The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) User Reviews

Good God What a Movie!

[damianphelps · 8/10 · 25 September 2020]

To say this movie had an impact on me when I watched it when I was younger would be an understatement. Not as gory as you may imagine and that's the true magic of this film. Its what you imagine. Who's coming around the corner, am I safe and so on.

Hooper does an amazing job of creating tension and tension makes horror, supported by the occasional actual brutality to remind us of the potential consequences.

Sure the gore has aged compared to what is often being produced these days, but the film still holds up really well.

Incredibly overrated

[Dar Star · 6/10 · 9 May 2021]

I can appreciate this being a groundbreaking film to introduce lots of the slasher film concepts to follow, but it doesn't make it a great film. No character development at all. The acting is horrendous. And the scares are all the same basically. For a real horror classic The Shining is light years better. Still I rate it a 6 for its pioneering of a new genre.

All the remakes and imitators are just swimming in its wake...

[Robbie-21 · 10/10 · 10 November 2003]

With the recent box-office success achieved by the latest remake of 1974's `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' it's worth looking back at Tobe Hooper's original horror classic.

The movie tells a fairly simple tale at heart. A group of five teenagers driving through rural Texas happen upon a deranged, cannibalistic family. Psychological terror and chainsaws ensue.

Yet despite this simplicity, what is it about `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' that continues to succeed so with its audience? Outside of one memorial scene involving a meet hook; the movie is not particularly gory by today's standards. The film's characters and actual scares are not that remarkable.

The power of `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' lies in its atmosphere and in what H.P. Lovecraft called `the oldest and strongest kind of fear': the fear of the unknown. The later of these two staples of great horror is often cast aside in modern horror movies-especially in those churned out by the great Hollywood engine. Instead, every mystery must be explained away, every mask ultimately pulled from a monster's face, and not a moment of exposition is spared. It is interesting to note that the filmmakers behind the latest `Chainsaw' film chose to implement all three of these stylistic vices in their remake.

In the original, the feeling of dread and mounting paranoia creeps over the viewer in slow but steady waves. The first scene in the film depicts a desecrated grave with a voiceover of radio newscast, immediately followed by an opening credits sequence set against a backdrop of roaring solar flares. This, along with some idle astrological chatter on the part of one of the teenagers early on, leads to a feeling of cosmic disarray in the lonely Texas hills they traverse.

Questions about the villain's mask or the field of cars under camouflage netting are left for the viewer to answer on his or her own. At worst, in the loss of any acceptable answer, they are forced to ponder that terrible and limitless gulf of the imagination: the unknown.

In it's later stages, the film becomes a cacophonous world of throat-peeling screaming, blood-shot eyes, laughter, and grinding machinery. One is forced to recall the solar flares in the film's opening credits. In the climax of famous dinner scene, there is a feeling of cosmic forces pressing in on reality and warping it into some crude mockery of order, as if the world were but a TV or radio signal distorted into madness by flares on the surface of the sun.

In the 29 years since `The Texas chainsaw Massacre' hit theaters, there have been countless imitators and four additional films in the franchise, three of them remakes. Yet as loved and influential as the original classic has been, many who would seek to emulate its vision seem to overlook its true strengths.

Pure, uncompromised horror! A modern classic which still confronts, disturbs and terrifies audiences worldwide.

[Infofreak · 21 April 2003]

