The Texas Chainsaw Massacre set the stage for what slasher movies would become when the hit horror film was first released in 1974. Written by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, the genre classic was also directed by Hooper. Gritty and raw, the film created a great deal of controversy when it was first released, resulting in theaters pulling its screenings across the world. Still, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre turned out to be a big success, raking in millions of dollars in profits on a rather modest budget.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is based on the real-life crimes of murderer and graverobber Ed Gein. Obsessed with the dead, something Gein liked to do was wear the flayed flesh of corpses over his own skin, including a mask made with a human face. This would obviously serve as the inspiration for Leatherface, the chainsaw-wielding maniac who’s never seen without his trademark skin mask. There might be plenty of differences between Gein’s story and what happens in TCM, but that didn’t stop the filmmakers from pushing the film as a “true” story.
True or not, the carnage that unfolds in the flick feels incredibly real. There’s so much about the film that just seems shockingly realistic, almost to the point where it feels like a documentary. The lack of music and other common horror movie tropes only adds to the immersion for the viewer. Its low budget also contributes to that feeling, as it certainly feels nothing like any Hollywood movie from that time, and yet it still avoids ever feeling cheap or corny.
A fairly simple story, TCM follows a group of five youths traversing through the great state of Texas, only to inadvertently wind up at a remote farmhouse inhabited by a family of sadistic cannibals. The group includes final girl, Sally (Marilyn Burns), her brother Franklin (Paul Partain), and friends Pam (Teri McMinn), Jerry (Allen Danziger), and Kirk (William Vail). Making up the antagonists are the Sawyer family: Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), the Cook (Jim Siedow), the Hitchhiker (Edwin Neal), and Grandpa (John Dugan).
Without a doubt, it’s the acting in TCM that really shines above all else. Something that you’ll see a lot from actors in low-budget horror films is performances that leave a lot to be desired. If you’re watching the film for laughs, this can sometimes be very entertaining to watch. However, TCM has absolutely none of that. The acting in the film is incredible, and that’s especially true for Marilyn Burns, whom I say has the best performance of any actress in horror movie history. Her pain and disgust felt so genuine that it’s impossible not to feel for poor Sally, even after watching the film for the hundredth time.
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TCM should also be praised for its effective use of suspense, building up feelings of dread over merely racking up the body count in horrific ways. When the deaths do come, they feel realistic. Despite the title, there’s no actual chainsaw massacre in the film, though Franklin still wound up on the receiving end of one. The other victims were killed in different ways, each of them brutal. This includes a sudden whack to the head with a hammer for Kirk, and the way he convulses on the ground is one of those scenes that has always stuck with me. Watching Leatherface hanging a still-breathing Pam to a meathook was another one of those horror movie moments that will haunt me forever.
In addition to inspiring countless other horror films, the original TCM would spawn its own ongoing franchise. We have seen several sequels and reboots come and go over the years, many of them leaning more toward humor than horror it seems. The franchise is currently in the process of getting rebooted once again, and Leatherface is clearly here to stay. Still, it doesn’t seem that any new film will ever match the terror that can be found in the original TCM movie, and that includes new TCM remakes and reboots.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre still holds up after nearly 50 years. You can see what I’m talking about by watching the horror classic for FREE right now on Tubi TV.
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