SUNDAY SCARIES Horror Movie Series
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
A horror classic with a lasting impact on the film world and the slasher genre.
Laura’s Rating: 3/5 Stars
Plot: Sally, her wheelchair bound brother, and their friends are on a road trip and take a detour to check out her family’s abandoned farmhouse. Two of the friends accidentally discover a murderous maniac living next door and the group must try their best to escape before becoming victims.
Opinion: I held off watching this for a long time because I had heard how scary it was and figured it’d be pretty gory too, which is not my thing. It turns out that this low-budget horror is no worse than other films of the genre. For all the implied violence, viewers don’t actually witness most of the heinous acts and there’s not tons of blood. I suppose not a lot of movies like this had been made in 1974, giving it some shock value at the time.
The movie has been praised as one of the greatest horror movies of all time and many filmmakers have cited it as an influence in their work. The movie was also among the first to establish certain slasher tropes such as a masked killer and power tools as weapons. The movie remains grounded in reality and somewhat believable, which adds to its appeal for some viewers.
I thought the first chunk of the film was a bit slow, although it did lay the groundwork for some future plot points. The relationships between characters weren’t very well established, which I think would have added to the film. The script is nothing to write home about and eventually there’s more screaming than actual dialogue. The screaming from actress Marilyn Burns is impressive, but nearly unrelenting.
I can appreciate the impact The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had on the horror and slasher genres, but I expected a bit more from such a legendary movie.
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