This was the absolute first picture I started with for Movie Slate’s Halloween event, and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever drawn (which is a big deal since I often don’t find my art all that satisfying to look at). I had a tong of fun doing the background, adding the pony skeletons and giving the whole thing a very sickly corrupted atmosphere. I wanted it to look like a nightmare and make the Apple family stand out as best as possible. Also mummified Granny Smith is scary. She gave me nightmares the night I drew her. When it came to draw it my one direction was this: “Make it like the original, but also like Resident Evil VII”. I feel like people have forgotten about RE VII, but what little I saw of it was downright horrifying (in a good way). It seems the “chopped liver horror” genre (as we call it in Spain) is still alive and well in videogame format, because movie wise it’s a rather depressing scenario.

Oh, happy Applejack day, by the way.

RANT INCOMING!

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is, yet again, another one of those movies that Hollywood just can’t move away from. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a concept that’s wroth re-visiting since it left a lot of questions opened and it would be interesting to explore the lore, but then the series had to devolve into a celebration of violence that’s more flashy and in your face than it is clever and atmospheric. Let me explain it to you. Remember how the ending of this movie ends up turning into a Benny Hill chase with people being run over by trucks and Leather Face getting hit in the face with a wrench? Imagine that ending stretched over the length of a movie and then remade about five more times. That’s all the other Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies that aren’t the original.

Call me a purist all you want but the original Texas Chainsaw knew how to do things. It shows not a single drop of blood throughout the entire movie. It’s all done through the use of sound effects, editing, length of shot, positioning of camera, placement of characters in the shot, proper practical effects and damn good solid acting. The grim atmosphere and dirty look of the sets and the cinematography is only amplified by how believable everyone is. Nobody is a stereotype, nobody is predictable, and there’s a lot of quiet moments that build up to a very explosive punch right in the gut (preferably done with a meat hook).

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is a horror movie that defies expectations and earns its R Rating not from gore, guts or shock value, but from proper atmosphere and disturbing themes that make this a much more enjoyable and immersive ride. All the sequels and remakes that came after are nothing but the gunk stuck in Leather Face’s chainsaw, and could be wiped out just as easily.