Tobe Hopper's 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' is a landmark low budget horror movie which must be considered a modern classic. Hooper's subsequent career has ben extremely uneven, and frequently disappointing, but even if he never made another movie he would still be a legendary figure. As would Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and his twisted family played by Edwin Neal and Jim Siedow, and immortal scream queen Marilyn Burns. These actors never have to set in front of a camera again, they'll never be forgotten by horror buffs worldwide! In this day and age of cynically conceived and marketed MTV-friendly teen slashers it's a revelation to see old school horror classics like this, Romero's 'Night Of The Living Dead' and Craven's 'Last House On The Left'. Uncompromising movies, pure horror that makes no attempt to water themselves down and court a mainstream audience. This movie was one of the most controversial of the 1970s, censored or banned here in Australia, and in Britain, and despite the hundreds of horror movies released since, it is still powerful and fresh. There is an undercurrent of bizarre black humour underneath the film, a lot subtler than the sequel and other more obvious "horror comedies". The terror isn't compromised, the uneasy giggles make the extreme images even more difficult to dismiss. The cast, all unknowns at the time, and from what we know know paid diddley squat, are all pretty good, especially Marilyn Burns (who Hooper used in his underrated 'Eaten Alive' and who also appeared in the Charles Manson TV biopic 'Helter Skelter'), and whiny paraplegic Paul A. Partain (who went on to bit parts in 70s Drive-In faves 'Race With The Devil' and 'Rolling Thunder' and very little else). One would have thought both would have went on to bigger things watching their performances in this movie but sadly it wasn't meant to be. Gunnar Hansen is absolutely extraordinary as Leatherface. An amazing performance with his features obscured and no real dialogue to speak of. I don't think it's an exaggeration to compare it to Boris Karloff in the original 'Frankenstein'. Leatherface is a horror icon, and 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' is a landmark movie that remains essential viewing for every horror buff. It's a sensational movie that still has the power to confront, disturb and terrify audiences worldwide!

Indisbutably a classic of cinema, and not just horror cinema

[tatra-man · 10/10 · 16 January 2006]

Those who have posted here comparing Tobe Hooper's (one and only) masterpiece with the dreadful remake are presumably young children with no real understanding of cinema. The 1974 film is the antithesis of the slick, MTV-influenced, cynical cash-in mentality that informed the later remake. The fact that the remake's target teen audience (well, at least some of them) appeared to lap it up is just a sad reflection of how far standards have fallen since the heyday of the horror film in the 70's.

But Hooper's CHAINSAW is more than just a classic horror film. With its print in the permanent collection at the NY Museum of Modern Art, it truly is a classic of cinema. I've shown this to Bergman fans, Tarkovsky fans and, yes, horror fans too - none of them have been prepared for its power, its inventiveness, its willingness to push the envelope of what cinema can do. And, with its simple story and powerhouse, unstoppable delivery, it is as open to interpretation as any piece of "modern art" - whether it be from the "vegetarian treatise" angle, or the post-Vietnam traumatised America school of thought. But, as I was on my first (of several) viewings, those I have introduced to this movie have been bowled over by the quality of the film-making, and the filmic techniques (soundtrack, editing, startling images) used by Hooper to capture his "waking nightmare" on screen. It is something I really don't think any other film has quite achieved, though many have tried.

Now, of course, there is a fluke element at work here. Hooper never came close to achieving anything like this again, and many, though not all, of the film's fascinating resonances are a product of the era and the filmmaker's unconscious sensibilities. What he obviously had as a director was the kind of daring to take the visceral power that cinema can deliver so well to the limit, to the the edge of acceptability, skirting on exploitation. That the film is so unrelentingly dark and so unbelievably sadistic in its second half, and yet fascinates even as it traumatises, is a definite testimony to the skill of its director. What could have been sleaze is instead a horrible nightmare experience, sure enough, but one that borders on the transcendental. Should be seen by ALL students of cinema at least once in their lifetime.

Good, albeit overrated

[theshadow908 · 6/10 · 7 August 2006]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre tells the story of five friends that are driving across Texas on a road trip. When they stop to visit an old house where two of them, a girl and her brother, grew up, their day goes horribly wrong. All of them are quickly dispatched by a chainsaw wielding maniac, and the last survivor is taken hostage by the maniac's family of cannibals. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a the "classic" that started the slasher genre, but it is overrated.

I have infinite respect for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, because it is a cheesy low budget film that director Tobe Hooper had to struggle to make, dealing with the hot Texas sun and his low budget, and yet he was able to churn out a cult classic that is still loved today. What I like about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is that it paints a very disturbing picture. It's not the bubblegum horror movie you'd see nowadays. It's psychologically disturbing. It blasts your senses with sights and sounds you'll find very disturbing a graphic. The chilling score is made up of various sounds you'll hear in a slaughter house. The whole movie is very claustrophobic, with the camera getting super close-ups of the victim's eye, and the camera cutting to random, disturbing images in the middle of a scene. The movie is very disturbing that way.

