Brock Landers
01-16-2001, 03:21 PM
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" - A Brock Landers Overview/Tribute of Brock Landers Favorite Horror Film Ever…
Franklin: "If I have any more fun today I don't think I can take it!"
In the summer of 1973, a group of young filmmakers went into the burning Texas heat to make a horror film. They didn't have any delusions that they were making art and they didn't have the Internet to promote it. All they had were cameras, a crew and a desire to scare the shit out of everyone who would eventually see the film…and I would argue that they succeeded. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is gritty, sweaty and putrid. You can smell it in your nose, taste it in your mouth and feel it in your bones. It's sticky, moist and stomach-churning…
The first time I saw "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" I was in my teens. I had flown to Austin to visit a friend from high school, and we decided to see a re-release of the film. Sitting in that sweltering theater, sans air conditioner, the film took on a life of its own, making me feel something I had never felt before with any film. As we drove towards Georgetown, Texas, miles outside of Austin in the rural countryside, it began to sink in as we made our way through the night …no streetlights, an old pot-holed two-lane country road, the occasional two-story abandoned house settled in overgrown grass and weeds…boarded up windows, burnt-out ceilings, faded and chipping paint, the smell of the occasional gas station selling barbecue (most gas stations in Texas do) and the total blank darkness of a hot, humid summer evening… I was fucking scared shitless…No doubt in my mind, as I checked the gas gauge on the dashboard to make sure we didn't get stuck in this hell on earth…with that said, you may better understand why I like this film…it bothers the shit out of me and I love it for that…
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (along with "Last House On The Left") established a new sub-genre in horror…the "human" side of terror. I mean, these guys weren't just monsters in boogeyman outfits. We (the audience) actually got to see what human beings are capable of doing. Loosely based on Ed Gein, the serial killer, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is a relentless depiction of a group of teens who are subjected to death and degradation by a bunch of backwoods crazies. The director, Tobe Hooper (who also co-scripted & produced), created an unprecedented masterpiece that while not that gory…managed to frighten enough cinema-goers as to collect a cult following as a horror classic. The amazing thing that sticks with me is that you hardly see anything. All of the action takes place under the frame, above the frame, behind the door, etc… but people still swear they saw chainsaws ripping people apart…and you know what? They probably did…I mean, the mind is a strange and wonderful thing…
The story goes a little something like this… a van full of teenagers is heading across the Texas (filmed outside of Austin) wasteland. Everything seems to be going okay for them…that is, until they pick up an odd little hitchhiker (Franklin: "I think we just picked up Dracula."). He tells tham stories of cattle slaughter (Franklin: "They just shoot a bullet in their head, and then retract it. It's just BOOM-shht-BOOM-shht."), takes their pictures and, when he doesn't get paid for his handiwork, he starts slashing out with a rusty razor. They naturally kick him out of the van, but their road to hell is only beginning. When they stop off for gas and a breather, they get hunted down one-by-one by a large man wearing the skins of his victims on his face (hence "Leatherface"). And his preferred weapon? Well… your guess is as good as mine…
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is an acquired taste. It's also a horror classic full of haunting images (ex: the vast blue Texas sky, spiders covering window, the flash shots of the corpses in the beginning), great camera shots (ex: camera moving up behind girl on swing, under swing as girl walks toward house, and following her in as she discovers the house of horrors) and many memorable scenes (ex:Teri McMinnon on a meat hook, Marilyn Burns passing out when Grandpa sucks her fingers, spasming body being dragged into room after hammer blow to head…metal door slamming). With that said, if you enjoy scary movies and you haven't seen it yet…you should do so…very soon… (Old Man: "There's just some things in life you got to do. Don't mean you have to like it….those girls... those girls don't wanna go messin' round no old house!")…
(DVD Note: (Pioneer Special Edition)…this disc is really great…it features an incredibly insightful commentary track by the filmmakers…brimming with anecdotes and history. There are some stories that will make your jaw drop. There are six deleted scenes, three alternate footage loops, the "Death Of Kirk" study, a huge collection of trailers from the entire "Chainsaw' series, a blooper reel, a prop and sets reel and photo galleries…not to mention a freaky menu screen Easter Egg that pops up on the main screen. A worthy disc treatment to a great film.)
