14/04/2012: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [1974]

 With the air of Friday the 13th still hanging around I decided to follow up with another couple of horror movies. While Jason may be the patron saint of that day, Leatherface is without a doubt his equal in the realm of horror and is one of the landmarks in the history of horror movies.






Anybody who watches horror movies knows that there are a few necessary staples in the genre, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween. However it was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that first established many of the elements that would be used later on in those films. 


While The Texas Chainsaw Massacre seems to trigger images of brutal and gory scenes involving a lunatic with a chainsaw this is largely untrue. While the film received an R rating as well as being banned in several countries, language and actual on screen violence is kept low, as an attempt to receive a lower rating. Sorry to disappoint, but only one person actually encounters death by chainsaw. Although Gunnar Hansen sure does swing it around a lot. Personally I thought if you put Sally's nighttime chase scene on fast forward and through on the appropriate chase montage music, the effect would be quite comedic.

Our meetings with Leatherface are generally a little abrupt.

When it comes to TCM's story things are a little weak as well. While a run of 6 movies in total builds a great amount of lore, the original movie did not give us to much information. We are allowed to understand very little, and things seem to be a little random at times. However this is usually how it goes, with the sequels filling in the missing information required to understand what exactly happened.

So, if TCM has both a weak story and comparatively low amounts of violence and blood why is it one of the most landmark horror films ever? It is because of the atmosphere that the movie creates. First let me say, for a movie from 1974, shot on 16mm film in poor lighting, you would never know watching the newer editions. The cinematography in TCM  is one of it's strongest points, and does not use shadows and dark nights to create fear and terror. Almost all of the events in TCM happen during the day, where the sunlight reveals for us all of the horror.

Leatherface isn't a solo act, he's just part of the family.

To create it's terror, TCM pretty much goes for a sensory overload, throwing unexplained scenes of the macabre at us, from meat hooks to skeletons. It is not the murders themselves that terrify us, most happen suddenly and off screen, it is what is implied by what the 5 friends discover in the house. A family of insane killers, the family, who have been massacring people for years, creating a house full of horrors.

Of course to create such an atmosphere requires a lot of great performances, and  while people may not associate TCM with great acting, the cast does give us terrific performances. The main reason is, that it wasn't entirely all acting. TCM was filmed in the summer of 1973, during a heatwave. The cast shot for up to 20 hours on end, in 100 degree heat, in rooms filled with rotting animal carcasses. The stars of TCM show this in their performances. Gunnar Hannsen, and Marilyn Burns were nearly crazy by the end of the shoot. A significant amount of blood on Marilyn by the end is actually hers, from running through the woods, as well as when Gunnar actually had to cut her finger for a scene. All in all, let's just say that the crazed look in their eye was not fully an act by the end, and Jessica Biel can never match that.

Clearly Leatherface has always had a thing for cross-dressing, TCM 4 isn't so far fetched.

What truly the most frightening aspect of TCM is of course its realism. It doesn't give us to much unexplained magic or the supernatural. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre shoots for realism, with it scenario, and that is why we find it so scary. Anyone can shrug off the though of a reincarnated maniac or dream demon, but when faced with a simple family of backwoods psychopaths things strike a little closer to home.

So, is TCM the perfect movie? No. Is it still monumental in the film industry absolutely. While I will say that the remakes are well done, and the sequels get a little crazy, The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre still hold up today when it comes to creating terror. Just remember, even though it claims to be The Texas Chainsaw Massacre isn't real or is it?

Link:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre IMDb