The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	The most terrifying movie you will ever see
Disadvantages:	You may have nightmares .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I bought this dvd one month ago and have enjoyed it so much i feel i must tell others about it as its a classic cult horror movie that must not be missed.It has a big following and has become very popular over last few years even though its 30 years old.Please read on if you enjoy terrifying horror that reaches to the dark depths of your inner most fears.

///////////////STORYLINE/////////////

Its a hot summer in Texas and 5 teenagers in a van are driving along a remote part of countryside heading to a graveyard.Sally and her boyfriend Jerry, her brother Franklin (who is in a wheel chair)and two friends Pam and Kirk are going to check out Sally's grandfathers grave as there has been a shocking discovery that grave robbers have stolen body parts from some of the graves.They are glad to find his grave is untouched and continue on there way.They decide to visit her granddads old house as its along the way.A weird hitch hiker is on the road and they decide to give the man a lift.The man is very weird and covered in blood and is clearly abit nutty.The gang throws him out after he goes mental and carry on to Sally's granddads house abit shaken.They stop off to get gas and meet more weird people selling cooked meat.The gas station has ran out of gas so they go to Sally's Granddads house.

Pam and Kirk go looking for a river Franklin tells them used to be around for a romantic dip and cool off.Franklin is busy moaning and groaning and Sally hangs around relaxing in the heat.As Pam and Kirk cannot find any sign of a river they decide and look for some gas.They stumble across an old run down house with a generator and think there must be gas around.As Pam relaxes in the garden Kirk enters to try and find someone to ask about buying some gas.He does not return.So Pam slowly enters shouting for him and enters a room full of bones and meat hanging up and teeth everywhere.But its too late for her to leave and as Leatherface drags her to the slaughter room she sees her dead boyfriend.

The others get fed up and Jerry goes off looking for the couple and Sally stays with the grumpy Franklin.Jerry has the same fate as Kirk and Pam waiting for him.Now the sun is setting and Franklin is moaning he wants to leave but the van keys are gone.Sally knows they must go and look for the others.She wheels Franklin along in the direction the others went and then out of the blue Leatherface appears to continue the killing.Franklin is killed horrifically and Sally has to run for her life.She flees to a house thinking she will receive help but its the killers house.She escapes Leatherface and heads to the gas station asking for a phone but she has made a huge error as the gas owner is all part of it and takes her back to the house.Then the fun really begins.Sally is then introduced to Leatherface's horrifying family.You will have to watch it to see what happens next.

////////////CHARACTERS////////////////

Jim Siedow plays The Cook.The Cook is the head of the family and tells Leatherface and brother what to do.He is creepy and enjoys human flesh and will give you the creeps as im sure there are people around like this in real life.He runs the show.He tells Leatherface and the brother that ladies are trash and worth nothing.He is a very mean man who hates ladies and only thinks of them as meat.

Gunnar Hanson plays Leatherface.Leatherface is a freaky character who is mute and kills to defend himself.He wears the faces of his victims and takes on his victims personalities .He is a killing machine who becomes puzzled at where all the young people are appearing from when they keep entering his house.He is scared of The Cook and does what The Cook tells him to.He is kind of like a big baby, but with a chainsaw.He is violent,dangerous and very scary.He thinks nothing of gutting people.

Hitch Hiker is a really freaky nutty character with no respect for human life.He does what The Cook says and is just insane.Totally blood thirsty and hates ladies.He is also Leatherface's brother.He enjoys collecting road kill too.

John Dugan plays Grandpa.Grandpa is not in it very long but is in a great scene.The Bizarre dinner scene.He drinks human blood and is very handy with a hammer.He looks dead and drinking blood seems to revive him.He is abit like a zombie but awakens when feeding on blood.

Marilyn Burns plays Sally Hardesty.Sally is a young pretty girl who is strong willed and a fighter.She has her head screwed on and is very determined.She is the main character in the movie.

