Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 5.0
Texas Chainsaw Masterpiece
I lived in Texas in 1974 as a kid so it is strange to think that this movie was being made when I actually lived there. I saw this film for the first time only in the last couple of years, and was immediately sucked in and struck by this deeply disturbing film even from the first sounds of the shattering, disjointed music set against the backdrop of the over-saturated solar flares of the sun, or the opening shot of the melting bodies in the graveyard or the roadkill armadillo on the hot, dry Texas highway. Perhaps the root of the power and effectiveness of this movie is that at its core it touches on the normal things in life that should probably be okay under normal circumstances: taking a trip with friends, exploring an old house, helping someone out who needs a ride, running out of gas in an unfamiliar area, asking strangers for help, and trusting people. We might have done any one or all of these things at one time or another in our lives, but this movie can easily remind us that perhaps those are in fact not things we should do, or at least plan accordingly as to prevent them from happening so we don't find ourselves in the vulnerable position of being dependent on the help of strangers to get out of a situation. The five young friends (two are siblings, one of whom is confined to a wheelchair brilliantly played by Paul Partain) are all nice kids out to have some fun on a road trip and not cause anyone any trouble, but run into problems when they pick up a hitchhiker who seems harmless at first, and this is just the beginning of the problems that ensue for them. Things worsen when their van runs out of gas and the only gas station within miles has run dry (so they are told by the people working there who seem nice enough), waiting on the next fuel delivery later that afternoon. 1974 was during the height of the gas crunch and energy crisis of that era, so this scenario is absolutely and completely believable. The kids are informed that they can gas up later that day so why don't they stick around and come back then? In the meantime, they think they know where a relative's house used to be located, and they will explore the nearby property to pass the time until they can come back to fill up the tank and continue on their trip.Lots of brilliant foreshadowing occur that are along the lines of southern gothic tradition (looking for an old waterhole where they used to swim as kids but when they stumble across it, it is all dried up); the abandoned old house that now has evidence that something strange has been going on there (the makers of The Blair Witch Project MUST have been influenced by the artifacts made for this movie), but the wheelchair-bound friend is unable to warn the others in time due to his immobility. He doesn't know what exactly he has found (mostly bones and feathers), but he is afraid and suspicious enough to try to alert his sister and their friends that something is wrong. After that, the discovery of a generator on the neighboring property alerts them that the neighbors must have fuel to run the generator and they knock on the door of the quaint farmhouse next to a field of beautiful Black-eyed Susans and the pretty white swing in the front yard to see if they can borrow some. When one enters the house but does not come back and the girlfriend subsequently goes in after him to see what is wrong, everything goes downhill from there.Parts of this movie are still difficult to watch even by today's standards - and certainly the use of non-actors and no budget for special effects only served to make the finished movie even better and withstanding of time against ultimately bigger movie studios with larger budgets and CGI effects. This film will probably always stand up against and be the standard by which all other horror films to follow it are judged.This film also sets the unprecedented standard of the lone female survivor heroine (this movie pre-dates John Carpenter's Halloween by 4 years) using nothing but the will to survive and strength to fight back physically against multiple male attackers who terrorize and torture her. That and a lot of running away and jumping through windows.