THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
There are stories that are better left unsaid, but then there’s some that have to be shared, or it will never believed in.
PLOT
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre takes place in 8/18/1973, following Sally Hardesty take a road trip to Texas to visit the grave site of her grandfather, worried of it being vandalized. Those that go with her are: Her brother Franklin, her boyfriend Jerry (Allen Danzinger), her best friend Pam (Teri McMinn) and her own boyfriend Kirk (William Vail). When they discover that the grave is intact, they ultimately agree to visit the abandoned family homestead. On the way there, they encounter a hitchhiker who acts odd around them when they give him a ride. He sets a photo on fire and cuts his own hand with Franklin's pocket knife, but gets kicked off when cutting Franklin's arm as well. Once he is kicked off the van, he smears his blood on it as they drive off. They do attempt to fill the vehicle with gas, but an older man in charge claims that the tanks are all empty and is waiting for the gas tanker to show up. Rather than waiting at the station, the group arrives at the abandoned homestead instead. Franklin is the only one to not enjoy himself as he is wheelchair bound and is unable to go up the stairs. Pam and Kirk take off to a swimming hole, but encounter a large farm house instead. When Kirk enters the house, he gets attacked a taller masked man with a sledgehammer. When Pam goes in to check on him, she is captured by the man as well and gets hanged on a meat hook through her back. As she is hung from the hook, she is forced to watch her boyfriend get dismembered with a chainsaw. When Jerry goes searching for them, he finds the farm house as well. And when he enters the kitchen, he does find Pam in a freezer, only to get hit in the head with a sledgehammer as well by the masked man. By nightfall, Sally and Franklin then decide to find them all. As they get closer to the farm house, the masked man approaches them and kills Franklin by ramming a chainsaw through his chest. With Sally on her own, she finds her way back to the gas station, only to be attacked by the old man in charge. He takes her back to his home which happens to be the farm house, proving he is related to the hitchhiker and masked man by blood. The latter is nicknamed 'Leatherface' as his masks originate from human faces. They all torment her for the rest of the night forcing her to sit while they eat a meal made of human flesh. When they bring their dessicated grandfather downstairs, they cut her fingers for him to suck her blood. They try to have him kill her with a sledgehammer, only to land feeble hits. When the hitchhiker tries to finish her off, Sally breaks free at the break of dawn. The hitchhiker and Leatherface chase her down with their weapons of choice. The hitchhiker briefly catches her, only to be ran over by a semi truck. When the driver pulls over, Leatherface attacks the truck, but he defends himself by tossing a wrench at him. It does hit him in the head successfully and when he falls down, he accidentally cuts his leg with the chainsaw. While the driver flees in another direction, the film ends with Sally escaping in the back of a passing pickup truck as Leatherface flails his chainsaw in anger and defeat.
THOUGHTS
Every time I watch a horror film, whatever year it came from, I always make the assumption that I've every seen every kind. Well this film told me otherwise. Director Tobe Hooper and co writer Kim Henkel put viewers in the most claustrophobic experience you can get for this genre. It is so disgusting and nasty, in an interesting way that it makes you change the way you think of movies. It's the kind of movie where you expect the worst and you absolutely get it, which is why it remained horrifying for generations. The way you only see the violence through implication makes the viewing experience more dreaded because it tells us how our minds can go through dark places. And throughout this film, you just feel this sense of rebellion because you know it doesn't feel right, which is what helps it become effective in creating fear. If you can be that creative for this genre, then you really have taken cinema to a whole other level. This film qualifies as a slasher film because there is one character that makes the film unforgettable, that is Leatherface himself. Inspired by Ed Gein, this is one of those characters that can never escape your mind because that is how horrifying he leaves his mark on you. He wears the faces of others because he is ashamed of his own looks, making the masks a part of him that’ll never disappear. The second you see him with the chainsaw, you know carnage is about to be unleashed. When he swings it in the air during the final shot, there is nothing but goosebumps every time I see it because I panic thinking he’s gonna drop it and hit me. Actor Gunnar Hansen succeeded in making him the stuff of nightmares for generations. As if he wasn't enough, the rest of his family ante up the mayhem whenever they can; Edwin Neal and Jim Siedow give their own layers of psychotic in their respected yet demented roles of the Cook and the Hitchhiker. When you have a slasher film, there are innocent victims that you can't help but root for to survive and this film is no exception on that end. Franklin is obviously not the brightest, Paul A Partain reminds viewers that he is someone who is left out despite being invited. He gives a hard time to those around him because he feels that he doesn't belong without even trying like he thinks he is. He comes off annoying, but if you were in his shoes, you would get where the attitude is coming from. Sadly, he dies before he could truly be on the same page with his sister. Speaking of which, the standard horror film survivor is the final girl/scream queen. Enter Marilyn Burns who owns it as Sally. All she wanted was to pay respects to her grandpa and have a pleasant trip down memory lane, only to have the unexpected fight for her life. Every second you hear her screams, you feel the fear she is going through. She may have gotten out alive, but since she kept screaming once saved, that proves that the trauma won't likely go away in a long time. The only two issues I had with this movie were during the chaotic climax. Like how was Leatherface still able to walk when he cut his leg on accident? And why didn't the truck driver just keep driving once he Leatherface come at him with the chainsaw? I don't want to root for the bad guys, but that driver clearly wasn't thinking things through compared to Sally and Leatherface should have been limping from the injury he gave himself. Other than that, it doesn't really take away the terror you've already experienced. In conclusion, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a horror classic for reminding viewers that terror can come from unexpected places. If you get a kick out of slashers, see this soon.
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