Welcome everyone to our first installment of The Saw Is Family: The Texas Chainsaw Retrospective. This is something I have been pretty excited about. In the span of this latest run of this blog, I have covered quite a few franchises so far: Puppet Master, Leprechaun, Child's Play and Scream in their entireties. We have dipped our toes in with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the Elm Street remake. But while all those franchises were something that I had grown up with, Texas Chainsaw is one that's separate from the rest.
My first time watching the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre wasn't till at least 2006. It was something that I hadn't grown up with. My first installment of this franchise that I had seen was the 2003 remake. And that first watch of it was an interesting one as I just didn't really gel with it. It was probably because at the time I wasn't prepared for the film. And after watching the original Amityville Horror for the first time, I wasn't exactly ready to give the original Texas Chainsaw a try. But I remember that 2 disc set that they released for the film. I finally was able to sit down and give the film a watch.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre '74 is something that is incredibly interesting. It's a film that when it was originally released was pitched to be 'based on a true story'. Yeah, we know a lot of films claim to be 'based on a true story' when in reality - they not. While Leatherface and Texas Chainsaw didn't happen, it was still inspired by the story of Ed Gein. Ed Gein was also the inspiration for Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and Norman Bates in Psycho. It's incredibly interesting that these three horror icons are inspired by one man. Each of them manage to find some aspect of inspiration from that story.
When I had first watched Chainsaw '74, it was something that I was well aware of. I had been told repeatedly that I had to watch it. "It'll give you chills.", some of my friends had claimed. While that didn't happen, I did find myself incredibly intrigued by the film. While we are shown the events of the film through the view of Sally and her friends, the film is about Leatherface's family and their interactions with them. I was incredibly annoyed by Franklin, which I'm assuming is something that was supposed to be the case. He's someone that typically we would care for, but he's just a downright jerk to Sally and the rest of her friends. At some points, it's just downright sufferable. So, it just helped us root for Leatherface when the time came for poor Franklin.
I love Tobe Hooper's approach to showing us the family and making them so distinct and unique from one another . He gives each of them their own moment to shine - the Hitchhiker scene in the van, Leatherface's Hammer Time entrance into the film, Grandpa's masterful attempt to swing that hammer or that pitch perfect family dinner scene with Drayton. All of these moments are incredible and have gone on to become such iconic moments.
The way that the camera is used in this film doesn't necessarily make it feel like a film. It feels more of something like a documentary. When this first released, I could see this lending credence that this 'happened'. Especially as they were marketing this to be the most terrifying film at the time.
The pacing of this film is something that is also very interesting. Hooper took the time to introduce and develop the characters. Some may consider it to be a bit of a slow pace. But I have to say that it's much appreciated. Sally and Franklin receive a lot of the development in the film. Sally's friends however are a bit one note especially during the hitchhiker scene. How long did it have to take before the one driving knew what the hell was going on in the back? Everyone was playing it small and quiet. I guess I get it because they don't want to instigate Nubbins into doing anything further drastic. But he went on a little too long, in my opinion. Franklin's a jackass that starts off relatively light, but after encountering Nubbins it caused him to take a dark turn. He started looking at everyone differently to the point where he was completely crass.
The whole reason for this 'trip' for Sally and her friends being they are going to investigate the 'suspected vandalization' of her Grandfather's grave. Within the first few minutes of the film, we quickly solve that mystery. It was dug up, but it didn't look like he had been vandalized. After that had been solved, I would have been out of there. Instead, they decide to check out Grandfather's old house. And it's very apparent that nobody has been there for years. It's dilapidated and run down. Heck, the local 'watering hole' out back has all but dried up. There's also the small fact that there isn't many places to get some gas for their van. But outside of all that, it feels like it was a small reason to have them run into Leatherface and his family.
Now this may seem like I'm trashing the film, but I am not trying to. I really enjoy the film. It's a very original and distinct horror film. There's a reason that it was one of the first horror films to arrive on the scene. And when it did, it hit in a bit of a big way. Hooper has done many films over the span of his career. However, I don't think many of them come close to what he was able to achieve with Texas Chainsaw Massacre '74.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Follow BlazinBlue's Horror Review on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Subscribe to receive updates sent to your e-mail for the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment