Back in the 70s, when movies were hard to make, and when the only slasher movie out there was Psycho, a little known director by the name of Tobe Hooper had a vision. Create a movie that’s very violent and gory, without much violence and gore shown. And so he went to work, creating a movie that me and my friends find to be one of the best slasher movies out there. And that movie happens to be Texas Chainsaw Massacre… The 1974. Not the crappy and gory remake.
The movie follows a woman by the name of Sally, her paraplegic brother Franklin, and their three friends, Jerry, Kirk, and Pam, are on their way to Texas, because they have heard rumors of their grandfather’s grave being vandalized. When they get there, however, they run into a hitchhiker, who attacks them, and they leave. After this, they soon begin to be attacked by a family of crazed killers and cannibals, who plan to murder and eat the crew in their backwoods home in the middle of nowhere. And thus, another of the iconic horror movie slashers is born; Leatherface. But I’ll talk about him later. Right now, let’s talk about the story. I gotta say, the movie really knows how to keep from being cliched. To be fair, the only slasher movie at the time was Psycho, and the movie Black Christmas didn’t come out until a two months later. Texas Chainsaw Massacre kinda created the slasher movie cliches. But, I watched this movie a few times, and I didn’t see any sex, drug use, or survivors making dumb decisions to make them anti-survivors (Unlike a remake that did all of that). So, Texas Chainsaw Massacre really didn’t seem to make much cliches and became one of the first iconic slasher villains ever. Maybe even THE first.
The violence in this movie is also used in a very unique way. The movie is very violent and gory, yet doesn’t show much violence and gore… Let me explain. The movie could be a gorefest (Like the remake), and it would have been. But, instead, most violence is shown in more realistic fashion rather than in over the top violence. That, plus the movies budget was only three hundred thousand. In any other slasher movie, when a character gets hit in the head with a hammer, their brain splatters everywhere, and their head smashes like a pumpkin, blood and brain flying everywhere. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre, when a character get’s hit with a hammer, they bleed from the head, but they start to convulse on the floor, giving a death rattle, as Leatherface drags them behind a door, slamming it shut. That, I think, is way more terrifying than just smashing their head open. Hell, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre barely has any massacres by chainsaw. Just one guy, really. Also, Leatherface slamming the door, making it echo throughout the house, is scarier than any jumpscare ever.
But I know you didn’t come here to hear about the unique story, interesting use of violence, or the lack of overused cliches. No, you and I both know what you came here for. Or rather, who you came here for. Leatherface, the creepy mentally insane killer. Fun fact: I dressed up as Leatherface for Halloween once. Granted, I dressed up as all the slashers, but Leatherface was the first. He was always my favorite serial killer when I was a kid, alongside Freddy and Jason. He is such a scary character. Unlike Jason or Freddy, who are undead killer, Leatherface is just some guy, who happens to have a chainsaw and happens to be a serial killer who hangs people on meathooks and wears the faces of people he’s killed and cooks them for his crazed cannibal family while wearing women’s clothing. I know that he isn’t the most unique serial killer, but he was one of the first who managed to be incredibly scary.
What more could be said about this movie? It’s a timeless classic. It was one of the first and one of the scariest classic slasher movies, and manages to do so much on such a small budget, even getting tons of sequels and even getting to play as Leatherface in the latest Mortal Kombat DLC, which instantly makes the DLC a must have with that in mind. Now we can have the Jason Vs. Leatherface movie no one asked for. If you want to watch a movie that manages to be disturbingly violent rather than over the top violent, than this movie is for you. Just don’t watch the remake. It’s not very good. Take care.
Up next on October Movie Marathon: So that’s where Saint’s Row IV got the reference from.
The movie follows a woman by the name of Sally, her paraplegic brother Franklin, and their three friends, Jerry, Kirk, and Pam, are on their way to Texas, because they have heard rumors of their grandfather’s grave being vandalized. When they get there, however, they run into a hitchhiker, who attacks them, and they leave. After this, they soon begin to be attacked by a family of crazed killers and cannibals, who plan to murder and eat the crew in their backwoods home in the middle of nowhere. And thus, another of the iconic horror movie slashers is born; Leatherface. But I’ll talk about him later. Right now, let’s talk about the story. I gotta say, the movie really knows how to keep from being cliched. To be fair, the only slasher movie at the time was Psycho, and the movie Black Christmas didn’t come out until a two months later. Texas Chainsaw Massacre kinda created the slasher movie cliches. But, I watched this movie a few times, and I didn’t see any sex, drug use, or survivors making dumb decisions to make them anti-survivors (Unlike a remake that did all of that). So, Texas Chainsaw Massacre really didn’t seem to make much cliches and became one of the first iconic slasher villains ever. Maybe even THE first.
The violence in this movie is also used in a very unique way. The movie is very violent and gory, yet doesn’t show much violence and gore… Let me explain. The movie could be a gorefest (Like the remake), and it would have been. But, instead, most violence is shown in more realistic fashion rather than in over the top violence. That, plus the movies budget was only three hundred thousand. In any other slasher movie, when a character gets hit in the head with a hammer, their brain splatters everywhere, and their head smashes like a pumpkin, blood and brain flying everywhere. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre, when a character get’s hit with a hammer, they bleed from the head, but they start to convulse on the floor, giving a death rattle, as Leatherface drags them behind a door, slamming it shut. That, I think, is way more terrifying than just smashing their head open. Hell, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre barely has any massacres by chainsaw. Just one guy, really. Also, Leatherface slamming the door, making it echo throughout the house, is scarier than any jumpscare ever.
But I know you didn’t come here to hear about the unique story, interesting use of violence, or the lack of overused cliches. No, you and I both know what you came here for. Or rather, who you came here for. Leatherface, the creepy mentally insane killer. Fun fact: I dressed up as Leatherface for Halloween once. Granted, I dressed up as all the slashers, but Leatherface was the first. He was always my favorite serial killer when I was a kid, alongside Freddy and Jason. He is such a scary character. Unlike Jason or Freddy, who are undead killer, Leatherface is just some guy, who happens to have a chainsaw and happens to be a serial killer who hangs people on meathooks and wears the faces of people he’s killed and cooks them for his crazed cannibal family while wearing women’s clothing. I know that he isn’t the most unique serial killer, but he was one of the first who managed to be incredibly scary.
What more could be said about this movie? It’s a timeless classic. It was one of the first and one of the scariest classic slasher movies, and manages to do so much on such a small budget, even getting tons of sequels and even getting to play as Leatherface in the latest Mortal Kombat DLC, which instantly makes the DLC a must have with that in mind. Now we can have the Jason Vs. Leatherface movie no one asked for. If you want to watch a movie that manages to be disturbingly violent rather than over the top violent, than this movie is for you. Just don’t watch the remake. It’s not very good. Take care.
Up next on October Movie Marathon: So that’s where Saint’s Row IV got the reference from.