Franklin: "If I have any more fun today I don't think I can take it!"
In the summer of 1973, a group of young filmmakers went into the burning Texas heat to make a horror film. They didn't have any delusions that they were making art and they didn't have the Internet to promote it. All they had were cameras, a crew and a desire to scare the shit out of everyone who would eventually see the film…and I would argue that they succeeded. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is gritty, sweaty and putrid. You can smell it in your nose, taste it in your mouth and feel it in your bones. It's sticky, moist and stomach-churning…
The first time I saw "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" I was in my teens. I had flown to Austin to visit a friend from high school, and we decided to see a re-release of the film. Sitting in that sweltering theater, sans air conditioner, the film took on a life of its own, making me feel something I had never felt before with any film. As we drove towards Georgetown, Texas, miles outside of Austin in the rural countryside, it began to sink in as we made our way through the night …no streetlights, an old pot-holed two-lane country road, the occasional two-story abandoned house settled in overgrown grass and weeds…boarded up windows, burnt-out ceilings, faded and chipping paint, the smell of the occasional gas station selling barbecue (most gas stations in Texas do) and the total blank darkness of a hot, humid summer evening… I was fucking scared shitless…No doubt in my mind, as I checked the gas gauge on the dashboard to make sure we didn't get stuck in this hell on earth…with that said, you may better understand why I like this film…it bothers the shit out of me and I love it for that…
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (along with "Last House On The Left") established a new sub-genre in horror…the "human" side of terror. I mean, these guys weren't just monsters in boogeyman outfits. We (the audience) actually got to see what human beings are capable of doing. Loosely based on Ed Gein, the serial killer, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is a relentless depiction of a group of teens who are subjected to death and degradation by a bunch of backwoods crazies. The director, Tobe Hooper (who also co-scripted & produced), created an unprecedented masterpiece that while not that gory…managed to frighten enough cinema-goers as to collect a cult following as a horror classic. The amazing thing that sticks with me is that you hardly see anything. All of the action takes place under the frame, above the frame, behind the door, etc… but people still swear they saw chainsaws ripping people apart…and you know what? They probably did…I mean, the mind is a strange and wonderful thing…
The story goes a little something like this… a van full of teenagers is heading across the Texas (filmed outside of Austin) wasteland. Everything seems to be going okay for them…that is, until they pick up an odd little hitchhiker (Franklin: "I think we just picked up Dracula."). He tells tham stories of cattle slaughter (Franklin: "They just shoot a bullet in their head, and then retract it. It's just BOOM-shht-BOOM-shht."), takes their pictures and, when he doesn't get paid for his handiwork, he starts slashing out with a rusty razor. They naturally kick him out of the van, but their road to hell is only beginning. When they stop off for gas and a breather, they get hunted down one-by-one by a large man wearing the skins of his victims on his face (hence "Leatherface"). And his preferred weapon? Well… your guess is as good as mine…
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is an acquired taste. It's also a horror classic full of haunting images (ex: the vast blue Texas sky, spiders covering window, the flash shots of the corpses in the beginning), great camera shots (ex: camera moving up behind girl on swing, under swing as girl walks toward house, and following her in as she discovers the house of horrors) and many memorable scenes (ex:Teri McMinnon on a meat hook, Marilyn Burns passing out when Grandpa sucks her fingers, spasming body being dragged into room after hammer blow to head…metal door slamming). With that said, if you enjoy scary movies and you haven't seen it yet…you should do so…very soon… (Old Man: "There's just some things in life you got to do. Don't mean you have to like it….those girls... those girls don't wanna go messin' round no old house!")…
(DVD Note: (Pioneer Special Edition)…this disc is really great…it features an incredibly insightful commentary track by the filmmakers…brimming with anecdotes and history. There are some stories that will make your jaw drop. There are six deleted scenes, three alternate footage loops, the "Death Of Kirk" study, a huge collection of trailers from the entire "Chainsaw' series, a blooper reel, a prop and sets reel and photo galleries…not to mention a freaky menu screen Easter Egg that pops up on the main screen. A worthy disc treatment to a great film.)