Paul Partain plays Franklin.Franklin is Sally's wheel chair bound brother who is over weight.He moans and groans and is a misery guts.He gets on people's nerves as all he does is moan and complain.He is weak and abit boring and Sally gets fed up with him.He feels sorry for himself.He is looking for constant attention.

Allen Danziger plays Jerry.Jerry is Sally's boyfriend and is a down to earth young man enjoying life and being with Sally.Does not play a very big part .

William Vail plays Kirk.Kirk is another young bloke just enjoying life and love and having a good time.Another small part.

Pam is a young lady much the same as above two.Enjoying herself and slim and pretty and abit too trusting.Again another minor role.

That's the main characters mentioned.

////////FILMCREW////////

Tobe Hooper- co-writer,producer and director
Kim Henkel-co-writer
Robert A Burns-Art Director

/////////Tobe Hooper//////////
Tobe Hooper has directed many good films such as Eggshells,An American Odyssey.He also directed Stephens Kings mini series called Salams Lot.In 1981 he directed Funhouse and in 1982 Poltergeist.He then went onto directing a few pop videos for people such as Billy Idol before moving back to horror films.In 1984 he directed Lifeforce and then some more mini series such as Dark Skies and Taken which i both enjoyed watching.But Tobe Hooper's best film is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.Rex Reed said it was the scariest film ever made and i agree.Most horror movies at the time had aliens in them and this film was a needed change that people wanted at that time.People wanted something that could be real and was disturbing.What got under their skin.

Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel(writer) amazingly wrote and finished the script in three weeks.Hooper could not think of a good name for the film and could not decide between Headcheese and Leatherface.He only decided just before the film was released what to call it.

/////////////FILMING THE MOVIE WAS ALSO HORRIFYING/////////

The filming started in 1973 in Austin Texas in July.Because the film was set over 24 hour period the cast had to wear the same costumes over the 32 days it took to shoot it so the costumes looked exactly the same and could not be cleaned or lost.The budget was so small, local and not very good actors were used.Gunnar(Leatherface) was at college and took the part just for fun.The temps were around 100f every day.As the actors had to wear the same costumes every day they stank and became very dirty.My favourite scene in the movie called "bizarre dinner table" had to be filmed over a period of 27 hours solid.This was because the actor who played The Cook had to leave.

In the room where it was shot it was hot, smelly and horrific.As the art director(Robert Burns) had used dead animals and dead chickens and real bones on the set and things were starting to rot in the heat and people were becoming physically sick from the smell of rotting flesh and body sweat.Many of the cast and crew threw up.John Dugan (Grandpa) had to go into make-up 8 hours too so the shoot had to be done in one 27 hour shoot.It was so hot people had to keep leaving the room and as the smell was real and the sheer horror of rotten meat and smelly flesh came out in the actors performance.Made it even more realistic and dramatic i think.The shoot for the whole movie took 32 days which was 16 hours a day seven days a week.The actors were exhausted by the end.And amazingly the film made over 100 million but the actors did not get hardly anything as the financial backing they had was crooked.

///////Ed Gein////////

Was the killer the film was loosely based on.He was a cannibal in the 50's.He dug up bodies from the local graveyard and eat their flesh and made furniture from their bones and made lampshades out of their skin.He was a farmer and a baby sitter and people trusted him.When his mother had a stroke and died he went abit crazy.He hated ladies as his mother had taught him nothing else but hatred.He dressed in their skins.He was arrested in 1958 and died in prison in 1984.The police found a body in his barn hanging up gutted.I think that's why people find The Texas Chainsaw Massacre so frightening as this kind of thing does happen, can happen.It touches the deepest fears of people.

////////WHY I LIKE IT SO MUCH/////////////

I think this film really seems real.The characters seem like every day folk(teenagers) just like me and you and nothing could of prepared them for the terror which awaited them.An actual family lived in the house during filming and that's what made it even spookier as the house was really someone's home.The set was great as they had used real animal bones and dead animal bodies and a real human skeleton.The flesh was rotting and it was very hot and it must of been awful.A chicken was used in the Dinner Table scene and it was rotting away and i bet the atmosphere was awful in real life and that was shown in the actors performances.

