10 Exact Moments That Changed The Horror Movie Genre Forever

5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Leatherface Running Wild

Leatherface Dance
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Few horror movies have the lasting legacy of Tobe Hoober’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Hooper’s 1974 offering was dripping with dread and almost animalistic in its raw and blood-drenched approach. Yet this was not a film merely based around gore for the sake of gore, for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was brilliantly delivered by its core cast, and Hooper’s cinematic eye was exemplary in framing the locale of this story and visually capturing the sense of unrelenting dread that loomed large over the narrative.

There are so many moments from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre that can be credited with changing the horror landscape, but it’s hard to look past the final shot of Leatherface crazily running wild.

The audience – like the victims of Leatherface – had been well and truly put through the wringer, and that final shot of Leatherface manically wielding his chainsaw in the air was the exclamation point on all of this.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.