Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 1.0
Awe-inspiringly awful
I know that there are an awful lot of horror buffs out there that consider this to be a landmark piece of filmmaking. They would be wrong. Just because something was banned does not make it a good movie. This was also the case with 'The Exorcist', but at least that had some truly excellent performances in it. TCM is one of those movies that was so hyped that when it finally was shown, everybody HAD to love it.Of course, it would be unfair of me to say that this movie is completely awful. There are some minute details that at least made me watch it. For example, the way it's filmed like home footage is reasonably effective. That's about it for redeeming features though.All of the performances are dire. People stating that Leatherface is wonderful obviously watched this movie with their eyes closed. The fact that it's based on a real life case of Ed Geins is even more disturbing. Because this means that the film is not only violent but also grossly exploitive as well. Real life murders told through the movies should be done sensitely - like 'Psycho' or 'Heavenly Creatures' - instead of made as sickeningly gruesome as possible. Plus, for the record, people saying this movie is scary actually mean that they had to turn in disgust at how incredibly disgusting most scenes were. There is absolutely no tension here, just random killings.To conclude, this film may have been influential but it certainly isn't any good.