MUIR BOOK WEDNESDAY # 6: Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre: The Films of Tobe Hooper (2003)

Having now written well over a dozen books (I'm edging up to two-dozen, actually...), I sometimes wonder why some books sell great and become hits (like Askew View, Best in Show, Horror Films of the 1970s and Encyclopedia of Superheroes...), and others merely do okay. Why some garner huge amounts of attention, and others disappear into the ether with little comment.

Because they're my first love in terms of filmmakers, I've written several scholarly studies of horror film directors (Sam Raimi, Wes Craven, John Carpenter...), and my last such study for McFarland was one on Tobe Hooper, mastermind behind a true classic, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Though this book, Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre, won me terrific notices from critics, it didn't sell as well as the other horror director tomes. Is that because of Hooper, I wonder, or because of me?

Anyway, now it's time for my bi-weekly attempt at self-promotion, and this time I'm featuring a John K. Muir book that I feel was overlooked by general readers, at least in comparison to my other horror movie books. So if you don't like self-promotion, that's okay, just read the next post...

Anyhoo, here's what the critics had to say about Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre: The Films of Tobe Hooper:

"...Muir does an excellent job of chronicling his [Tobe Hooper's] career. The history and overview section tells us how the films were made, supplying us with behind-the-scenes stories....I don't know how many of you are going to rush out and rent the director's films...but the author does a great job talking about each movie, finding parallels in a few of his films to, of all things, Alice in Wonderland...I'm all for studies about different directors, and Tobe Hooper...is an inspired choice. That it [the book] is so appreciative and smart is a bonus."-CLASSIC IMAGES, January 2003, page 38.

"...John Kenneth Muir [whose mammoth tome HORROR FILMS OF THE 1970s received some well-deserved kudos in our last issue) asserts that plenty of trademarks are present in Hooper's films, even if spotting them requires more than a cursory glance. Muir's talent for identifying patterns among the minutiae (visual, thematic or otherwise) serves him well in this exhaustive critique....Muir also documents Hooper's penchant for subtle satire and his long-standing affinity for storylines featuring multiple antagonists working in tandem....Accordingly, Muir paints us a picture of an important horror icon..."-John W. Bowen, RUE MORGUE: NINTH CIRCLE BOOKS, January/February 2003, page 57.

"...the opening career overview and the following critiques contain much of interest, resulting in a never less than readable if not entirely convincing attempt to re-position Hooper as an overlooked master of the macabre. Rating: FOUR STARS * * * *" - FILM REVIEW, SUMMER 2003

"The book kicks off with a well-written and curt introduction...The 'commentary' sections are what Muir is all about...he really scrapes beneath the surface of the film and looks for the subtext; every nuance is analysed. It makes for fantastic reading for the film enthusiast...My two favourite allegories though are his comparison of TCM to Alice in Wonderland and Poltergeist as an attack on president Ronald Reagan's lassez-faire domestic policies. Engrossing stuff...If you are a fan of Hooper, a film analyst or want to re-examine his work then this book is essential. It drips with a care and attention that would put some authors of similar material to shame. Muir's passion for the genre and his appreciation for Hooper, are infectious. 4 (out of 5) Chainsaws." WITHIN THE WOODS, September, 2004.

."Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre is a zany and entertaining examination of a director often overlooked in his field...Muir deftly places Hooper among the inarguable masters of the horror film such as John Carpenter, Wes Craven and George Romero. Recommended for all large film collections and also to be added to libraries with Muir's previous books on directors John Carpenter...and Wes Craven."- Mimi Davis, THE SHY LIBRARIAN, Summer 2003, page 39.

"His reporting on the first two CHAINSAW films makes for compelling reading on behind-the-scenes terrors; he also delves deeply into the Hooper-or-Spielberg controversy surrounding POLTERGEIST....Horror fans will want to read this, regardless of their stance on the director." - HITCH MAGAZINE # 33, Spring 2003.

"With an informal and accessible tone...Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre: The Films of of Tobe Hooper examines the cinematic offerings of director Hooper with both a biographical section and a 'films of' section. All the important films - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, Salem's Lot - are well-covered, as are the oft-told production stories...Muir offers some good insights into Hooper's films...a valuable reference...Eaten Alive...also contains information on Hooper's telefilms and episodic television work, and appendices." - Mike Malloy, CULT MOVIES, September 2003, Issue 39, page 80.

"This 30-year career overview and in-depth critical study of the director's film and TV work champions Hooper's neglected genius...[a] worthwhile retro[spective]...score: Boss [8 out of 10]." - DRAGON's BREATH, Issue # 71.

And here's an excerpt from my introduction to the book:

Nearly thirty years after its premiere, director Tobe Hooper's (1943 - ) breakthrough film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) remains a blessing and a curse for the larger-than-life Texas-born filmmaker, at least so far as his career in Hollywood is concerned.

A blessing, because, despite its notorious title, the film remains a smash hit with critics and horror film audiences; a classic of its kind, even.

A curse because its reputation hounds Hooper wherever he goes and limits the opportunities open to him as a working filmmaker in the youth-centric entertainment industry of the new millennium.

Like fellow baby boomer genre directors Wes Craven and John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper is renowned first and foremost as a "horror movie" director and much of his cinematic work has been limited to that genre despite his considerable gifts with comedic and action-oriented material. Hooper so expertly (and so viscerally) directed the Grand Guignol tale of a bizarre rural psychopath named Leatherface that the buzz (of both the chainsaw and the notorious film) has proven inescapable. Even detours to music videos (for Billy Idol and the Cars) and dramatic television (CBS's The Equalizer) have proved unsuccessful in changing that.

The saw, it seems, really is family.

Unlike his horror film compatriot Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper has not overseen any mainstream box office hits (such as Scream [1996]) and its 1997 and 1999 follow-ups) in some twenty years.

And, unlike that genre-bending auteur, John Carpenter, he isn't famous for any movie franchises outside the popular (and seemingly endless...) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre series. While Carpenter has consistently held audience attention with classics like The Thing (1982) and Halloween (1978), he has simultaneously directed big budget sequels such as Escape from L.A. (1996) and shepherded notable independent releases such as Vampires (1998) and Ghosts of Mars (2001). These new releases inevitably carry attention back to Carpenter's previous body of work at the same time they earn him new fans.

By contrast, Tobe Hooper's last theatrical release was 1995's The Mangler, a largely forgettable adaptation of a minor Stephen King short story. His genre work since then has been relegated mostly to television and direct-to-video features, and many of those are low-profile at best.

And yet, amongst the knowledgeable about such things, Tobe Hooper remains solidly ensconced as one of the "big five" horror maestros of the late 20th century. Along with Craven, Carpenter, George Romero and David Cronenberg, Hooper is amongst the most skilled of all genre directors toiling in Hollywood, able to tap into audience fears and adrenaline rhythms with seemingly boundless energy, directorial ingenuity and even a richly ironic sense of humor. There is something inherently dangerous and liberating about the works of this artist, and even the weakest of his films breaks barriers, heightens the viewer's blood pressure, and seems to plug into a no-holds-barred sense of escalating insanity...

Still, Hooper is probably the least acknowledged and sparsely praised of the five aforementioned horror film directors, for reasons that concern politics, Hollywood power games, luck, and coincidence more than his unique skills as a filmmaker...

So that's a little peek at Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre, designed to hopefully whet your whistle. If you want to show the book some belated love, you can find my monograph on Tobe Hooper at Amazon.com.