The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Today I decided was a good day to watch another classic horror movie, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I remember when the remake came out, a friend of mine was quite excited for it because he liked the original so much. Afterwards he told me that it just didn't hold up when compared to the film that started it all. I've never been into the torture style of horror. Movies like Saw, Hostel and this one have been movies I've tried to avoid as much as I could. While I don't mind when monsters rip a man apart, there's just something inherently disturbing about a man ripping a man apart. Today I decided I should steel myself and watch this horror classic that may have inspired all those others.


The story is a simple one that is now standard to slasher and horror movies of all kinds. A group of teens, while out on a road trip, stop for a rest at an old house. At least this time it's OK that they are at this old abandoned house, as it used to be their grandparent's place and they used to go there for summers. A few of them wander off to try to find gas since the local station was out, and they come across the neighboring farm house. They end up finding more than they bargained for. Namely, the terrifying Leatherface!

The group first meet a very odd hitchhiker who seems a little... crazy

Before I really get into it, I'd just like to say that I did like the movie. It did have some problems for me though, but in the end it all worked out. The main issue I had with it was the pacing. The movie starts off very slow and low key, and has a few spikes of craziness here and there, but for the most part it was really boring at the start. I just never found it fun, or funny, or even the slightest bit interesting when the film was spending time with the teens by themselves. Maybe it was that they were all very generic with very little in the way of distinguishing personalities. They were also pretty huge hippies talking about astrology and Saturn being in retrograde etc. While it was cool that they had a character in a wheelchair to mix it up, did he have to be so whiny? Please, save me from them, Leatherface!

If you break into his house, he's not going to mess around!

Thankfully once they start coming across the other house, things pick up as they get dealt with one by one. While Leatherface is of course a frightening character who never speaks, he manages to have more personality than any of the teens. When these kids keep essentially breaking into his house, he attacks them on sight. He's swift and brutal, taking care of business right away. By the time the 3rd one shows up though, he has a little panic attack. He runs to the windows and looks outside, as if he's more freaked out that these people keep coming into his home! I definitely liked that little moment. It also allows us a really good close up look at his creepy mask made out of someone else's face!

The film really seemed to follow a fairly predictable pattern, eventually getting to the big climactic chase through the woods at night. But just when I thought it was going to end, it just kept going into a new act I totally didn't expect! If it was just a slasher before, now in this final act it just got really crazy! You end up meeting Leatherface's family, and his grandfather is probably one of the creepiest things ever!

If you look carefully, you'll notice she's sitting in an "arm" chair ;D

If you've never seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it's definitely a different kind of movie compared to today's horror movies. At the time it was made, it was considered so gory and off-putting that it was even banned in some counties. Compared to some of the movies today, it's rather tame though. Sure Leatherface goes after people with a chain saw, but you never actually see the saw go into people. It's all off screen or out of sight. There was a word that came up in the intro of the movie though, that fits this film perfectly; macabre. This movie is definitely macabre. It's a word that isn't used much these days, but it's a great word nevertheless. Give The Texas Chain Saw Massacre a shot, if only to see what horrified audiences of the 70s and what likely pushed modern day directors and effects artists to try and go above and beyond, giving us what we now know as torture and gore horror.