Halloween and the 10 best horror movies to watch on Shudder

9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Marketed with the tagline “Who will survive and what will be left of them?”, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre gave us the story of a homicidal, cannibalistic family and the unfortunate young people who encounter them.

Tobe Hooper’s plot was inspired by notorious murderer Ed Gein, who also inspired the plots of Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs. The film was produced at an estimated cost of $140,000, and consisted of mostly unknown actors.

It’s a gritty movie full of hair-raising moments, such as a young woman being hung on a meat hook and a weak and decrepit grandfather feeding from a cut on Sally’s finger. For that particular scene, the fake blood tube was not working properly, and actress Marilyn Burns’s finger was actually cut; so, the blood was real.

Burns was a real trooper, filming in the extreme heat, screaming hysterically and constantly being doused in fake blood. By the end of filming, her costume was so saturated, it could practically stand up on its own.

45 years after its release, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is about as well-known as a horror film can be.  Entertainment Weekly magazine listed it as number six on its list of Top 50 Cult Films.

It continues to be a must-see horror movie, and since it’s currently streaming on Shudder, now would be the perfect time to check it out!