The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Published October 28, 2022
Film info
- Title The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Director Tobe Hooper
- Year 1974
- Run time 1hr 23m
- Genre Horror
- Tagline Who will survive and what will be left of them?
A group of five teenagers drive down to Texas to check that their grandfather's grave is intact and stumble upon a farmhouse inhabited by a family of unemployed slaughterhouse workers, including the grisly 'Leatherface', who wears a mask made of human flesh and wields a fearsome chainsaw.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:59 | Wait, is chainsaw one word or two? |
| 2:42 | What an opening shot! |
| 7:17 | I’ve never seen anything so 70s, the clothes, the van, talking about astrology. |
| 12:21 | Okay, becoming vegetarian now. |
| 17:47 | “That’s the last god-damn hitchhiker I ever pick up.” Sensible. |
| 32:27 | So far so dull, when’s the chainsaw coming? |
| 39:44 | Ah, there’s the chainsaw. |
| 52:26 | It’s quite clever, they’re gross deaths but without actually showing grossness. Unlike the Final Destinations I have been watching. |
| 1:00:52 | He’s legit attacking her with a broom. |
| 1:06:17 | Is it something about 70s films that there needs to be a lot of annoying screaming? |
| 1:11:17 | This is more weird than anything. |
| 1:21:35 | Right to the last, still squawking like a crow. |
Thoughts
This is one of the original slasher films and was a really early entrant in that terrifying horror genre, so it has to be given the respect it deserves. There are moments of genius in there, great tension racking up and some scary deaths without actually showing anything too graphic or gory. Somehow upsetting despite the actual visuals being quite tame.
However, it does take a long time to get going, and then the last half hour is really just a riotous noise that I couldn’t wait to be over. So I can appreciate this film’s cult status but I didn’t really like it much myself.
Rating: 2 / 5