Cue the pig squeal! How The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s score was stitched back together for its first release
A soundtrack of wildlife, drones and saucepans ensured the 1974 film became truly horrifying. Its co-creator recalls the can-do spirit that made it happen
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre arrived much like its hulking antihero, Leatherface: without warning and with a sickening blow to the skulls of unsuspecting audiences. Despite its bare-bones production and lack of actual gore, the 1974 movie carved a new path for horror film-making, and key elements were the eerie sound design and abstract score: perfect matches for the film’s red-raw storytelling and stark imagery. But despite its enduring influence, the soundtrack has never had an official release until now.
Put out by Waxwork Records, it has been painstakingly stitched together – rather like Leatherface’s horrific mask – from the original recordings, and it is startling: a cloying series of drones, scrapes, clanks and groans that draw a jagged line to genres like industrial, noise, dark ambient and musique concrète. “We really wanted the mind of the viewer to do some of the work rather than it being ‘here’s the Leatherface theme,’” says Wayne Bell, now 73, who originally composed it with director Tobe Hooper. “We loved the idea that our score tested the edge between sound and music. That boundary was a wonderful place to hang out.”
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