The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Time: 1h 23mins
Director: Tobe Hooper
Quick Summary: Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
An absolute classic in my books. This also brings a new meaning to scream queen with the last half an hour being pure screaming. This isn't scary in the sense of jumpscares or gore, it's scary in how creepy and weird this is. It really didn't hold back.
The set-up could have been more engaging as a few teenagers get lost on a road trip and it takes a while to really get into it, but this isn't about the story. It's about the atmosphere and the experience.
The cinematography is exceptional. The colours are rich and vibrant, the blacks inky and menacing. Everything is overexposed to the extreme, the blue skies, the jade greens, the bright reds, the searing sunlight and stifling shadows. Every frame seems saturated in a gritty gross yellow that really amps up the creepy nature of this film. Everything looks and feels so real, like the film crew just found it this way and decided to pull out their camera and start shooting
Honestly, a lot of the characters were terrifying in this, not just Leather Face. They're mostly all insane and work really well on the creep factor. Even in the peaceful scenes, you can feel that something is looming and that terrible things are going to happen.
The first kill I found incredibly impressive. There is no big buildup, no music or sound effects. The murderer just appears out of nowhere, he strikes this guy with his hammer. The dude falls to the ground and starts twitching, which looks scarily too real, and then he is dragged away. It was over in a few seconds. This isn't a bad thing either. I personally think it made it more scary to see how quickly and not dramatised it can happen. It's what this film is incredibly good at, being realistic and playing on it.
Now this doesn't really have any good dialogue as it's just one of those films where you just sit back and watch what is happening. So for those who like more dialogue-driven stories, this isn't one of them. To be honest you don't really get much explanation of anything, things are just happening just because. Aside from the main murderous family and the final girl, the others don't really get personalities, they're just there for the kills. Honestly, I don't mind as I feel like this wouldn't have worked so well if they tried to cram multiple people in for the whole film.
For horror fans who are looking for something different, or people who want a terrifying experience this is a must-watch. I consider this a classic and highly recommend this.
10/10
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