Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 5.0
More than just gore
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACREMany consider TCM to be the first true slasher film, a movie that raised violence and gore to a whole new level in film. Although certainly violent and with ample graphic scenes, upon watching it most viewers will find it is surprisingly void of actual gore or blood. In fact, I think the one facet that has maintained TCM as a classic film was its failure to push the limits to shock with blindingly graphic violence as so many movies have done, making TCM not only watch-able, but also respectable and highly effective as a horror film.Really, the title says it all for this movie. It takes place in Texas, on a blazingly hot summers day, and it involves a crazed man called Leatherface who cuts people up with a chainsaw. Cut up more than one person, and it becomes a massacre. Filling in the plot a bit, it revolves around 5 young adults who travel to their abandoned family home in Texas to investigate claims of grave robbing. They run out of gas, and in the search for some of that precious fluid, they inadvertently run afoul of a demented family of cannibals whose taste for killing knows no boundaries.This family of cannibals is composed of 3 generations of slaughterhouse workers. Grandpa, now old and infirm, was the best there was. His son is something of a disappointment, unable to stomach the act of killing, although he revels in the sadistic nature of killing. Leatherface and his brother are the products of this dysfunction that now operate their own slaughterhouse, filling the freezers with human flesh. They are a creepy lot, twitchy and hyperactive. You get the sense that the heat combined with the constant river of animal blood has somehow corrupted their brains. Perhaps the worst aspect about them is that they are just normal people, monsters who hide behind a faade of pleasantness offset only by the faint smell of decay and sweat.The whole movie has this oppressive feel to it. The townsfolk are all a little off, and there are frequent glimpses of seriously distressing imagery--bones, insects, blood, all symbols of mortification. The human slaughterhouse is perhaps the most memorable. It is a work of true art the way it is assembled by the crew of the film, littered with animal skulls, red colors, bones tied together as if in youthful fun. A gas generator runs constantly, its hum reminiscent of a chainsaw idling, the sound creating tension. It is a shrine of death and despair, in its own way, another member of this horrific family.When it comes to the films violence that is where the film takes an even more bizarre turn. While there is plenty of murder to turn ones stomach, the worst part of the film is the one which focuses on the main character Sally, who rather than being quickly caught and slaughtered, is chased, held captive, tortured, and then turned over for systematic slaughter. It is an intriguing aspect because through the scene the viewer is allowed to begin and actually feel what it is like to be in Sally's predicament. I don't think anybody can watch her struggles without feeling somewhat sick and revolted, and yet, it never becomes so appalling that it becomes nauseating. But by the scenes end, you will feel the terrible claustrophobic atmosphere present, the weakness that comes with despair, and the trauma that comes with spending so much time with this family. It is the viewer's ticket to witness the incident for themselves. It's probably the closest you can come to what it must feel like to be in the hands of a killer.TCM ranks as a truly bizarre film of epic proportions. Its antagonists are repulsive, its heroine sympathetic. It's the sort of movie that leaves you feeling emotionally tired and worn out, and the sort of movie that is hard to remember because it burns its impressions into your mind. It's also a movie filled with questions and you can spend a lot of time analyzing its plot and characters. While it has a reputation of mindless blood and guts in some quarters, it is one of the most thoughtful movies you'll ever see.