The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
★★★ — The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Tobe Hooper was a relatively unknown Austin-based filmmaker, with just one low-budget horror feature (Eggshells, 1969) behind him, when he shot this independently financed picture across the sweltering Texas summer of 1974 on a budget of around $140,000. The production was notoriously gruelling, with cast and crew reportedly working in extreme heat with rotting meat as set dressing, conditions that left genuine marks on the performances. The film drew loose inspiration from the crimes of Ed Gein, the Wisconsin murderer whose case had already influenced Psycho, though Hooper and co-writer Kim Henkel pushed the material in a far more rural, visceral direction. Released into the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam atmosphere of mid-1970s America, a period when audiences were increasingly receptive to cinema that felt genuinely threatening, it went on to gross nearly $31 million worldwide and effectively helped define the template for the slasher genre that would dominate the following decade.
90 minutes of screaming. It's one of those weird films that's in the "Must see at least once" category but also not very good. Don't get me wrong, it's a classic. I know it's a classic. It's one of those 'You have to see this at least once' films just to experience it's significance to the slasher horror genre. There are some jaw-dropping moments that do stick with you (such as the first appearance of Leatherface) but overall, it's just not that good of a film. I watched it as a young teenager and thought yeah... it's good. I watched it again recently with my Girlfriend (who'd never seen it before) and I felt a little lost. Why had I recommended this classic film? It was just a grating experience of a woman screaming for WAY longer than I remembered the first time round. Overall, I think it's just ok. It's got some good moments, it got some bad moments.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1974 | Watched: 2004-03-03
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Tobe Hooper: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
More from the 1970s: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Here and Elsewhere (1976) · Italianamerican (1974) · Punishment Park (1971)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)
