Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 5.0
Revolutionized the horror genre.
Tobe Hooper really invented a whole new kind of horror movie with "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." He achieved a whole new level of brutality and depravity that had never been contemplated before and has never really been matched since. Not only is TCM ruthless and violent, it is also essentially an art film. Some of the images are so well realized, it is hard to believe how tiny the budget was. Every aspect of this movie was deliberate and purposeful and, ultimately, effective.First of all, there is the wonderfully macabre concept: a multi-generational family of slaughterhouse workers for whom killing is as natural and as necessary as eating or sleeping. The older brother works at a gas station/barbecue. The middle brother likes to dig up corpses and make art with the remains. The youngest brother is a homicidal lunatic that wears several masks designed from skinned human faces, hence his nickname, Leatherface. A group of young people cross paths with these backwoods loonies and the killing and chasing and screaming begins.Some aspects of this premise remain ambiguous. For example, has the family killed before? Does Leatherface kill all the time or did he just freak out when he encountered people in the house? Does he get his masks from his grave robbing brother, or are they the faces of his victims? Are they cannibals? This is only hinted at in this movie (it is confirmed in the second goofy installment of the series.) A lot of these things are taken for granted, but if you really watch and listen, there are questions to be answered.I have heard complaints about the acting in this film. I have no problem with the acting. I like the acting, and I like the script. I really admire Tobe Hooper's direction and how these images were realized. The cinematography is grainy, sometimes overexposed, sometimes out of focus, but it is always effective. Some shots are just incredible - like the one that goes up under the swing and follows Pam to the front porch of the house - and the one of the older brother beating the hitch-hiker at night in front of the headlights of the truck - and the infamous meathook sequence - and the entire dinner sequence...The editing is jarring, adding to the overall insanity. The intercut shots of the cattle awaiting slaughter at the beginning of the film are seriously creepy. The cuts in the dinner sequence are over-the-top and maybe even a little gratuitous. But that was the point. Hooper wanted this scene to be torturous and he succeeded.TCM is one hell of a fine motion picture. If you haven't seen it, see it tonight.