The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
A Mini Movie Review by Dave Randal
Plot: Five friends visiting their grandpa's old house are hunted down and
terrorized by a chainsaw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing
cannibals.
I first watched this movie a couple of years ago and I remember being a bit disappointed by it. The movie had such a reputation for being violent that I think I just expected a lot more from it in that regard. I'm not sure what it is, but if I had to guess I would say I have seen too many torture porn movies like Saw and I believe movies like that have kind of desensitized me to older violent horror movies.
Watching it again though last week I actually enjoyed it a lot more. Instead of concentrating on the violence, I concentrated on the movie overall and realized it is very artfully and stylishly directed. The scene where Leatherface is running after the girl in the woods might go on a bit too long, but I thought it was really cool visually.
I don't think there is anyway you can call this a great movie by today's standards. Some people might like the way it was made with very little money and how it is kind of stripped down because of that, but I have to say that the movie doesn't quite hold up. Then again though I kind of have to look at it from when it was released. At the time there weren't all that many slasher movies and that style of movie hadn't been done to death. People must have been scared out of their minds seeing this movie in the mid '70s. For that I have to give it a very positive rating. It was a very cool idea for a horror movie and ended up being very influential.
Dave Randal's Star Rating- ★★★★½(4½) out of ★★★★★(5)
I first watched this movie a couple of years ago and I remember being a bit disappointed by it. The movie had such a reputation for being violent that I think I just expected a lot more from it in that regard. I'm not sure what it is, but if I had to guess I would say I have seen too many torture porn movies like Saw and I believe movies like that have kind of desensitized me to older violent horror movies.
Watching it again though last week I actually enjoyed it a lot more. Instead of concentrating on the violence, I concentrated on the movie overall and realized it is very artfully and stylishly directed. The scene where Leatherface is running after the girl in the woods might go on a bit too long, but I thought it was really cool visually.
I don't think there is anyway you can call this a great movie by today's standards. Some people might like the way it was made with very little money and how it is kind of stripped down because of that, but I have to say that the movie doesn't quite hold up. Then again though I kind of have to look at it from when it was released. At the time there weren't all that many slasher movies and that style of movie hadn't been done to death. People must have been scared out of their minds seeing this movie in the mid '70s. For that I have to give it a very positive rating. It was a very cool idea for a horror movie and ended up being very influential.
Dave Randal's Rating- 
Rock On!!!
Rock On!!!Dave Randal's Star Rating- ★★★★½(4½) out of ★★★★★(5)
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