The Texas Chainsaw massacre
Produced : 1974
A Vortex / Henkel / Hooper Production
Approximately 75 minutes
UK certificate : N / A
Others in series : The Texas Chainsaw massacre 2, The Texas Chainsaw massacre 3,Return of The Texas Chainsaw massacre.
Banned in Britain, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an overrated and rather ungory movie, although the realism and the atmosphere make up for this. It is about 5 young people who stay an old house. They soon need petrol, and go in search, finding a local house with petrol generators working outside, but the house is where a completely mad family live, including Leatherface and his mad brother the grave robber, who sell body parts to his father to sell as barbecue in the petrol station. The only movie that I can compare this with is The Evil Dead, and that is nothing like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre : I compare it because of the strange atmosphere. Although it is banned in the UK, it took me 7 days from enquiring to my colleagues, to getting a decent copy, so it may be worth tracking down.
"Sometimes it’s good to be in the hands of a maniac, and what Tobe Hooper did with this film was to signal to his audience that he didn’t give a shit for their finer feelings. The picture therefore becomes an assault. It’s narrative is minimal; it’s visuals are grittily real. To complete the achievement, Hooper created Leatherface and his family - characters whose relentless, ironic, obsessive malevolence is uniquely modern. Most monsters of the past had moments of regret or fear : these beasts knew neither." - Clive Barker 1997
"I was thinking to create a house of ultimate horror. I had to dress and redress that house many times to get the look I wanted." - Tobe Hooper, director
8.5 out of 10
By Mickey Durneme, 2 June 1998
****AWARDED THE GROTER BADGE OF EXCELLENCE FOR BEING ‘SICK’****