What I don't like is the way the plot pans out. It is far too simplistic. The people who are killed die too soon into the film, and it all happens too fast. The last half hour or so of the movie is the last survivor screaming non-stop, and it gets annoying. I also didn't like how certain scenes are so dark you can't even see them. This may have been done for effect, but it only ruined the experience for me. Obviously the acting isn't even close to good, but what can you expect from a low budget 70's horror.

Overall, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an okay movie to watch, and it deserves respect, but I just don't think it's the cinematic masterpiece everyone says it is.

6.5/10

THE masterclass in low-budget horror

[Rathko · 9/10 · 22 December 2004]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre can, and will, be reinterpreted by critics and theorists for decades to come. It was shot in the summer of 1973, during the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the Munich Olympics massacre, at the height of the Watergate scandal and the legal investigation into the shootings at Kent State. It was an era of plane hijackings, government oppression and dishonesty, racial conflict, terrorism and revolution. As a mirror of a dark period in American history, Chain Saw remains one of the best evocations yet of the era, as a group of young individuals, returning to the nostalgic home of their childhood, stumble into the raw and irrational cruelty of the modern world.

The movie has a weak, though functional storyline, one that has since became the staple for slasher movies; a group of teenagers get lost, stumble across evil and get stalked and killed. But Chain Saw isn't about storyline and plot; it's about creating an experience, a sensory overload. The cast and crew work tirelessly to create scenes and images that are raw and powerful and ultimately, against all expectations, beautiful. Leatherface's travesty of motherly domesticity as he prepares dinner, his child-like dance in the dawn light, the open door at the gas station, the van making it's slow turn off the road towards the derelict and ivy clad Hardesty residence are all images that burn themselves into your consciousness after just a single viewing.

The cinematography is exceptional. Watching the Special Edition, you'd never know that this was shot on 16mm in poor light. The picture quality is outstanding, the colors rich and vibrant, the blacks inky and menacing. The brilliant azure skies, the jade green of the grass, the bright red generator, the searing sunlight and stifling shadows. Every frame seems saturated in nicotine gold. Beautiful.

Though not always likable, the actors are always believable. Performances are universally startling, but special mention has to go to Marilyn Burns. Though she has little more to work with than the clichéd screaming heroine, she works it with remarkable conviction. It was a traumatic shoot, and it shows. Few actresses have so effectively conveyed mind-numbing terror.

The soundtrack is exceptional and deserves more recognition. It is a great testimony to the experimentation and risk taking attitude of the era that all melody is destroyed under an industrial ambient soundscape of metallic clangs, scrapes and screams, evoking the atmosphere of the local slaughterhouse and the Family's state of mind. Terrifying.

Despite the complete lack of gore or extreme physical violence, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre continues to horrify and holds up the countless, shot-on-video, slasher clones of subsequent years for the puerile crap that they truly are. Whether by accident or design, this one is a classic.

9 out of 10

A group of youngsters stumble across a psycho family who carries out a brutal and homicidal slaughter

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 8 February 2015]

Classic Terror Hooper film in low budget and lots of violence and gore . An idyllic journey in southern Texas driving a van by a group of young people becomes a nightmare when they pick up a young man . A disgrace is committed and ignoring all the warnings they are looking for a shelter in remote farmland . Later, they wind up in the nightmare clutches of a psychopathic family who kill and eat passing travellers ; finally are relentlessly pursued by maniac Leatherface wielding a chainsaw. As the youngsters are dispatched unceremoniously and mercilessly .