//////MARILYN BURNS WAS GREAT///////

Marilyn Burns was wonderful.Sally(her character) was not acting in some parts.The sheer fear was real.She was so tired the fear was real.I loved her in the dinner table scene.The horror and fear in her eyes and the sheer panic was spot on.There is one scene where she jumps out of a window and a terrifying chase ensues.Her limp during this scene was real.She twisted her ankle and it was not put on.Leatherface chases her and her grit and will to live and determination was excellent.

////////LEATHERFACE////////

Leatherface was truly, deeply frightening.He did not talk at all.He made disturbing grunting sounds.At the house when people kept turning up he panicked as he was confused at where all these people were coming from.He was killing out of self defence.He slaughtered people as if they were just pieces of meat.

////////WHY THIS MOVIE WORKS/////////

This film did not have much blood.All the horrific things are left to your own imagination.The film has great editing techniques and angles and camera shots that catch your imagination and your mind fills in the blanks.Tobe Hooper's frightening soundtrack also adds atmosphere.This film changed modern horror films.It took over one year to edit before it was released.I think what really made it work was a real fear and the real film sets.Films now use too many special effects but Chainsaw Massacre had real props.The use of real bones, the heat and smells made the acting and fear genuine.The terror of Sally and her hysterical cries and her sheer look of fear on her face was very frightening.Some scenes are very shocking even though you don't see any blood.It gets right under your skin as you think its so real.It could happen.Alien films are ok but deep down you know its all make believe, but this has happened and can happen.Also the location is very spooky too.Its very isolated and remote.No one can hear you scream.There is no one that can help you.

////////DVD AND EXTRAS/////

The dvd comes in a nice presentation box and a sleeve.The film lasts around one hour and 22 minutes.Its filmed in widescreen 1.78.1 and Dolby pro-logic surround sound.The sound and picture quality are very good indeed.There are many many extras on this dvd and i was very happy with them.The film is rated 18.The menu is easy to read and easy to use.Here are the amazing collection of extras.

72 minute docu"The Shocking Truth"

New Director and cast interviews

16 page collectors booklet

Full length commentary featuring Tobe Hooper and Gunnar Hanson(Leatherface)

Deleted Scenes

Outtakes

Original theatrical trailers

Prop+Sets

Original TV ads

Sequel Trailers

Stills+Posters and Lobby cards

DVD Rom Link------ www.THECHAINSAW.COM

I bought the dvd off an Amazon seller for £8.Including post and package.The dvd Special Edition also has audio commentary by Tobe Hooper.I enjoyed watching the 72 minute docu as its very interesting and the 5 trailers .

/////////CONCLUSION//////////

If you enjoy films with good storylines and action that will leave you breathless, this is the film for you.This film taps into your darkest fears and seems so real you will not want to turn the light off for a few hours afterwards.It gets you thinking anyone could be a serial killer.Could your neighbours be killers?I mean, anyone could be.I found this film great and i have watched it about 6 times now.It has that special something.Its not all special effects and explosions.That's why its darn good.Why it seems so real.I think films of today over use special effects and they look silly and false.This cannibal feast makes you check that your door is locked.The style it has been filmed in is spot on.Works so well.I think it will always be scary.Even in another 30 years time.Its amazing how such a low budget film with amateur actors done so well.Its the skill of the camera shots, music and realism that works.Let your imagination run wild.The props in the film were excellent.Chairs made from bones.The chase where Leatherface chases Sally through the woods is simply terrifying and the way he kills his victims is pure terror.I found the end scene with Leatherface amazing.Its very haunting.I have not given too much away i hope this time as i want you to feel the shock and horror as much as i did when first watching it.You will be blown away i promise you.Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the best horror film ever.

Thanks for reading and hope i did ok..........Rachel.