How Tobe Hooper Crafted The Terrifying Soundscape Of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

There’s a sense of mystery to the sound mix of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” that remains even today. The beginning of the film features a distinctive sound meant to emulate a camera shutter. To this day, Wayne Bell still refuses to explain exactly what the film’s crew did to create that sound. To do so would be to give shape to the horror, and render the inexplicable explainable. All audiences needed to be scared, Bell believed, was the bare minimum. “You can introduce an idea,” he said, “and the mind of the listener fills it in.”

The film critic Scout Tafoya backs up Bell’s assertion in his book “Cinephagy,” describing “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” as “a grimy mix of realism and expressionism.” When Leatherface brings the hammer down on Kirk’s head, the resulting sound seems revoltingly true to life. Afterwards, Leatherface slams a big metal door shut, ending the scene with what Tafoya refers to as “a low rumbling organ.” It sounds nothing like a closed door, but taps into the same sense of shock and unease. The constant tension between the tangible details and many strange flourishes of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” remain central to its power. Even today, it infects the ear and the mind, just as Hooper and his team wanted.