This noisy as well as visceral film contains images of graphic violence and may not be suitable for all audiences , viewer discretion is advised. The movie contains a pernicious as well as strong stuff . It packs grisly horror, tension, mayhem, horrible gore and lots of blood and guts. Washed-out as well as granulated cinematography and the camera often assumes a pointedly aggressive stance . Screeching and eerie musical score by means of strange and offbeat sounds . The creepy screenplay by Tobe Hooper and short production proceed a bestial and savage picture plenty of chainsaws , meat-hooks and many other things . The motion picture was well directed by Tobe Hooper.

The film is based on real events about the secluded farmhouse of Plainfield (Wisconsin)handyman Ed Gein ,( Leatherface character) who admitted today he disembowelled and butchered the body of old widow, authorities found the decapitated boy hanging in Gein's woodshed, gutted out and strung up by the heels. Investigators have also discovered the head and face of 54 years old woman. Portions of the bodies of ten or more people had also been found among the body parts, human skulls, furniture made of human skill, box full of noses, skin from a human head, a belt made of female nipples, one small skull believed to be that of a six-year-old child. Authorities suspected cannibalism. The Ed Gein grisly killings made horrendously startling to people. The Geins lived a fairly good distance away from Plainfield little town. When we look at Gein's life , we just have this sense of incredible isolation from any human contact, except with his crazy mother. He grew up in a household with an alcoholic and abusive father and a mother who was very domineering. She was a fanatic and did not let Ed or his brother to have much to do with the outside world, because there were sinners out there.The mother denied them any meaningful relationship with the outside world and particularly with women . So Gein grew up with this very powerful ambivalence towards his mother and he developed this resentment and hatred . Gein was looked at as the nerdy kid that his contemporaries would poke fun at, which also tended to confirm for him a lot of his mother's paranoia. Gein's house really was a symbolic representation of what was going on his head. He kept many dentures and human bodies around.Firsly, he started robbing graves. Gein said that he had begun to do this a few years after his mother's death. He almost seemed to take a glee in creating novel artifacts out dead bodies, and various human handiwork .He would make bells made out of nipples and used human shinbones to prop up a coffee table, plus took the tops of skulls and inverted them and used them four soup bowls and upholstered a chair in human skin. Like the film, he cut the faces of corpses and used them as masks and flayed the top of the torso of one of his victims and also created some leggings. After he began to sew together these parts of skin from various corpses, events correctly reflected on this creepy movie.

It's followed by various sequels such as ¨The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2¨ (1986) by Tobe Hooper with Dennis Hopper , Caroline Williams , Bill Moseley,¨Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III¨ (1990) by Jeff Burr with Kate Hodge , Ken Foree , Viggo Mortensen , Tom Everett ; ¨The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre¨(1994) by Kim Henkel with Renée Zellweger ,Matthew McConaughey , Robert Jacks as Leatherface . It is also followed by a remake (2003) produced by Joel Silver and directed by Marcus Nispel -with screenplay and production by Tobe Hooper , also author of original script- Jessica Biel,Eric Balfour,Jonathan Tucker,Mike Vogel,Erica Leerhsen and a prequel titled ¨The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning¨ (2006) by Jonathan Liebesman with Jordana Brewster , Taylor Handley , Diora Baird , Matt Bomer and R. Lee Ermey . And finally ¨Texas Chainsaw 3D¨(2013) by John Luessenhop with Alexandra Daddario , Dan Yeager as Leatherface , Trey Songz , Scott Eastwood and Richard Rhiele .

Surprisingly tame, considering its reputation

[cricketbat · 6/10 · 9 October 2020]

Despite its reputation, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is surprisingly tame. There's no sex, no nudity, no F-words, and most of the violence takes place offscreen. Even the cannibalism is merely implied instead of shown. But this movie is also pretty slow. They drag out almost every scene to pad the run time and still barely reach 83 minutes. However, when the engine finally gets running, there's no denying that this is a creepy, creepy movie.

