The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Review

Written by: terrorwatch   

With a small budget of around $140.000 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was born. The movie was directed by non other than horror legend, Tobe Hooper and was set to become one of the most loved movies of all time. We first see a group of guys and girls driving along Texas picking up a strange hitchhiker as they cross. They soon get a brutal attack and kick the mad man out of their van and soon head off. Next couple of hours they realise that the mad man has a family and they live next to where they are staying. Soon enough there fighting for their lifes as "The Chainsaw" is coming for them! The movie was so shocking and brutal that it soon got banned and around 1999 time we got to see it again as the ban got pushed away to terrify its viewers once again. Director Tobe Hooper based Leather face on mass-murderer Ed Gein, who was arrested in 1957, no chargers of murder and cannibalism. So based on somewhat of a true story and made in the 1970's the movie was expected to be the best balls up slasher there was ever made.

One scene in particular grabbed my attention when the helpless girl gets hooked in Leather face's kitchen, this was excellent. The movies acting was not too good, in fact some parts it was very poor indeed but scenes that were created like that made up for it. The movie includes a group of scared teenagers and a dirty old van. The teenagers were excellent in looking corny and helpless, there dirty faces and panic look on their faces really pushed up the movies suspense allot. The movie also included a strange family with one or two screws lose. This family looked so creepy and there screaming and complete madness made the movie more hardcore than ever. One guy that really stood out was Leather face played by Gunnar Hansen. His thrashing around with a beefy chainsaw gave his massive appearance on screen and looked so stupid but very dangerous. The major let down was the Grandpa, I don't know what look they were trying to achieve but it didn't impress me. He looked fake and unreal and made out of a plastic mould, I don't know whether it was the low budget coming through or the badly shot scene but it didn't work what so ever. The strange family of cannibals were held together by their brother, Drayton Sawyer (Old Man) played by Jim Siedow. His on screen presence even though the brother was felt like the dad of the group and he looked weird. Even though he looked the normal of the gang he had a really cool way about him and as he took the girl back to the house is face turned into a possessed mad man which really looked cool as you could see him change totally different.

In the movie we don't see much of any gore or blood, surprising how it's a massacre movie? The movie didn't even have anything to offer but its cleaver scenes and very freighting atmosphere and suspense created something excellent. The scenes are particular good in were they do show too much just enough to let you r imagination run wild. The house in the movie looked totally creepy, very dark and overgrown wildlife and bush covered it. Small amount of light were seen coming out the small window through the dirty dark curtains, it was great looking. A bad thing as I said before was the granddad, it just looked like the guy was wearing a normal Halloween mask to play the role and it really didn't impress me. However Leather face looked excellent with his blood stained clothes and his great big dirty chainsaw. His movement was wild and his hooded screams by the skin mask really creped me out totally. The only problem I said was the little amount of blood we see, it's a slasher for god sake and we don't see anything worth shouting about. This bothered me but not enough to say the movie was nothing without it.

Now this movie has some great sound included within it. Its has this sort of shrieking sound that really goes through you so much. The sound effects and music were pretty cool and the chainsaw roared away for hours. The movie gave out a really scary feel to it and for once the movie is a scary one. The suspense in the movie was great created by scenes being short and cut so you didn't see totally what happened. The movie has a quality to it that makes you feel completely helpless and really rocks. Overall this movie is one of the great slasher of our time and is loved by all. Its efforts to scare us all was noticed and did, the movie is truly a masterpiece and its small budget just shows the great directing Tobe pulled out. Buy the s.e DVD today its great for the extras and the all new re mastered movie in Dolby digital.