The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [Blu-ray]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [Blu-ray]
Studio: Mpi Home Video Release Date: 09/30/2008 Run time: 69 minutes Rating: NrThis sensational, extremely influential, 1974 low-budget horror movie directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Salem’s Lot), may be notorious for its title, but it’s also a damn fine piece of moviemaking. And it’s blood-curdling scary, too. Loosely based on the true crimes of Ed Gein (also a partial inspiration for Psycho), the original Jeffrey Dahmer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of teenagers who pick up a hitchhiker and wind up in a backwoods horror chamber where they’re held captive, tortured, chopped up, and impaled on meat hooks by a demented cannibalistic family, including a character known as Leatherface who maniacally wields one helluva chainsaw. The movie’s powerful sense of dread is heightened by its grainy, semi-documentary style–but it also has a wicked sense of humor (and not that camp, self-referential variety that became so tiresome in subsequent horror films of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s). OK, in case you couldn’t tell, it’s “not for everyone.” But as a landmark in the development of the horror/slasher genre, it ranks with Psycho, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. –Jim Emerson
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Creepy and Very Disturbing!!!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a cult classic horror film. The music and the sounds used in the background at the farmhouse are scary. Sally, her brother, and their friends are driving to see if their grandpa’s grave has been robbed, but it hasn’t. They stop at a farmhouse and enter Leatherface’s domain. When Sally is captured, she is tortured and think she’s going to die. When she finally escapes, Leatherface chases after her with his powerful chainsaw! Will Sally survive? You gotta check out THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE!!!
4 Stars Visceral charge…
This film really digs into the core of your being and overwhelms your senses with jarring imagery and sound. The transfer of this film to the new Blu-ray format is great, considering this movie is now over 30 years old. Also, the extras and the 5.1 mix make it a worthy release. There is some grain to the picture, especially during the evening scenes, but overall, the print looks great. Tobe Hooper liberally uses tracking dolly shots in this offering, and it becomes tedious after a while, but it really sets the mood–as if the camera is another character in the piece. As a fan of more mainstream horror, it took me a while to warm up to this picture, but this edition is a prized addition to my collection.
5 Stars texas chainsaw mass.
I had recieved this product earlier that I thought i would have recieved it …. I was very pleased with my purchase.
5 Stars Slightly mis-leadingly titled classic
I actually own the ‘old’ 1998 TCM DVD, and all I can say is that this 2006 version cannot possibly be worse…and that’s because the ‘98 edition was excellent.
Apparently, they went back and remastered it for hi-def this time. The ‘98 version was ‘painstakingly restored’, so not sure if they used that version and remastered it for hi-def. But again, it can only look a bit better, though perhaps there’s a limit on films of a certain age, particulary something that was always kind of grainy like TCM.
This double-disc version does have some new extras, including another commentary (this time with the actors), and a new documentary, among other bits. Definitely, horror fans should own a proper DVD or Blu Ray or whatever next-gen format version of this now-legendary flick.
The movie is not for everyone, not even today with films that are actually bloodier. No, TCM is downright macabre and twisted, and even with a 1974 date, make no mistake it’s an effective horror film. It’s quite literally horrifying as it tells the tale of some ill-fated folks who wander into the backwoods of Texas and encounter a demented cannibal family. Seems this clan all got laid off at the local slaughterhouse but have gone into business for themselves making fresh ‘barbecue’. Most notable of the Sawyer family is the iconic Leatherface, the hulking man-child who weilds the titular power tool with maniacal fury. (Please note that there’s actually less chain-sawing in this movie than you may be led to believe). And don’t forget Granpa, who’s apparently about 120 years old and may or may not be dead. Perhaps the most demented scene involves a ‘dinner’ with the family in which the ‘final girl’ is tormented by insane family rituals. This climaxes with Grandpa trying (and failing, in a truly, truly black-gallow-humor moment) to kill one more time.
This flick was admitted to MoMA’s archives, so even serious film critics give it the time of day. Seriously, while one can’t be sure this is really the ‘ultimate’ version of the film (there’ll be another anniversary edition with a replica chainsaw or bone necklace in a box), this is another reverant horror release on the format.
4 Stars Who Brought The Chainsaw To The Family Barbecue?
Tobe Hooper’s horror classic gets some fine polishing in the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre Two Disc Ultimate Edition.” The film itself needs little explanation. It’s rather straightforward. College kids go messing around where they shouldn’t and are then brutally hacked, sawed, hooked and hammered to death. That’s the whole premise of the film in a nutshell. So what’s all the fuss about this film?
What makes it so great is its simplicity and the way in which that simplicity is delivered. Once the first person unwittingly walks into Leatherface’s home, the viewer is forced to see and hear the pain, stress and terror of each of the victims. To top it all off, the film has a frantic pace once people begin to die. As the body count rises, so does the strain on the viewer. The audience becomes a part of the insanity.
The film, while very good, does have a couple of stumbling blocks. The acting isn’t all that great (although Marilyn Burns was brilliant) and it takes the film a while to actually take off. Other than that the film is completely and utterly brutal.
This particular edition of the film comes with some nice extras. You get commentary from a number of people, including Hooper, Burns and Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface). There’s also a fun blooper reel, deleted scenes, some nice documentaries and a stills gallery.
For over-the-top horror that is more brutalizing than it is scary, give “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” a look. It changed the world of horror forever and continues to impress filmgoers all over the world.
Filed under: Blue Ray Movie Reviews