The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Review

 

        I will always love the 70s in terms of filmmaking. When watching any movie at that time, there’s a filming aesthetic where it feels real. It’s evident with this film. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre feels like an authentic grindhouse film. I’ll get to the meaning of what a Grindhouse is. I feel that it’s up there with the best horror films in the 1970s, just coming out earlier than Halloween to be considered a slasher horror film.

1. Grindhouse Horror

        I might as well describe what a Grindhouse film is. During the 70s, there was an influx of movies that came out that were low budget. One of the defining aspects of them is that they didn’t need to worry about quality. The technical term associated with them is that they’re exploitation movies. Mostly movies exploiting whatever new film trend is well, brand new. That’s why there were black exploitation films, sex ploitation, and the usual horror where they had buckets of blood and the level of violence that was amped to 11.

        What makes Texas Chainsaw Massacre unique is that it feels like an exploitation, but it has the care and attention of a great movie. When looking at it, it has this antiquated feel to it. Now obviously it’s nearly 50 years old, but just the shots and the locale have that authentic documentary feel to it. More so that it even opens with a title crawl that states that the events did happen. 

        Now I got to say that the movie isn’t based on a true story. However, some aspects of it are based on the infamous serial killer Ed Gein. You can see the connection between the guy and the maniacs in the film.

        Anyways, the film is mostly straightforward. A report comes in that a local cemetery has been desecrated. A group of teens including Franklin and Sally investigate to see if their dead relative’s grave was desecrated. What follows from then on is that they pick up a real sketchy hitchhiker. And then, they visit an old house and explore the property. It’s one thing where the group of guys are warned before hand to not visit, but c’mon, we know exactly what we came to see. 

        Despite having Massacre in the title, there’s not much blood spilled or multiple deaths happening. I feel that it’s refreshing when Leatherface kills the group one by one. We don’t have those camera shots of blood splatter. One specifically just feels graphic, when the girlfriend enters the house, the killer grabs her and hangs her on a hook. It’s effective cause you can feel it and the main point is not directed at the blood, but to the pain. 

2. The real villains

        When you see the movie either by looking at the cover or finding it at a streaming service, you may think that Leatherface is the villain in the film. In reality though, it’s the family of cannibals. I think one character really threw me off since I never thought that he would be that crazy in the get go. Although, now that I think about it, when he offers the group barbecue, Franklin eats it but is really slowly chewing it. 

        I think the real scary thing about the movie is that anyone that is crazy can appear normal. I think that is an underutilized way of making a horror movie. It’s a secret weapon to make up for the fact that there’s no blood. Additionally, we can see that the family has lots of cars in their property from some unfortunate victims. I think the real messed up part is the background to them. Since it’s implied that they worked in the slaughterhouse and that as retribution for being let go, they decide to kill the people that has ruined them.

3. Legacy: Or the progressively terrible sequels and remakes

        The film was a success as an independent film. No distributor wanted to release it just by the name alone. The film had a budget of 140,000 dollars, it made it back by 30 million. A sequel was made years after the fact. Cannon Films brought back Tobe Hooper expecting him to make the same thing. The sequel is a comedy, even the poster mocked The Breakfast Club. To say that it’s a worthy entry in context is tough. While yes, it’s even more bloody, many fans say that it wasn’t what they expected. 

        The succeeding sequels are terrible, even including an unknown Matthew McConaughey who acts like an idiot. Obviously in the 2000s it had to be remade. That was my first exposure, but only watching the ending. And for some inexplicable reason they made a prequel of the remake. Compounding it is that they released a stand-alone film in 3-D. Later they even gave Leatherface an origin story, called Leatherface. Lastly, there’s yet another one coming out sometime next year. Do I think it’ll be good? Nope.

 

4. Overall

        The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a unique balance of a Grindhouse film and a great film. Its lack of blood might be a turn off. Although the side character are enough of a hold over to see just how crazy anyone can be.