The Best Horror Film

[jesusatan2001 · 10/10 · 28 October 2003]

The (original) Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is without a doubt in my mind, the most impressive horror film to date. No other horror film stays with you in the same way. You feel not only fearful for the characters, but at times feel afraid for your own safety. The natural lighting and loose, improvised acting style creates a strong sense of reality that no other horror film can possibly achieve. Under a thin layer of dated aesthetics (1973 style of dress) lies the most dangerous, horrifying and psychotic world ever committed to script or screen. As the first of its kind, this movie set the mold for the modern horror film, though none were ever to realize any comparable distinction. It gave birth to the "slasher" genre (for better or for worse) . It is also one of few timeless films that has managed to combine horror and avant-garde styles, successfully. Unlike its remake, this one is more of an exercise in minimalism and simplicity (think even Dogme). The expert subtlety of the filmmakers; Tobe Hooper (writer/director), Kim Henkel (co-writer) and Daniel Pearl (cinematographer) results more in

psychological terror than in gore. The air-tight script, jarring realism and attention to detail are unparalleled in practically any film, horror or otherwise. And last, but by far not the least Marylin Burns PHENOMENAL performance is the only in cinematic history (a close second by that of Shelly Duvall in The Shining) that evokes such a nature of desperate and primal fear. You truly believe in every single one of her screams that her life is hanging by a single, thin thread.

The one... the only... The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!

[mister_pig · 10/10 · 16 May 2003]

Let me begin by saying that there are precious few movies that can actually scare the crap out of you, and this is one of them. The tension that this movie generates is overwhelming at times, and if you watch it with someone who's never seen it before, be sure to keep your eye on them. You'll probably notice a look of disbelief on their unsuspecting face.

Anyone who doesn't like being scared will end up being unable to finish this movie. People who have a taste for the brutally bizarre will probably hit play again after the credits roll. In light of all this, I must also say that in some respects, TCM's bark is much worse than it's bite. Being banned in so many countries for so long, and having a title that includes the phrase 'Chainsaw Massacre', has seemingly led many people to believe that there is an undue amount of gore in it. However, there simply isn't. Gore is not where the scares are in this one. The scares come from the absolutely brutal and bizarre scenarios that befall poor Sally Hardesty.

In closing, I'd also like to go out on a limb and make the following grandiose statement: TCM is the greatest horror film of all time! Not bad for Tobe Hoopers' first effort.

Monumental to the genre of horror!

[kslitculture · 7/10 · 11 June 2023]

Before watching this film, I always thought that going on a road trip on back country roads with friends would be freaking awesome! This is no longer the case. Sally, Jerry, Kirk, Pam, and my personal favorite Franklin, all enjoying each other's company, were completely unaware of the chaos that was about to unfold and impact their lives forever.

Sweat, Screams, and Strangers with Saws can best sum up the events that take place after the group reaches a consensus to let a blade crazed hitchhiker join the party. One by one, the group of friends branch off encountering the evil that is the Sawyer Family. It's safe to say that bad decisions can lead to some unruly consequences. What a spectacle this movie is!

The single best and scariest horror film EVER!!!

[thelegendarywd · 10/10 · 23 June 2003]

A group of teenagers on a road trip... OH BOY!!! HERE WE GO AGAIN... the typical horror movie set up. But wait.... something sets this one apart... IT'S SCARY... to be more precise, IT'S TERRIFYING!!! And I'm not just talking about the horrible 70's clothing and hairstyles. This film is one of the very few films I consider scary. Let me list a few reasons:

1) The gritty documentary feel the film has.

2) The excellent performances by Edwin Neil (the Hitch-Hiker), Jim Seidow (The Old Man), and Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface) as the psychos (in a film this low budget and grainy, performances this real feel all the more scary) and Marilyn Burns (Sally) and Paul A. Partain (Franklin) as the victims (we truly believe and feel their fear).

3)The atmosphere (the skeleton bone art... the freaky metal door in the farmhouse... Leatherface's mask and demeanor... even the way the sun sets in this film is spooky along with the sound of the farmhouse generator).

4)Relentless Horror (Leatherface RUNS not speedwalks after his victims with a live chainsaw... there's no time to trip and fall or your booty is chainsaw bait)

5)The ability the film has to scare you with almost a complete lack of gore (the only "gory" scene is when Leatherface accidently cuts his thigh with the chainsaw). The scares lie within the performances and atmosphere and pacing.

