The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Rating:
Summary: Great horror sqeezed into 1½ hours
Review: I heard of the movie when I was just a little boy and always wanted to see it. In Sweden they showed the meat hook sequence on TV and the public freaked out. Movie renters got sued and the movie was banned. So of course I had to see it. And I think it's the best horror movie ever made.

Rating:
Summary: Scariest Movie of All Time
Review: TCM is with out a doubt the most scariest movie ever made. This movie is a classic. If you have not seen this movie, go and rent it, but don't watch it alone.

Rating:
Summary: A Texas-sized horror film
Review: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is, without a doubt, a triumph in the history of horror films. Although graphic in its content, director Tobe Hooper leaves plenty to the viewer's imagination as five teenagers meet certain doom in the confines of canniblistic hillbillies. Almost a quarter-of-a-century in age, "Chainsaw" has not lost any of its shocking value and continues to be an inspirational beam in the world of low-budget films.

Rating:
Summary: You"ll think of this movie everytime you hear a chainsaw
Review: Tobe Hooper took a real life monster and created one of the best horror classics of all time.The movie starts out from the very beginning like a true story,and by its end has you convinced it really happened.Although the character who everyone knows as leather face really exsited, the story in its context did not really happen.One of the most realistic horror movies I have ever watched.The fear meter runs high and looking into the character Sally's eyes in the dinning room scene will totally engulf you.It is all the more compelling to this viewer living in Texas and seeing slaughter house routines.You will never look at a chainsaw the same again,everytime you hear one start up, this movie and thoughts of what if will forever be etched into your mind.I guess thats what makes it so scarry, the what if's and that awful Buzzing sound of the motor.One other similar movie comes to mind as an honorable mention is Motel Hell and Farmer Vincent,but is really no match for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Rating:
Summary: THE Horror Classic
Review: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the best and most influential horror videos of all time. Though this film does not get enough recognition, it is one of the best flicks out there on the market in the horror genre. The only room for improvement on this video would have been more detail in the murder scenes for those like me who are partiallly desensitized, and need more for optimal enjoyment of a "slasher" flick. If there is any horror "fan" out there that has not seen this film, then he or she is not a true fan of the art of horror videos. I reccomend The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to even those who are not fans of the genre, for it is pure greatness.

Rating:
Summary: Macarbe, Insanity, unbelivable, unforgettable
Review: In all of my 16 years of watching horror, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre stands out as the most darkest, violent peice of work ever. One thinks that its a gore movie, those people dont watch it cause they are truely afraid of this nightmare of a movie. Its sheer terror at its best. END

Rating:
Summary: What Horror was meant to be.
Review: This film has remained an enduring, groundbreaking, earth-shattering opus to Tobe Hooper and to the horror genre which it single-handedly reinvented. With the state of modern "horror" today (Scream, Urban Legends, Blair Witch) it is so refreshing to see the Massacre get a fantasic transferral to DVD. This is a true classic, based in part on the life of serial killer Ed Gein(SP?) who dismantled his victims and cannibalized most of them. Hooper's use of sound in this film is simply astonishing and adds so much to the madness that these teens walk into. Innovative camera work as well, because most of the blood and gore is left to your imagination. But just the sight of leatherface opening the slide door and the reaction on that girls face is truly chilling. The ending of this film is simply amazing and perfectly fits this masterpiece, who knows what happens to leatherface and his cadre of psycho's and who wants to know! The chainsaw dance remains one of the best moments ever captured on celluloid. If your idea of a good scary movie is the Blair Witch Project or Scream, then please rent this film for it will be the first time a film will actually scare you, as well as scar you.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Film For What It Had to Work With
Review: It is fair to say that Tobe Hopper's 1974 version of "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is not as well done and spooky as the 2003 remake, but you have to give credit where credit is due. "Texas Chian Saw Massacre" (yes, it was originally spelled like 'Chain Saw') is horrifying view into the American culture that truly terrified a nation, and even had some partial inspiration of horror films to appear later on, such as "House of 1000 Corpses" and "Wrong Turn." But this movie is not well acted, and some of the actors are almost laughable. The story revolves around five friends traveling though the Texas backwoods and while exploring a deceased family member's house, they are each attacked by a Chiansaw weilding maniac named Leatherface (Gunner Hansen). Each of the friends are killed brutally, even though we can't see, but it still effects us psychologically. One woman is impaled with a hook, one guy's rist is slit, another gets a hammer in the head, another gets a chainsaw in the stomach, and another has to endure a cannibalistic dinner party. ALthough the film is known for its nerve racking ending, the real scary scene comes from the scene where Pam (Terri McMinn) first enters the house where Leatherface waits and she stumbles into a room filled with human and animal corpses alike. This part of the movie is not only extremely well done in its sense to terrify you, but it is the only scene in the movie that makes you feel like you're actually there- and that's a sign of a great movie making deal.
Even though it's a chilling movie, "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is a sadistic and horrific deal that is hard to sit through. There is no battle of good versus evil, and no one to cheer for. You know it cannot end well, and all the film really does is show a group of kind, everyday people getting butchered by a family of inbred killers. I wouldn't recommend this movie over its remake, just because the remake has better acting and you know that its just a movie, plus you are routing for the characters to live. I do, however, think that Tobe Hopper's "Chainsaw" and the remake are the only ones in the series to watch, for the others are just plain old movie crap. So if you want to get creeped out and put in a seriously depressed and disturbed mood, rent "Texas Chain Saw Massacre," the movie that really puts a bad name in for Texas.

