Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 3.0
Southern Hospitality
Today every ethnic group out there has stood up for their rights not to be movie villains. Every group that is, except for the much maligned rednecks. Add to that a worldwide distrust of anybody who thinks it's a good idea to vote for Bush (twice) and suddenly people from the American South are the reigning monsters of horror cinema. But this one was from 1974, so it was ahead of its time in that respect. The plot (like a film called "Texas Chain Saw massacre" needs a plot) involves your typical band of merry idiots (this group stands out for the inclusion on a wheelchair bound lad) driving around Texas when they stumble into the wrong neck of the woods. From there this story takes a turn for the worse. Our friends are slaughtered one by one until only one is left, and wouldn't you know it she's a shapely blond. Director Tobe Hooper brings a razor's edge to this film as we get to watch as he walks that fine line between fetishistic exploration and run of the mill horror movie torture. We're happy to go along because we can't look away, and that feeling remains throughout the film. It comes to be about a society that is sick and diseased. A blood-sucking (literally) grandpa, a hyperactive hitchhiker with a taste for his own blood, and Leatherface who comes off as just another member of the family. Above all this is a family of sportsmen, they hunt for sport and prefer their game to walk on two legs.There is an overriding theme of slaughter that runs through this film, be it animals or humans. In the opening scene the characters naively discuss the best way to kill cattle. They throw words like "humanely" around, but they seem anything but later on when these same tactics (meat hooks, chainsaws) are used on them. For those of us who are carnivores we know that we end life for our dinner. We make up stories, like how humanely we end that life, to make ourselves feel better, but this film chops those lies into pieces. This film has much more in common with the recent films of Rob Zombie than it does with the current remake and sequel. It takes its twisted nature and beats you over the head with it. The more disgusted you are the better job Hooper has done. So for those of you who like your films screwed up on every possible level this is the film for you. It doesn't have the modern trappings of today's horror films such as irony and camera winking, it isn't even all that sensational. The kills are somewhat muted by reality. The documentary style means no extreme close ups of the gore or anything of that nature. To add gloss would be to hinder its cause, it's disturbing because it seems real. The image of the South that they present is pretty much exactly what I think of when I think of Bush Country. I think decay and isolation and people who aren't all that sophisticated. They got gas stations but they ain't got no gas. The real horror Leatherface and Co. have perpetrated against America in recent years has happened at the voting booth, but for that horror flick I would suggest "So Goes the Nation." For a more cinematic look at the wrath of the South I recommend this film, though only barely. ***1/4