In closing... this is truly the greatest horror film (and one of the greatest films period) ever made. 15 out of 10!!!

Classic horror...

[Thanos_Alfie · 7/10 · 3 February 2022]

"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is a Horror movie in which we watch a group of friends going to Texas. On their way there they find and stop to a deserted house only to find out that something is there.

I liked this movie because it had an interesting plot and plenty of suspense something that captured the audience throughout the whole duration of the movie. The direction which was made by Tobe Hooper was good and he presented very well both his main characters and the plot. In addition to this, he succeeded on creating a bond between his main characters and the audience, something that made possible for the audience to follow and relate to his main characters. To sum up, I have to say that "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is a nice horror movie and I highly recommend it to everyone.

A terrifying n exhausting nightmare.

[Fella_shibby · 9/10 · 3 July 2017]

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs n found it to be very very disturbing.

Revisited it recently on a dvd which I own.

This film is very terrifying n intense.

What a terrific achievement inspite of the tiny budget.

It has amazing direction n top not cinematography. The dreadful, creepy n isolated atmosphere added more intensity.

The opening statement and the way it is handled, all gav this movie a documentary feel n made it more terrifying.

The whole film has this dark n isolated look but the best part is nothing is shot in dim light or shaky cam or with flickering lights stuff.

Screaming from Marilyn Burns got on my nerves at times. Her constant jumping from the windows n repeated screaming n the trauma she goes thru made the movie more emotionally scary.

Some may find the dinner scene to b the most iconic n terrifying coz it gives the entire idea but i found the scene wher Leatherface keeps chasing the victim with a chainsaw to be pure nightmare n pure terrifying n intense stuff.

Also the scene wher Leatherface maniacally dances with his chainsaw is downright creepy.

The first kill is the most brutal n shocking. Ther is no gore or violence portrayed but jus the impact of the scene is brutal. The swing of the hammer and the way the victim falls to the ground and starts shaking, is just plain brutal n unbearable to watch.

'Cutting Edge' horror

[captain_bungle · 10/10 · 14 April 2005]

I was 11 years old. I'd given an older kid 50p to borrow his copy of Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I took it home and put it in the top-loader. It took me a fair while to press down on that chunky silver 'play' button, recollecting the stories I'd heard about the film. Rumours were flying around the school - the filmmakers had gone mad whilst making the film and killed each other - Leatherface was real - it was a documentary and the killings are all real. Chain Saw was a snuff movie. So, I pressed down the hefty button and braced myself for what was to come, eyes peeled, resisting the need to look away as if I were looking at a traffic accident. When the film was over I felt disturbed. I hadn't witnessed real human killings, I hadn't just seen a snuff movie, but Chain Saw had reached deep down inside of me and planted a seed of unease, I felt cold to my very core but I didn't know why. As the years passed my recollections of the film became more and more distorted. Most notably my memories of the killings within the film - bloody, gore-filled scenes. Blood. Lots of blood.

The reason I have rambled on about these events is that, until re-watching the film, I appeared to share the same memories as those that had seen it around the same time as me. This is a testament to Chain Saw's masterful construction, a film powered by the age-old technique of suggestion. There is hardly a drop of blood shown within the film, yet people will remember it in bucket-loads. In fact, director Tobe Hooper only shows us what is necessary, maybe because of the low budget he was working with (Hooper's later output would suggest this), but it forced creativity from the filmmaker that is sadly lacking in his other work (Poltergeist may be an exception, but Hooper's direction was steered by Spielberg on that one).

Okay, the story: A mini-bus carrying five teenagers drives through Texas. Pre-emptively they drive past a slaughterhouse as cows await their death. The tone, and their fate, is set, and it is only a matter of time before the teenagers will become meat to a local cannibal family. Their ordeal begins when they enter a sinister old house (don't they always?) and start to snoop around. Before you know it one of the teens, who you're expecting to be the lead, is struck over the head with a mallet by Leatherface (Gunar Hansen), an obese retard with a skin mask. As he falls to the floor, his body twitching, Leatherface closes a sliding metal door and finishes the job where we cannot see it. From here on in it's basically a matter of picking off teens one by one with the use of the mallet, a meat hook and, of course, the chain saw.

