A true horror movie, the most disturbing slasher film for sure. Leatherface is scary as hell, the sounds he makes and the way he behaves is horrifying. [spoiler] The same goes to that psychopath family of his, goddamn, what a bunch of crazy people. [/spoiler]

The low-budget helped the film in my opinion. The atmosphere created is amazing, everything looks dirty, stinky and rotten. Also, the feeling of some super hot and unpleasant weather is present, well, it's Texas so that's expected I guess, nice job. The movie has kind of a documentary tone, grainy and yellowish cinematography that raises every aspect of what the filmmakers were trying to achieve. The violence is not that graphical as you could expected, but is so brutal and raw that makes it more realistic. Not every kill scene has blood flying to your face or a limb being ripped off but your brain is there to work for you and fill the gap of what the damage has caused (meat hook, that's right, uh, chills). Simple, but so effective.

The last 30 minutes of this movie are pure insanity (that dinner scene), almost non stoppable screams, insane laughter and chainsaw sounds that will haunt you (or at least leave you with your ear buzzing).

Inspired by the crimes of real-life serial murderer Ed Gein, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is a brutal, sadistic and gory film about insane cannibalistic murderers, specifically the infamous so-called Leatherface, whom is a chainsaw-wielding serial killer who pierced and slashed countless amounts of individuals. The story follows a group of friends who take a visit to an old farmhouse, when pair by pair and individually, they separately stumble upon their vicious neighbours and experience the unexpected, when they’re butchered like literal pigs, one by one.

Throughout the film, there is a question left wandering around alongside the audience. What drove these crazed humans to get such concept? And, what is the satisfaction that comes within the act of it? I think that from what we can perceive from the Leatherface is that he has been living in a verbally abusive destructive home. Constantly being yelled at and dominated, he is very obedient of what his father tells him to act upon, which are demands of committing murders of victims of their family. He somewhat lives a life of oppression, concluding that disobedience means a punishment. However, Leatherface is a man with feelings about his family's perspectives on him and he often proves his love for his family by murdering the victims. Additionally, his self-conscious and peculiar characteristics portray him as an outcast, which could also drive him to commit his actions. Leatherface is certainly not friendly to the social world around him but he always seemed to respect his family and their intentions. In a psychological manner, Leatherface is literally a child.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is honestly out-dated and not completely terrifying, however, there is something about it that has always been striking in a very disturbing and abnormal manner. The simplicity of this film is what I love the most about it. The film is only 1h 30min, set in a very dull environment, yet since the very moment it starts, the audience perceives an odd sensation from the atmosphere. This film starts off with the most off-putting scene in horror, or slasher, cinema! From the moment they pick up Nubbins Sawyer, the hitchhiker, we know that something is about to go wrong. Nubbins behaves almost erratically, and displays a very odd giggle, and it all becomes too much once he cuts through his hand with a knife. The conversations about the slaughterhouse also form a tense build-up for the film and in general, the entire cinematography truly, excellently captured disturbing shots. From the close-ups on Sally’s frightened eyes, to the clips of the cannibalistic family perceiving enjoyment off of her misery, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a horror classic!

Such a simple premise, yet so effective.

I think that's my only complaint about this classic, is how minimal and straight-forward the film's story is. Now -- that's not to say that's a bad thing, 'cause it works enough for this. What many others have already commented is how The Texas Chain Saw Massacre very much goes for a documentary-style of filmmaking. It opens with a stock narrator telling us what's about to happen, as if implying to the viewers, that the events that are shown, really happened. The gritty and dark grainy photography Hooper shoots come off as archival footage, like this is actual footage of a real sequence of events. Also, what I noticed throughout, was the inclusion of rather unnecessary details in quite a few scenes. Why would we need to see someone get out of a car, go back inside the gas station to turn off the light and close the door, and then get back in the car? That's not important to the story. In most films, you'd cut that right out. But these small and left-in touches add to the documentary quality. This is something that newer Texas Chainsaw films are missing, as they go for a much more cinematic look, as opposed to this real-life cinematography. Going slightly off-topic, this is why James Cameron, for the 2012 restoration of Titanic, bumped up the aspect ratio of his film to 16:9 and color corrected the movie differently, to give his film about the Titanic a more television-like documentary facade. I bet most of you didn't even think about that.

