CHAIN REACTIONS (2024) Scary Movies 13

This is the review I wrote for Scary Movies but was told at the last minute not to post and to hold off until the theatrical release. That happens Friday so here is the review.

Directors Takashi Miike and Karyn Kusama, writers Stephen King and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and comedian Patton Oswalt talk about the place of the film THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in their lives and within the context of the culture and cinema.

This is one of the best film on film documentaries I've ever run across. This gem of a film does everything that a documentary should do and then some. Not only do the subjects make their relationship with the film personal but they put it into the wider context of society. For example, Takashi Miike talks about how the film influenced how he made films, but at the same time he also explains how it shaped how people in Japan saw Texas. This film shows us how key the film is in the arc of civilization, not just cinema.

I was blown away. There is so much to take in that I wasn't even done with Patton Oswalt's opening segment when I realized that I would need two or three more times through in order to get everything out of this that I can. There simply is too much to take in and consider that it demands multiple viewings.

Be warned this is not a making of film. This is something greater. Its the story of how a small little film literally changed the world by changing everyone who has seen it.

I loved this film. 

One of the best films I've seen in 2025