I’d never seen the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre so it felt like one I needed to watch. I did see the 2003 remake in the theater, but barely remember any details at all. I didn’t love this movie, but I can see why other people really do. It’s definitely creepy and horrific, but it also annoyed me and made me feel uncomfortable. I know that’s what it was going for, but it made the experience unenjoyable more than anything. I give The Texas Chain Saw Massacre the Not a Total Waste of Time rating.
Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a journey into the macabre that I could have done without
A group of teenagers are visiting their grandfather’s grave in Texas and their old childhood home. After picking up a hitchhiker (Edwin Neal), the group gets freaked out and the rest of their day doesn’t get much better. Members of the group go missing, and leaves Sally (Marilyn Burns) and wheelchair bound brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), left alone as the sun goes down.
Leatherface is an intimidating an iconic monster figure from cinema. He is up there with Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger. While I haven’t revisited Nightmare on Elm Street yet this year, I’ve see some interesting similarities and huge differences between Michael, Jason, and Leatherface. Leatherface seems the most emotional and even remorseful in a few scenes in the film. His motivation is sheer crazy where Jason and Michael have an element of punishment about them. The tone of the films are quite different as Friday the 13th has an air of comedy. Halloween is just terror, but Texas Chain Saw is demented.
Every movie isn’t for everybody
The closest film I’ve seen that appears to be inspired by Texas Chain Saw is House of a Thousand Corpses. I wasn’t a huge fan of that movie either. I’m not really sure exactly what it is I dislike so much other than the lengths of the grotesque the films go. The sequence of screaming and close-ups of eyeballs made my skin crawl. I don’t mind being scared by a film, but I don’t enjoy being irritated.
The film does have that iconic monster and it definitely is horrific. It is clearly an great example of a low budget production and an innovative filmmaker. While I appreciate those elements, it didn’t make my viewing of the film enjoyable. I do like Leatherface as a villain, but the obnoxious nature of the actors made me dislike it. This is one where my rating reflects my experience while watching and not necessarily the film itself. However, if my complaints sound like things you would dislike you may want to avoid it.
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