Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 4.0
Leatherface Carves Up a Horror Classic
In 1974,this little horror film from Austin, Texas made for a mere $140,000 went on to make more than $50 million in the United States alone. Tobe Hooper's notorious slasher film pre-cursor is still extremely shocking and horrifying after all these years. The fact that the film has very little on-screen blood or gore is a tribute to film's ability to allude and elevate the terror without showing the needless film gore that freqented many of TCM numerous inferior rip-offs. Starting off as what appears to be a slowly-paced road picture, TCM immediately becomes aggresively intriging and intimately eerie as the band of five young adults explore the mystery behind the disapperance of the bodies of several local dead from nearby cemeteries. The static sun-drenched shots of a cattle-slaughtering ranch, a local cemetary, and a run-down farm house foreshadow undetermined malice hiding subtlely under the surface of normacy. Though TCM's fist 30 minutes might seem dull and slow, its pathos and eerie seductive mood place the audience exactly where Hooper wants them when it comes time to start the slaughter. Expert horror fans may find TCM to be predictable and dated. Yet, it must be said that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre along with Halloween created the rules and eventual cliches that plagued and burdened the horror genre. Watch the film as it was intended and experience one of the most gut-wrenching and overwhelming intense films ever made. A must-see for horror fans. Note: The DVD edtion has fantastic extras, Tobe Hooper commentary, and a great restored print of the film. If your a fan of TCM pick it up.