Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 3.0
A Great Film For What It Had to Work With
It is fair to say that Tobe Hopper's 1974 version of "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is not as well done and spooky as the 2003 remake, but you have to give credit where credit is due. "Texas Chian Saw Massacre" (yes, it was originally spelled like 'Chain Saw') is horrifying view into the American culture that truly terrified a nation, and even had some partial inspiration of horror films to appear later on, such as "House of 1000 Corpses" and "Wrong Turn." But this movie is not well acted, and some of the actors are almost laughable. The story revolves around five friends traveling though the Texas backwoods and while exploring a deceased family member's house, they are each attacked by a Chiansaw weilding maniac named Leatherface (Gunner Hansen). Each of the friends are killed brutally, even though we can't see, but it still effects us psychologically. One woman is impaled with a hook, one guy's rist is slit, another gets a hammer in the head, another gets a chainsaw in the stomach, and another has to endure a cannibalistic dinner party. ALthough the film is known for its nerve racking ending, the real scary scene comes from the scene where Pam (Terri McMinn) first enters the house where Leatherface waits and she stumbles into a room filled with human and animal corpses alike. This part of the movie is not only extremely well done in its sense to terrify you, but it is the only scene in the movie that makes you feel like you're actually there- and that's a sign of a great movie making deal.Even though it's a chilling movie, "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is a sadistic and horrific deal that is hard to sit through. There is no battle of good versus evil, and no one to cheer for. You know it cannot end well, and all the film really does is show a group of kind, everyday people getting butchered by a family of inbred killers. I wouldn't recommend this movie over its remake, just because the remake has better acting and you know that its just a movie, plus you are routing for the characters to live. I do, however, think that Tobe Hopper's "Chainsaw" and the remake are the only ones in the series to watch, for the others are just plain old movie crap. So if you want to get creeped out and put in a seriously depressed and disturbed mood, rent "Texas Chain Saw Massacre," the movie that really puts a bad name in for Texas.