was added to the National Film Registry in 2024.

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Chain Reactions opened in New York City and Los Angeles on Sept. 19 and expands nationwide on Sept. 26.