What is essentially a by-the-numbers plot is raised above par by the style and atmosphere of the film. From bizarre shots of solar flares to the hot, sun soaked imagery of Texas, Chain Saw seems to be sweating horror out of every pore. The locations are macabre beyond belief, in particular a room with hanging animal bones and bone constructed furniture, and the whole film has a hot, musty orange glow about it that almost makes you smell the dead human meat in the cannibal house.

The performances are relatively functionary from the cast, although Marilyn Burns puts in a good turn as the tortured 'final girl', making us feel that her life is truly at risk. Even though all she does is scream and plead for her life, she does so with such energy and realism that it is difficult to watch her. Most disturbing of all is a scene where the grandfather of the family, a man so old he can barely move, is given a hammer to deliver a deathblow to her head. The family holds her over a bucket as the old man raises the hammer to strike her, but he is barely able to hold it, let alone hit her with it.

Chain Saw is full of images that will horrify and disturb, but unlike many other films that do the same, Chain Saw will leave you breathless with its unrelenting assault on the senses; from the images on display to the ear-shattering sound design that allows Leatherface's saw to intrude your living room and slice at your nerves. Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of those few horror films that will unnerve you to a degree of unrest because it hits home where it hurts. Its savage, raw power and its total lack of reason give the impression you are watching something you shouldn't be. A bit like the traffic accident I mentioned earlier. In fact, you never really have time to think about what you are seeing until after the film has ended, which leaves an indelible image of a skin-masked madman waving a chain saw around his head in anger.

So, if you watched Chain Saw a good few years ago and remember it being a standard slasher flick with lots of gore, revisit it and see just how effective suggestion can be. If you've never seen it - what are you waiting for? This is low-budget film-making at its best and a lot can be gained from repeat viewings. If you can watch it more than once that is

A very disturbing and distressing classic

[Ansango · 7/10 · 22 June 2023]

Immaculate camerawork, brilliant editing and an effective score gives this film a very unnerving atmosphere which almost feels like a post-apocalyptic scenario. This is a very uncomfortable film to watch, especially the scene where the whole family tortures Sally is eerily harrowing and distressing.

The writing is very subpar though and the acting is mostly bad. The characters are your very typical dumb and horny teenagers, and there is no extra detailing done on that. Hence they feel like your run-of-the-mill disposable with the depth of a flat chessboard. There is also a very ridiculous chase scene between Sally and Leatherface that is more comical than creepy.

Although the mysterious origin of Leatherface is expertly done without spoiling any of his mystique with a cheap backstory. Since I am not going to watch any of the poor retellings or sequels of this film, for me the enigma of his character will remain intact. The off-screen violence which is heavily implied to be disturbingly chilling is incredibly powerful in its intention as well as execution.

Overall, it's a good film, ofcourse with a lot of flaws.

Steer clear of remakes and sequels

[DirkDiamond · 8/10 · 3 August 2022]

I remember first hating this movie, not because I found it scary, it is, though not in a jump scare kind of way, but on the back of it first being released on DVD, in the UK, and all the attention it was getting. So, I bought a copy, decided I didn't like it, returned it, and when asked for a reason I reported that the 5 star reviews on the cover, and those pointed to within the store, were wholly inaccurate - I'm amazed I managed to get a refund for that. Anyway, I was 20 years old back then, 42 now, and find myself able to appreciate it much much more.

All the really good stuff in this movie sits within the last 20 mins or so, and is really quite masterful. There is some good amount of build up to that, including Leatherface's first moments of hack and slash, but all the serious tension and horror comes at the very end, and is really effective. What's interesting about it, is that there isn't an enormous amount of character development, which I suppose also serves to make the travellers in this case more disposable, the focus being much more front and centre on the horror being experienced. It seems somewhat more visceral, with the victim's having had very little character development, in the build up, which seems to bring it more closely to you. Hope that makes sense in some way.