Rating:
Summary: The Original Teen Horror Film
Review: Alright, at the time that I wrote this review (wow, I am talking in the past tense about something I am still doing), there were 508 other reviews (read them, most of them get the point across). So, I am not going to give the whole movie away. But I can say this: This film was not meant to be a gore-fest. The director (who did a brilliant job I might add) was originally going for a PG rating. The whole point was to transition the scenes right up to the kill in such a way that your imagination takes over during it. Let me say, for a horror movie (as in any horror movie), this is very creepy and disturbing. I have seen the sequels and the remake of this film. The sequels were unbearably pathetic (capitalizing (cashing-in if you will) on this movie's potential, nothing more) and the remake, while decent, was not scary...at all, but creative (the piano, and the salt...watch it and you will know what I mean). This movie is like no other in that you are on the edge of your seat wondering when the girl freaking out in the room where the furniture is made out of human remains, is going to die. It is not a matter of "Don't go in there, he is right there." It is more like "He is coming, go! He is going to kill you! Run!", even when the killer is not present anywhere near her (he was behind a steel door, that is not within arms reach and therefore not close). Please remember, this is the first movie to use what is now a complete cliché; namely: teens get lost out in the middle of nowhere and are brutally slaughtered. I would normally give this film four-and-a-half stars, however, because of two people who are about to be mentioned, I would like to "even out the universe" with a five.

Now then, I would like to take time to say a few things about two very "special" reviewers. I say "special" because one of them sounds like a southern televangelist "Blah blah blah...sex, drugs and rock and roll." While the other finds it unfair that this "true" story is unfair to the kids that were murdered...while using tons of question and exclamation marks. Newsflash: This was lightly based on a killer, but around ninety percent of the details are just add-ons (quite good ones I might add). The killer that Leather Face is LOOSELY based on is Ed Gein. Go look him up. I am going to quote the first "special" reviewer I mentioned: "I think this movie is disgusting and immoral, I've never seen it and I plan not to because of what it's about." Well, that is a VERY convincing review, but, I believe that if you have not seen this film, then you should not be reviewing it...oh, and what is the deal with it being immoral? This movie has no gore, drug or sexual content. It is about a semi-retarded psychopath killing a bunch of teens. Then he goes on to talk about The Passion of the Christ. Well, I am sorry, but I do not like:

A. Mel Gibson
B. Religious Movies
C. Movies about some guy being tortured for hours on end.

The only reason I would go to see it would be for the Latin that is spoken in movie (I am a Latin student myself).

There you have it. My review. Give this movie a chance, it is truly a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: All the remakes and imitators are just swimming in its wake
Review: With the recent box-office success achieved by the latest remake of 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," it's worth looking back at Tobe Hooper's original horror classic.

The movie tells a fairly simple tale at heart. A group of five teenagers driving through rural Texas happen upon a deranged, cannibalistic family. Psychological terror and chainsaws ensue.

Yet despite this simplicity, what is it about "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" that continues to succeed so with its audience? Outside of one memorial scene involving a meet hook; the movie is not particularly gory by today's standards. The film's characters and actual scares are not that remarkable.

The power of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" lies in its atmosphere and in what H.P. Lovecraft called "the oldest and strongest kind of fear": the fear of the unknown. The later of these two staples of great horror is often cast aside in modern horror movies-especially in those churned out by the great Hollywood engine. Instead, every mystery must be explained away, every mask ultimately pulled from a monster's face, and not a moment of exposition is spared. It is interesting to note that the filmmakers behind the latest "Chainsaw" film chose to implement all three of these stylistic vices in their remake.

In the original, the feeling of dread and mounting paranoia creeps over the viewer in slow but steady waves. The first scene in the film depicts a desecrated grave with a voiceover of radio newscast, immediately followed by an opening credits sequence set against a backdrop of roaring solar flares. This, along with some idle astrological chatter on the part of one of the teenagers early on, leads to a feeling of cosmic disarray in the lonely Texas hills they traverse.

Questions about the villain's mask or the field of cars under camouflage netting are left for the viewer to answer on his or her own. At worst, in the loss of any acceptable answer, they are forced to ponder that terrible and limitless gulf of the imagination: the unknown.

In it's later stages, the film becomes a cacophonous world of throat-peeling screaming, blood-shot eyes, laughter, and grinding machinery. One is forced to recall the solar flares in the film's opening credits. In the climax of famous dinner scene, there is a feeling of cosmic forces pressing in on reality and warping it into some crude mockery of order, as if the world were but a TV or radio signal distorted into madness by flares on the surface of the sun.

In the 29 years since "The Texas chainsaw Massacre" hit theaters, there have been countless imitators and four additional films in the franchise, three of them remakes. Yet as loved and influential as the original classic has been, many who would seek to emulate its vision seem to overlook its true strengths.