But as for this beast of a movie, which spawned many sequels, video games, books, spin-off movies, Halloween Horror Nights mazes, and etc, what makes this gruesome feature so inciting? Why was it such a phenomenon and became possibly the most recognized horror icon in history? Some point at the "Based On A True Story" gimmick that the marketing team strategized, and while the movie is very loosely based on real serial killer, Ed Gein, most of the movie is fiction. I think the gruesome depiction of someone getting sliced up with a chainsaw, which hadn't really been seen on film before, was captivating and exciting for viewers. This is most likely why this extremely low-budgeted 16mm production went on to make over 35 million at the box office over the course of 8 years. Who wouldn't go see the one disgusting horror film you just gotta see? And Leatherface's costume is just so gross, but brilliant. A cannibal who wears his victims' faces as masks? Fucking grotesque, but amazing. Can I also just mention the bleak and fucked-up set design? Notice at the final dinner scene, the chair Sally's sitting in, the arm rests are literally just human arms. Awesome. Nowadays, the feature is a slight dated compared to some horror films, in terms of pacing and editing, but The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is just as engrossing and fast-paced as you can get. I did not feel the run-time at all in this, despite it's sometimes slow-pace and scenes that have no much going on. Just like Jaws, which came out a year later, the movie starts out slow, with an energetic group of friends just taking a ride through Texas, and the movie accelerates to an insane chase sequence, eventually the movie just turning into an absolute nightmare. The claustrophobic and up-close tight photography makes for some deeply disturbing imagery. What also helps this movie over some others is the pitch-black visuals at night. In most other productions, in order for the audience to see what's going on at night, the crew could be using a low-light camera to ever-so slight brighten up the night sequences just so you could see. In this film thought, the night scenes are quite literally pitch-fucking-black. You can't see shit in this, which is probably the most realistic and frightening lighting; not knowing where Leatherface is going to show up makes for an even more tense atmosphere. The final scene at the dinner table and subsequent chase at the end are two of my favorite scenes in horror history. Sickening stuff. If you haven't checked out the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre yet, please do, for Tobe Hooper and Gunnar Hansen.

Highly recommended viewing for this October!
R.I.P. Tobe Hooper and Gunnar Hansen.

This goes beyond scary. What I mean is, it's not really scary, it's insane. It's a crazed nightmare. What Sally goes through with the cannibal family is not horrific in the gory sense, it's not even all that bloody. It's the struggle against insanity and Sally's fight to keep her's. And WOW! Can she scream!

There are other terrible moments, like when one of the guys is dragged into Leatherface's butcher shop but all we see is the metal door slamming in front of us. Later, we are taken into that shop to see Leatherface hang Pam(?) on a meat hook where she gets to see her friend cut up. Now, we don't see any of that gore, but it's happening and it's disturbing.

The reason I don't rate this higher is because it gets so odd while Sally is at the cannibal family's dinner table. It borders on comedic. Only Sally's screams snap you back from laughing at the over-the-top behavior of the man-eating family. Also, for as many great choices that were made with the camera, there are just as many that are frustrating. It felt like it was floating around at times or even seemed obstructed on a few occasions.

***Disturbing iconic slasher about a demented family in rural Texas***

After a van of young people picks up a psycho hitchhiker in east Texas they stumble upon a farm house of crazies, including a burly mute man with a mask made of human-skin.

Tobe Hooper’s "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) is a seminal, iconic slasher that’s genuinely disturbing and horrific because it plays out in a gritty, realistic manner. While some viewers might find a couple of scenes amusing, like Franklin in his wheelchair accidently rolling down the hill and, later, having a hammy fit in the dilapidated building, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a serious, unsettling horror flick.

By contrast, Rob Zombie’s homage (or rip-off), “House of 1000 Corpses” (2003), wasn’t disturbing or horrific at all because he opted for an over-the-top, cartoony approach. It was colorful and amusing, yes, but not unsettling or horrifying.

Other positives include the rural locations, cool nighttime sequences, e.g. the thorn bush, and the effectively photographed women with no raunch: Teri McMinn (Pam) and Marilyn Burns (Sally). They’re girl-next-door types, but alluring enough.

So this is a standout film as far as serious slasher horror goes and I can understand those who give it a high rating, but horror movies are about more than just scaring & troubling the viewer. For me, the last act is overly one-dimensional, focusing too much on the eye-rolling demonic dirtbag family and a girl fleeing & screaming. It’s thoroughly manic, indeed, but also vacuous and uninspiring.

The film runs 1 hour, 23 minutes; there’s also an 88 minute unrated version. It was shot in east Texas as follows: Round Rock (house), Bastrop (gas station/BBQ shack), Leander (cemetery) and Watterson (slaughterhouse). The house has since been moved to Kingsland and refurbished as a restaurant.

GRADE: B-/C+