Anyway, well worth your time!

Absolute masterpiece

[crawlthebug · 10/10 · 25 January 2022]

This film is ripe with ideas and concepts. The pacing is amazing and the story is phenomenal. The doc style aesthetic is pure bliss and the terror true. If you haven't seen this, Watch it today.

This is what inspired horror? Jheez...

[mtrburrows · 7/10 · 11 September 2018]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a boring, padded out film with a few good moments sprinkled throughout that are worthy of the "inspirational" title the movie gets. The characters are annoying, unlikeable and underdeveloped, and their deaths aren't all that satisfying either (apart from one or two...one reallllllllly isn't bad at all and is one of the best kills in slasher films). The villains are a cool concept but in the end I couldn't tell you how many they are, what their names are (apart from the obvious leatherface) or what made them different. Sequences are often drawn out and repetitive (seriously, there's a moment where someone escapes by throwing themselves out a window TWICE), and overall I wouldn't say this film is worth its classic status. By far not the worst horror film I've ever seen, but definitely not one of the best. Watch it with a group of friends and that's the most enjoyment you'll get out of it.

Still Scary

[AngelHonesty · 9/10 · 29 December 2019]

This movie truly is one of the greats! Even with its age, it still manages to be one of the most scariest movies ever made. The filming, writing, and acting is a masterpiece. Highly recommend this movie if you are an avid horror lover. This is a classic must see!

The OG

[xoveir · 6/10 · 10 July 2022]

I always loved Toby hoopers original. I never liked it's really slow start and minimal gore but this movie set the bar for all the bad sequel's. That legendary jumpscare in the woods, hammer to the head, original sawyer family all made this film so golden. Never rusts on the shelf and still holds up.

Albeit flawed, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre retains its classic status as a chaotic and enthralling slasher.

[joma1539 · 7/10 · 6 January 2021]

Behind the backdrop, this movie is as messy as the intended atmosphere. Characters as flat as the chainsaw that takes them, and an unmastered structure leaves this feeling imperfect like it was stitched together by Leatherface himself. And yet this only exhilarates the viewing experience, as it builds to some of the most stressfully tense moments I've endured in a film of its time. It all clicks and Its "lightning in a bottle" magic is captured when the chainsaw roars inches away from you, with nothing but moonlight and miserable countryside to work your way through. The sporadic, unhinged madness that comes from the experimental editing, sound effects, and camerawork breathes life into the dry and dreadful setting and shines in the most hideous of ways. At times it hits the wrong notes, but the more I rethink it, it was the offkey notes and the loose stitches that wrapped this film together in the best way

7/10

Real, Raw Horror

[kylej2000 · 10/10 · 19 August 2023]

The beautifully shot cinematography juxtaposed with the raw, brutal acts onscreen provides an uneasiness that is unmatched by any other film.

Marilyn Burns' extraordinary performance added a realism that couldn't help but leave the viewer with a strong attachment of what the character was feeling.

One of the best horror films ever made. It feels timeless and even modern in parts. It's crazy to think this movie is from 1974. In many ways, this film pioneered what the modern horror movie would become.

I wish every horror movie had even an ounce of the emotion and realism that was shown in this film.

One of the worst and most annoying movies I've ever seen

[miami1925 · 1/10 · 23 October 2019]

I'm a huge horror fan, and as such I feel very strange that this movie is so revered and well-oiled, because, other than being one of the first slasher movies, I can't find anything remotely redeemable about this film. The first half is so boring that I had to force myself to pay attention, and the second half is a noise filled, annoying mess.

The only frightening part of this movie was when I realized I still had another shrieking, Benny Hill chasing 30 minutes left. I'm still in shock over just how bad this movie was given the amount of praise there is for it.

In short: "AHHHHHHH!" *chainsaw revving* *slow jogging through the bushes* "AHHHHHHHHH!"