The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Review

***SPOILER ALERT***

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Tobe Hooper
2/5
Highly controversial and shocking at the time of it's release, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). It is less explicitly violent, on screen, separating it from the gore horror genre, instead focusing on the horror and suffering of the characters. The pacing is relatively good, with a good 40 minutes before the main action. The acting feels amateurish and more like drama school performances. The film is still very grainy to watch, shot on 16mm, despite being 'restored' to HD format. Obviously it was a highly influential film on the horror genre, with the jagged camera work style, the use of chainsaws and household items as weapons. What I think is more interesting is the themes developed early in the film, where the hitch hiker talks to the young people about slaughtering cows. The cannibalistic themes and the ensuing horror and especially the imagery of the 'meat hook' of the first girl and being placed in the freezer all allude to notions of animal slaughter and cruelty to animals.

The film is not particularly scary, and is instead rather absurd, especially watching them endlessly chase the girl around and never quite catching her, makes little to no sense. It lacks real horror due to the predictability both built in to the film and also because it helped create many of the genre expectations that now underly the contemporary horror film. It sort of really started the idea of "based on a true story" text at the start of the film, despite this actually being totally fictional. Wolf Creek (2005) feels remarkably similar both in style and plot to Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). It continued mythic horror themes of the beautiful country house facade, cannibalism, grave robbing etc.

The film relies heavily on audience expectation and imagination to create a sense of 'horror' although the maniacal and inaudible rantings of the 'cannibals' and the screams of the girl are particularly disturbing. Highly influential of the 'slasher' and 'torture porn' genres, even influencing Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and other horror films like Halloween (1978, John Carpenter) and more. The genre stereotypes that were established continue to be remade and influence films since. Especially the role of gender and the torture of women, or the "final girl" phenomenon which can be seen in the Alien (1979, 1986, 1992, 1997) franchise, Halloween (1978) and more recently parodied in Cabin in the Woods (2011) written by Joss Whedon. Such as the use of masked assailants that are mostly gormless and personality less, seen in Halloween (1978) etc, instead focusing on family dynamics and also the major thing in the true "Horror" genre of playing on anticipatory dread and fear of violence using the unseen to create fear, and the unknown, rather than what is shown. Something that is deviated from in the sequels/ remakes and more recent "slasher" films which focus on the explicit violence and gore, as "gross-out films" rather than true "horror" films.

The film can be seen as a prime example of the expression of violence in film as a substitute for sexual violence, instead portraying the hysterical girl. There were some amazing moments including a couple of amazing shots where the "final girl" jumps through glass windows.

Strangely the final moments of the film showing her covered in blood laughing hysterically as she escapes in the back of a pick up truck are almost just as disturbing. The film is highly unrealistic and both disturbing, funny and ultimately absurd. It is worth a watch just to see some of the influence and origins of the genre.