The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Dir: Tobe Hooper
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When I think of the horror genre, a few titles come to mind, and this is consistently one of the first, despite the fact that, until now, I had never seen it. Such is the popularity and archetypal nature of this 1974 slasher.
It's very loose and has a remarkably independent feel to it, thanks in no small part to the heavy use of handheld camera shots and shaky zooms.
That said, I actually think this added to the film's mystique. It felt more real, and therefore more scary, as the audience almost feels as though they are there in the film with the characters.
Director Tobe Hooper clearly had a vision for this, and that was terrifying realism - after all, the film is heavily influenced by the harrowing real life case of serial killer Ed Gein - who committed some horrific acts in the 1940s and 50s. At just 83 minutes, this is a remarkably quick watch, particularly the second half, where the pace picks up tremendously.
Marilyn Burns stars as a classic final girl style character - arguably being one of the first of that kind. None of the performances here are amazing, but honestly, the almost amateur nature of the actors actually works in the film's favour I feel.
Gunnar Hansen plays the iconic 'Leatherface' - and in the scenes in which he is actually doing the killing, he is great. However, in his more 'subdued' scenes, if that's what you can call them, he does perhaps overdo it.
Paul A. Partain plays what I can only describe as one of the most annoying characters in cinema history. He is genuinely the biggest negative of the film. It's almost distracting how annoying his character is.
Teri McMinn is a good supporting actress, who has some solid scenes, particularly due to the believability of her fear too, which is always a plus.
Finally, I'll give mentions to some cast members who gave performances worth mentioning, though none were exceptional; Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger and Jim Siedow.
Overall, while this may not be the smoothest films production-wise, it is easy to see why 70s audiences were genuinely horrified by the events in this classic horror. It's iconic in its genre for a good reason; it's scary. It does exactly what it needs to in order to terrify its audience. There's no messing about, just blood and gore.
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