Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 4.0
Everything, including the chainsaw on the kitchen sink (DVD review)
Fans of this cult favorite can relax - no, they didn't gloss up the film stock with digital sheen to make it look as though it were filmed yesterday. To be certain, TCM was cleaned up: the colors are brighter and more vibrant, and the film's nocturnal sequences aren't quite as murky as they were in the VHS edition. But this minor buffing hasn't betrayed the film's gritty, low-budget, high-grain 16mm (as transferred to 35mm stock) aesthetic. The '70s zeitgeist isn't even remotely diminished, but the attractive wide shots (mostly rural Texan landscapes) are as eye-catching as ever. The only way to get a better look at this film is to obtain the original theatrical reels, cigarette burns and all!This DVD offers quite a few features for fans of TCM, Tobe Hooper and Gunnar Hansen. Prominent among these are the soundtrack selections. For standard viewing, the film's soundtrack can be heard as a crisp stereo surround track that's a bit bright, and as the film's original mono recording, which is blunt, a bit messy and preferable for anyone who wants a more authentic listening experience. The third option is a conversational audio commentary voiced by Hooper, Hansen and cinematographer Daniel Pearl. For fans and film students alike, I couldn't recommend this feature more; it's informative and very funny. Unlike certain audio commentary tracks, which are very dry as a result of the participants being recorded independently, this one benefits from the interaction between director, actor and cinematographer, especially when the three are comparing memories and discussing related experiences of a film that they collaborated on decades prior to this recording.The disc's deleted scenes and alternate footage aren't quite so essential, but they are of mild interest. All of them consist of raw, untreated footage. The clips that haven't any sound are supplemented with textual script extracts. I think that audio commentary tracks would have been preferable to the textual summaries provided for each clip. Yes, the infamous makeup scene is included.One of the more interesting featurettes is A Study In Filming, which consists of every unedited shot that was used to film the twenty-second scene in which Leatherface commits his first onscreen murder. Even though this is essentially filler, it is somewhat engrossing, as it illustrates how much footage is required for a heavily edited (albeit short) scene.This disc would be far from complete without the theatrical and televised trailers for the 1974 Bryanston release and New Line Cinema's 1980 re-release. Both sets of trailers are adequate and stylistically representative of their respective periods of release. Although it was hardly necessary to include the ludicrous trailers of TCM's delightfully goofy first sequel and its two incomparably terrible successors, they do make for compulsive viewing. Be forewarned: these may induce squirms in a state of embarrassed discomfort.The blooper reel is short, but rather amusing. Although it's nice to know that the making of this film was sometimes as jocular as it was maddening, the finished product is much more hilarious.Silent footage of the Family's house is included. This provides a more detailed perspective of the macabre interior art design that featured quite a few chicken and human bones. I needn't mention that this is strictly intended for fans.The provided film and production stills are competently shot, but not terribly interesting. They're included for the sake of completeness.On the other hand, the scanned lobby cards and posters are definitely worth a look. The cards are typical (and probably worth quite a lot on eBay), but the art design of the theatrical posters are especially interesting. The Italian, German and Japanese posters are especially attractive and evocative, and some of them implement a few photos and paintings that I've never seen before.For hardcore fans of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, this is an essential purchase if they don't already have it. For the more casual fan of horror and '70s B-films, this is definitely worth a rental.