Although gas powered chainsaws are most commonly associated as a tool in woodworking
. Its impact has also been felt in the movie industry, most notably affecting the horror genre.
The gas powered chainsaw and the horror genre could qualify as a match made in heaven. However these two forces did not come together until the 1960s. But the gas powered chainsaw literally cut its way in to the movie scene in a big way with the Tobe Hoopers release, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
What made this movie so successful in this writers opinion is due to two very large things. That combination consisted of a truly frightening weapon and a uniquely scary villain. Up until this point the weapon of choice in horror films was the knife. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre introduced millions of viewers into another illegal use for the chainsaw. Compared to a knife the gas powered chain saw is large loud and much more intimidating than a mere butcher knife. I can almost hear that buzzing sound and smell gasoline in the air while writing this and that sound took fear to a whole new level. Up until this point we had always associated that sound with cutting down trees now it took on a completely different meaning. Before, the only people who had something to fear from the chainsaw were the operator and the tree. Now imagine being chased by a madman and hearing that sound we all can associate with the chainsaw is truly terrifying. Secondly, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre successfully created a uniquely scary villain with a uniquely scary name, Leatherface. Leatherface was not your normal movie villain. His character was loosely based off an actually serial killer Ed Gein, and he happened to be a rather large man wielding a rather large chainsaw wearing a mask made of human flesh. The Chainsaw literally took the term slasher films to a whole new gas operated level. Although the movie only contained one scene depicting the gruesome violence and terror in which the chainsaw is used to cut something other than wood, and that other something happened to be human flesh, one scene happened to be enough. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre spawned multiple sequels as well as began a relationship that indelibly linked the gas powered Chainsaw to the horror genre.