For my first foray into my reviews of horror movie classics you may not have seen, I have selected The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film ubiquitous with the horror genre and a fantastic representation of 1970s American horror films. From the costumes to the grainy, blown out look of the picture, this movie has groovy 70s grindhouse written all over it. The bell-bottoms are huge, the hair long, and I can’t help but feel like one character’s meat-hook fate was due, in part, to her completely backless halter top.
Director Tobe Hooper, who would go on to direct Poltergeist (under heavy supervision by Stephen Spielberg), used his location greatly to his benefit. Filming took place in Texas for four weeks in the middle of summer, with temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees. The cast had to suffer the heat while trapped in sets containing bones, dead animal carcasses, and fake blood. Many characters had blood-stained costumes that could not be washed—several weeks of accumulated body odor made the experience all the more miserable for the actors.
A sense of the grotesque permeates every aspect of this film. Sets display a general air of decay and desecration through the literal display of animal carcasses, bones, teeth, feathers, blood, and human remains. The film is saturated with death, from the first shots of human corpses and a dead armadillo, belly up in the road. The camera cuts often to extreme close ups that dissect the image, usually human body parts, into pieces, reflecting the utilitarian view of the human body shared by the villainous family featured in the infamous “dinner scene.”
Terror in the dinner scene comes not from a silent Michael Myers-type character, but from a crazed, deranged family unit—a family unit that sees human beings as things: meat, bones, blood, and even dining room decor. Humans are indistinguishable from animals to this family, and they attempt to dispose of the “final girl” using the same slaughter method that was espoused by the crazy hitchhiker earlier in the film.
But really, why should you see this movie? Beyond its classic status in the pantheon of horror films, this movie is a solid, well-crafted horror movie that is surprisingly accessible to horror novices and the squeamish. Despite its reputation, the gore in this film is relatively tame—most of the violence happens offscreen or is otherwise obscured from view. The violence exists in the imagination of the audience, so there are scares, but little viscera. When searching for a classic and enjoyable horror movie to watch, you’d be well served with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film clocks in at just under an hour and a half, with minimal build up before the crazy starts to go down, so it doesn’t take long for the fun to start, and the movie doesn’t overstay its welcome.
So for your next scary movie night, trip back to the 70s with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a movie that reminds you that maybe your family isn’t so crazy after all.
M-Cubed 