Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 4.0
Extreem assault on the senses
This film is a low-budget masterpiece. On its face, its a simple retelling of Homer's Odyssey with Odysseus recast as Sally Hardesty, who embarks on a journey with her crew to verify the sanctity of her grandfather's final resting place after reports of ghoulish desecration hit the news.Sally and her crew are lost the moment the pick up a hitchhiker, who replaces the Siren. Then they stop at Cerce's gas station where they are further delayed by the Old Man/Cerce who tells them he has no gas but offers them barbecue, a clear reference to the pigs Odysseus' men where turned into.Instead of waiting for the gas delivery, Sally and her crew go to visit her ancestral home. Two of her crew decide to go for a swim in the old watering hole but when they find the hole has dried up, they stumble upon Cyclops' lair where they embark on a doomed mission to trade a guitar for the much needed gasoline.This is really where the movie kicks into high gear, as one by one Sally's crew is disposed of by Leatherface/Cyclops.I first saw this movie on VHS in the '80's, after first seeing TCM 2, and I think I must have seen a copy that was cut to shreds because this movie is way better now then I remember it being back then. There isn't as much gore as one would expect, but the ultra-violence really ratchets up the old adrenaline.The movie on the DVD looks great and its loaded with deleted scenes, bloopers, script excerpts, commentary, etc. etc. The one thing that would have really made this a five star package is if it had been bundled with the 1988 documentary.As it is, I would rate both the film and the DVD 4.5 stars each.