The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Last Watch Date - October 2, 2024
Total Times Watched - So many times
Comments
Weirdest thing about this movie is that sometimes it's written as "Chainsaw" and sometimes it's written as "Chain Saw." I'm going with Chain Saw for the title and Chainsaw for the slug, deal with it.
TCM is a classic because of the influence it had and I know there are still people out there watching it for the first time thinking "WOW this is crazy!" I watched this with my teenagers and they were definitively NOT those types. They were bored for almost all of the movie and complained about the constant screaming near the end.
And you know what? I agree with them. This movie is pretty boring. It's not even very long, but it feels like a slog. That's possibly because I've seen it SO MANY times, but there's no surprise there for me and it doesn't have enough interesting stuff to revisit.
From the acting perspective, it's hit or miss. It's a horror movie, so I'll give them a little break there. The script is fine and it's really one of the first teens getting into a tough situation movies, so again I will forgive it of some clunkiness. The pacing is pretty decent for what it is, but there really isn't all that much that happens in this movie. I did read people saying they think Franklin is a sympathetic character now. I disagree with this. He shouldn't have gone on the trip at all, which he even says at one point, but he's there. Stop whining about everything, you knew the people on the trip and you knew the situation. Just get sawed in the gut and stop complaining already!
Leatherface is pretty cool in this movie. This is the most interesting portrayal of him because he seems to be so confused by these people coming onto his property and invading his house. It's hard to hold things against him. I mean, sure he's putting people on meat hooks while they're alive and hitting people in the head with hammers.. and I guess chasing people around with a chainsaw, BUT STILL.
I hate the hitch hiker so much, but their dad is amazing (and even better in TCM2). Now get upstairs and get your grampa!
Recommended?
Yes. I know it sounds like I hate it, but I don't. It's a good movie, especially if you've never seen it before. I'm really not sure where that truck driver ran off to, but I've heard he's still running to this day!
