Review of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) by Tyrant719 — 27 May 2021

This is a decent horror movie. It’s definitely influential in the horror genre, but I don’t think the influence is as drastic as certain fans may portray it to be. The concept of violent depravity wasn’t new (Last House on the Left); the concept of backwood delinquents wasn’t new (Deliverance); the concept of cannibalism wasn’t new (Cannibal Holocaust).

What this film did was take those taboo subjects and put them in a movie that was offensive enough to garner attention, but, at the same time, easier to play to a wider audience than the previously mentioned films.

It more or less just IMPLIES, or simulates, the worst things that happen in the story so that they still happened but the film could avoid being censored. The “controversy” surrounding the film also helped push it to the mainstream, but that seems to be more of a result of this film capitalizing on the organic controversy that the previously mentioned predecessors actually garnered.

The story was written in a way that when people recounted the movie to friends, it made the movie seem worse than it really plays out. In all honesty, with all respect for its influence on the genre as a whole (which is overblown), you have to really be able to drown out the constant screaming of the lead actress to enjoy the last third of the movie.

Plus, the “smart writing” that I saw described by much more informed critics must have been from another movie since these characters seem to be on Valium; aside from the main girl, who seems to suffer from schizophrenia.

Don’t expect this film to be what critics play up to be. If you’re looking for a real classic 70’s horror movie, The Exorcist and Halloween are far and above this one, hands down.