Best Horror Films Ever - Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Second In A List Of The Scariest Films Ever Made
Jul 28, 2008
There are many of types horror films but one of the more successful and most parodied is the Slasher genre. Probably the most famous and the one that started entire cycles of films such as the Elm Street saga is Halloween which will be discussed at a later date. Before this film came out though there was a low budget shocker which could be said to be the genesis of the genre.
Released in 1974 Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre caused a stir in the horror fraternity and like the first film in this list became the talk of playgrounds everywhere due to a banning order. Quite the opposite of what Hooper had intended...he wanted it to be a PG!
Filmed in chronological order over four weeks in blistering heat, the semi-realistic tone which would be copied years later in Wolf Creek and countless indie films places you right with the characters. The feel of improvisation runs through it adding to the realism and once the terror starts you are too attached to the characters to escape.
For a film which is regarded as one of the goriest films of its kind it is suprising that the blood is kept to a bare minimum, practically negligible (consider the damage a chainsaw would make to you then watch this film). The way it works is on a psychological level and by the last half hour you are trapped at the dinner table with Sally (Marilyn Burns) with only the insane redneck family and her screams for company.
A running theme in Slasher films tends to be the introduction of a classic villain. Over the years we have had such luminaries as Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. Each of these surely holds a debt to Gunnar Hansen's Leatherface. Both childlike and totally insane he embodies Southern terror like no-one else. Sequels would build on his story and explain how he ended up like he did but this only serves to put a stain on the original film.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre may have been a small low-budget film but its impact on the horror film cannot be underestimated. Even today it still strikes fear in the heart of viewers and can still hold a claim to being one of the few banned films which just might be justified. Obviously in this day and age we are more immune to this type of film so it is testament to the power of this film that it can still be regarded as a classic.
Next - the best vampire film by far.
