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Brief review:The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is, in my opinion, one of the very few actually scary horror films. Many films offer “jump scares,” but something about this one has stuck with me since I first saw it. I’m not sure if it’s the grittiness of the film itself (even cleaned up for DVD, it looks like a 1970s home movie, which is cool), the believable fear experienced by “Sally, the documentary-like feel of the film, the innate scariness of chainsaws, the fact that the film “feels” gory (even though there’s surprisingly little onscreen gore), or the fact that I’m from Texas and enjoy taking road trips. Regardless, it’s a good one. As far as the actual film goes, the story is pretty simple and has been copied repeatedly (sometimes effectively and other times not so much), so it’s effective. The marketing materials for the film claimed that “what happened is true,” though that’s a bit of a stretch. It’s loosely based on the true story of Ed Gein, who didn’t live in Texas and didn’t use a chainsaw (he did, however, also inspire The Silence of the Lambs and Psycho). Regardless, making that claim has added to the staying power of this film in the 36 years since its release. Leatherface has become a horror icon, though I think the rest of the family are actually scarier in this movie. Speaking of marketing materials, when I was a kid I used to be scared of the cover art in the “horror” aisle at the video store (though I always seemed to end up there, scaring myself). I didn’t see the movies, just the covers. The box for this (as well as the one for TCM 2) was particularly frightening to me, not sure why. [Aside: It’s interesting that the words “chainsaw” and “chain saw” are both used on posters for this film. In all of the sequels and the remake, it’s “chainsaw,” but in the opening titles of the original, it’s “chain saw.”] I recommend this to anyone who hasn’t seen it (it really is good - it’s in MOMA’s permanent collection) and to anyone looking to cut back on their barbecue consumption.
Bonus: Here’s the trailer. I haven’t included the trailer for any other film this month (maybe next year?), but this is a really good one that should help illustrate the “grittiness” I mentioned.
And here’s the trailer for Leatherface: The Texas Chainaw Massacre III. I’m including this because it’s awesome (the movie itself is all right).
![October Horror Films 2010 | Day 29 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper; Vortex 1974)
Brief review: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is, in my opinion, one of the very few actually scary horror films. Many films offer “jump scares,” but something about this one has stuck with me since I first saw it. I’m not sure if it’s the grittiness of the film itself (even cleaned up for DVD, it looks like a 1970s home movie, which is cool), the believable fear experienced by “Sally, the documentary-like feel of the film, the innate scariness of chainsaws, the fact that the film “feels” gory (even though there’s surprisingly little onscreen gore), or the fact that I’m from Texas and enjoy taking road trips. Regardless, it’s a good one. As far as the actual film goes, the story is pretty simple and has been copied repeatedly (sometimes effectively and other times not so much), so it’s effective. The marketing materials for the film claimed that “what happened is true,” though that’s a bit of a stretch. It’s loosely based on the true story of Ed Gein, who didn’t live in Texas and didn’t use a chainsaw (he did, however, also inspire The Silence of the Lambs and Psycho). Regardless, making that claim has added to the staying power of this film in the 36 years since its release. Leatherface has become a horror icon, though I think the rest of the family are actually scarier in this movie. Speaking of marketing materials, when I was a kid I used to be scared of the cover art in the “horror” aisle at the video store (though I always seemed to end up there, scaring myself). I didn’t see the movies, just the covers. The box for this (as well as the one for TCM 2) was particularly frightening to me, not sure why. [Aside: It’s interesting that the words “chainsaw” and “chain saw” are both used on posters for this film. In all of the sequels and the remake, it’s “chainsaw,” but in the opening titles of the original, it’s “chain saw.”] I recommend this to anyone who hasn’t seen it (it really is good - it’s in MOMA’s permanent collection) and to anyone looking to cut back on their barbecue consumption.
Bonus: Here’s the trailer. I haven’t included the trailer for any other film this month (maybe next year?), but this is a really good one that should help illustrate the “grittiness” I mentioned.
And here’s the trailer for Leatherface: The Texas Chainaw Massacre III. I’m including this because it’s awesome (the movie itself is all right).](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lb43aemT3r1qbby7no1_500.jpg)
