Sally (Marilyn Burns) and her friends and brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) are all stuffed in a hot van, off to visit the gravesite of Sally and Franklin’s grandfather. There has been a series of grave robberies in that very cemetery so they’re making sure their grandfather’s plot wasn’t violated. They travel on towards their old, abandoned childhood home, where they end up picking up a crazy hitchhiker and almost getting killed. Eventually, they end up on the old property, stuck there waiting for a new gas shipment to come to the station down the road. One by one they get picked off until only Sally and Franklin are left. That’s when they run into Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), and the true terror begins. Everyone knows the story of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and if you haven’t seen it, then ten-thousand forms of shame should be heaped upon you. Last night I got the very rare opportunity to see this film, one of my Top Five Horror Movies Ever, on the big screen, and at a drive-in, no less! It played as the second bill of a double feature with A Nightmare on Elm Street. What a pairing! Instead of trying to review TCM, I decided to make a few notes and share them with you, observations of some sublime (and some not so sublime) moments of pure, quiet terror that not only accentuates the violence that gets unleashed, but makes it that much more horrible. So, dip your toes in and here we go…
1. The opening shot of the solar flares, followed by the flash photos of unearthed corpses. This combined with the unsettling, hellish sounds of the camera taking the pictures, is immediately unnerving and disconcerting. The pull-out to reveal the corpse staked to a tombstone is a magnificent, grotesque revelation. You know immediately you’re in for a rough ride. 2. The drunk old man, gibbering on the ground. It’s kind of funny, but there’s a menace to it that’s hard to put a finger on. 3. When Franklin is talking about the technique they use to put down cattle at the slaughterhouse, and the immediate cut to a solitary cow, staggering in place, waiting for the unexpected killing blow. This is the fate that awaits most of the members of the van. 4. The jaunty music in the background as the van driver blithely tools down the highway, unaware of the madness the hitchhiker is perpetrating just a few feet away. The comical juxtaposition really adds to the menace of the moment. 5. The weird dude washing the van windows. He’s just off-putting and slightly funny, but the laughter he elicits is from pure nervousness. 6. The nest of spiders in the old house. It may be obvious, but it’s still sickening. 7. The tooth on the front porch. Again, obvious but Jesus Christ, if you found something like that, wouldn’t you just run? 8. The living room; the captured chicken in the birdcage; the dangling bones; the couch made from a skeleton. Again, very obvious, but goddamn, it is pure madness. Right then and there you know, beyond any doubt, that reason has left the room and you are dealing with pure nightmare. 9. Sally’s hair getting caught in the branches as she flees Leatherface. Horrifically frustrating and frightening. 10. The mummified grandmother, revealed much like Mother is in Psycho. 11. The meat that’s being barbecued in the gas station as Sally is freaking out. It’s the long, lingering shot of it, and the slow realization by Sally that something isn’t right, as the radio in the background squawks on and on about the grave-robbing incidents nearby. 12. The cook, when he enters the room carrying that piece of rope and that bag, wearing his playful grin. If ever there was an “oh shit” moment, that’s it right there. After this, things go full-tilt crazy, and the descent into madness is complete. The “subtleties” are pretty much gone, but I’d like to add one more item to the list before I’m done here. (lucky number) 13. The hanging light above the dinner table, draped with two skinned human faces. Nothing is more ghoulish than that.
Seeing this masterpiece on the big screen really brought it home just how amazing it truly is. I noticed camera shots and framings I’d never paid attention to before. The talent behind the camera was immense, and Tobe Hooper and crew simply don’t get enough credit for their artistry. But that’s an argument for another day. In the end, if you haven’t seen this, you simply must. If you have, ‘tis the season to pay another visit to the sweltering heat of Texas, and to its infamous Chain Saw Massacre.
★★★★
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