Reviews of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and related work
- Remake: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974
)
A large number of bodies have been unearthed and mutilated in a Texas cemetery. A couple of siblings who started life in the vicinity come driving down in a van, with three friends, to see if their relatives were disturbed. The brother of the pair is disabled and describes what he can remember of changing technologies on a local cattle farm: The butchers were replaced by more efficient machines. Speaking of which, the van runs a bit low on fuel. The first gas station they find has an empty reservoir, oil crisis and all... After rummaging through the old family manor, two of the travellers decide to ask the neighbours for gas, not noticing the bits of bone and broken clock in the surrounding trees.
Slasher. There is no chainsaw massacre in it, but there’s a large number of contemporary and traditional US horrors baked into a single film. Excellent symbolism with predictable low-budget problems. Nightmarish soundtrack.
References here: True Detective (2014).
‣ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
The mercy killing and Leatherface at work with his sewing machine show an ambition to keep it realistic which fails on the whole. No glaring meta or comic relief, though on the other hand, there is wet-tank-top fan service.