The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
By: Tobe Hooper (director, story), Kim Henkel (story)
Starring: Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen
Five friends visiting their grandpa’s old house are hunted down and terrorized by a chainsaw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.
One of the aspects of slasher flicks that I love best is how they have a long-standing tradition of showing that girls can take care of themselves. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the first films to start that trend, and even if you don’t appreciate how full-bore creepy it is, you should be able to appreciate the idea of a skinny teenage girl outwitting four grown men and saving herself.
The creepy should not be overlooked, though, because there’s a whole lot of it in this one. Having seen the most recent remake, I can confidently say that when it comes to being genuinely unsettling in that shivery, skin-crawling way, the original far exceeds the update. It isn’t as gory as you might be used to in more modern horror, but it doesn’t need to be. The meticulous execution of the concept is more than enough to make The Texas Chainsaw Massacre a benchmark.
