Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 5.0
Oh the horror!
In 1974 Tobe Hooper released a film that will go down as one of the greatest horror films of all time. Now, I've seen the remake, and loved it. I had never seen the original despite the fact that all of my friends insisted that I do...so finally I gave in and watched it this morning. I have to say that, even though I watched this film in broad daylight I was still chilled.The story, loosly based on the actual murders of Ed Gein, revolves around a group of friends, Sally, her boyfriend Gary, her disabled brother Franklin, her friend Pam and her boyfriend Kirk, as they travel to visit the gravesite for Sally and Franklins grandfather. The gravesite has been the object of some scandle as bodies have been dug up and ritualistically tampered with. The opening scenes of this film are photo's of a corpse that's wired to a gravestone. It's haunting to say the least.Upon seeing the grave this group inadvertantly picks up a hitch-hiker, a somewhat diranged man who takes their picture, then burns it, cuts himself with a knife and then does the same to Franklin before the group tosses him from the van. The entire group is shooken up by this intruder, but none moreso than Franklin who is convinced that something worse is going to happen. The group decides to visit an old home owned by Sally and Frank's father, but it's what happens after they visit the home that will make your skin crawl. Behind the house is another home, the home inhabited by cannibals who attack and torture these kids for the remainder of the film.Hooper created a cinimatic masterpiece, a disturbing, documentary type horror film that is almost as scary visually as it is subject-wise. While concidered a soft-R to todays standards (meaning there's not a single cuss word and the gore is very light, more implied than really shown...except towards the end) it delivers some of the scariest sequences in cinema even today. The remake changes the story quite a bit, and I believe that to be a good thing for it helps save it from being a cheap knock-off. The remake has it's own scares and it's own thrills and doesn't rob anything off of this film but creates it's own horrific tale.So, there are those who prefer this version and those that prefer the 2003 version...either way both are great, but remember that this is where it started and this is a base for so many succesfull horror films today for it's a perfect mix of horror, inteligence and humor. The final 30 minutes or so of this film are so insanely scary that, as I mentioned, even while watching in daylight I was shivering. And the dinner scene is as intense and disturbing as a scene can get.If you haven't seen this film but have seen the remake and are afraid, as I was, that older horror films just can't cut it compaired to the polished horror films of today I urge you to reconcider and watch this film. It's not like most horror films of the 70's, 80's and 90's. It's smart, chilling and brutal and I promise you it will chill you to the bones. I won't say which version is better for I believe they both exceed most horror films out there today and they both deliver an effective scare while bringing something new, fresh and entirly different to the table. It's the rare instance where a brilliant film gets a brilliant remake...