Sunday, January 18, 2015

Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974) Review



10/10!!!!

When people, including me think of the first slasher movie, the first that comes to mind is "Halloween." What isn't always noticed is that there were films that lead to the genre, and really influenced the formula of the films greatly. One of the greatest examples of this is the 1974 classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."  This highly controversial film of the time depicts a horrifying story that was inspired by the real murders at the hands of Ed Gein.  The film was ahead of its time, and people really didn't know what to do at its release.  In recent decades, it has been hailed as a masterpiece by critics and audiences alike, and it is known to be one of the scariest films ever made.

The film starts in a way that many horror films don't choose to do. Being it is based on a true story, there is a brief announcement that tells the events that will take place, and even though they aren't the real events that happened, you get the feeling of it by the way that they are told.  I like this a lot, because it gives a much darker feel to the film, and sets you up for crazy things to come. In the next moment, we see the brutal aftermath of a murder. As we see a skinned body propped up like a statue, a radio tells the nature of the crime.  This is also very cool, because we get an idea of who this mysterious murderer is, and what they do, without giving away any identity.

One of the first factors in this film that influenced slasher films is that the teens were stupid, and they picked up a hitchhiker.  The ironic thing is that this slasher is about the last person I'd ever let into my car. He is super creepy, and is later found to be violent and sadistic. Edwin Neal was fantastic in this role, because his freaky laugh makes his scenes all the more weird, and he has a perfect way of delivering his words and being violent without seeming phased at all. 

The five main teens were all cast very well. They are likable, and often very funny. They aren't your big stars, in fact I have never seen them in films before. This really helps a lot, because it gives a much more authentic feeling to their performances. They also aren't you picture perfect gang, with the exception of the girls, and this also helps diversity fall into the cast, and it shows that the filmmakers didn't care about appearance at all.  My personal favorite of the teens was Paul A. Partain's role of Franklin, because he was hilariously insane, and just an awesome actor. 

One of my favorite things about this film is the cinematography. There is a grainy, bright yet dark look to the movie, and it gives such a creepy vibe to the entire thing. I also like the way the shots that the camera did, because they give so many views to whats going on, and it sometimes follows the characters as if the camera was a stalker. 

As I read reviews saying that this was one of the most terrifying films ever made, I was skeptical, not fully believing that it would be too bad.  I was wrong... This movie is the first I have watched that I will actually call scary.  It's not a gory mess like many others, but it has more suspense, and it is more brutal than any movie I have ever seen. It was such a brilliant tactic to make the first forty minutes of the film pretty slow, because it made the last half the craziest thing ever.  Once the first kill from Leatherface happens, it's like a domino effect of how insane the film got.

 Leatherface is by far my favorite horror villain ever after watching this film. He has everything that is needed.  He wears a mask, he is mainly silent except for the noises he makes, he is a big hulking character, and he is fast.  Never before have I seen this combination done this well before. Jason and Michael are awesome villains, but neither of them are scary in anyway.  Leather face is not one to mess with though. He is so brutal, and he is extremely intimidating. One of the best things about him is that he can really keep up with his victims as he chases them. Michael Meyers is pretty slow, and while Jason is a little faster, neither of them are anywhere near Leatherface.  The other thing about him is his obvious mental impairments. You can tell by the movements by his mouth, and the noises that he makes that something is wrong. This almost makes everything scarier, because there is the possibility that he doesn't even know what's happening as he tortures these people. 

Later in the film, after Leatherface does a lot of killing, we meet the rest of his insane family. This makes the film even more bizarre, because they are all complete psychos. The father is a mean and abusive man, Leatherface dresses up as a woman at home, and the siblings are all complete creeps. The topic of cannibalism also comes up in these scenes, which makes it all the more scarier. I think this family factor raises the levels of scariness in the movie much more than if Leatherface was the only villain, because you get to really see how their lives function, rather than just killing.  The weirdest thing is that a lot of the time, they don't even do violent things to the victim/s, but they poke and stuff, and it's so morbidly filmed that it is just as frightening as a killing. 

The ending of the film was perfect, because it left you at the peak, it didn't give a crappy sum up the story ending, but it left you right at the moment where you are like "what the heck?"  It honestly left me with such a frightened feeling, and I have never felt it before. 

I will just say that this may be the best horror movie I've ever seen. It was sick, twisted, and brilliant all at the same time, and it was the first movie to ever scare the heck out of me. I was actually shaking by the end.  All my life I have watched horror movies and just laughed at them, but now I saw something that was truly horrifying. It is truly amazing that forty years after a film's release, it can still be scarier than anything made after it, regardless of all the skills people have learned over the years. Definitely check this film out, but be warned that you will be scared, and you will never forget. 

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