“On the afternoon of August 18, 1973, five young people in a Volkswagen van ran out of gas on a farm road in South Texas. Four of them were never seen again.” Despite the film’s insistence, this did not actually happen. But the date has since become a celebratory one for fans of the lurid, grimy, sweltering masterpiece that is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Tobe Hooper’s gruesome — and uber-influential — classic has been analyzed to death. If you’ve forgotten just how potent the onscreen images are (think of Leatherface swirling his chainsaw during a feverish sunrise, or original Final Girl Sally Hardesty caked in tear-streaked blood in the back of an old pickup), head to one of our local Regal or AMC theaters to celebrate Texas Chain Saw Day, a yearly gathering of Hooper Heads and Horror Hounds. Just don’t run out of gas on the drive over. Visit fathomentertainment.com for showtimes — though it’s mostly showing at or near 7 p.m. in the Nashville area.
At local Regal and AMC theaters
