53 years ago today was the worst day of Sally Hardesty’s life.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre didn’t reach theaters until October 1974, but the events it depicts are set on August 18, 1973 — which is why fans and filmmakers now mark August 18 as “Chain Saw Day.”
Directed by Tobe Hooper, the film follows Sally and company as they cross paths with Leatherface and a family of cannibals during a road trip through rural Texas.
The opening narration, read by John Larroquette, sets the tone by calling the story “an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths” and promising “one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history.”
More than five decades later, the low-budget horror film remains one of the most influential ever made, and every August 18 gives its fans a fixed date on which to return to the fictional day of Sally Hardesty’s ordeal.
