THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

the texas chainsaw massacre (1974) movie

Genre              |   Horror

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   83 minutes

Released         |   4 October 1974

cast

Marilyn Burns ... Sally
Allen Danziger ... Jerry
Paul A. Partain ... Franklin
William Vail ... Kirk
Teri McMinn ... Pam
Edwin Neal ... Hitchhiker
Jim Siedow ... Old Man
Gunnar Hansen ... Leatherface
​John Dugan ... Grandfather

director

Tobe Hooper

writer

​Kim Henkel ... (screenplay by) and
Tobe Hooper ... (screenplay by)
 
Kim Henkel ... (story by)

cinematographer

Daniel Pearl ​

music

Wayne Bell ... (music score)
Tobe Hooper ... (music score)

film editor

J. Larry Carroll ... (as Larry Carroll)
Sallye Richardson ​

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​​​​​​​​​30,859,000

Australia                 $​​​​​ not available

North America       $​​​​​​​​​​​​​30,859,000

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movie minutiae

​Surprisingly, this film is one of the least bloody horror films of all time. This is because Tobe Hooper intended to make the movie for a "PG" rating, by keeping violence moderate, language mild, and having most of the horror implied off-screen rather than shown in great detail onscreen. However, this plan had actually backfired, and made the film even more horrifying. Because despite cutting and repeated submissions, the Ratings Board insisted on an "X" rating, and it wasn't until the film received the "R" rating when Hooper gave up and released it. Hooper had a similar ratings problem with the sequel.

​Gunnar Hansen said that, during filming, he didn't get along very well with Paul A. Partain, who played Franklin. A few years later he met Partain again and realized that Partain, a method actor, had simply chosen to stay in character even when not filming. The two remained good friends up to Partain's death.

The film's original distributor was Bryanston Distribution Company, which turned out to be a Mafia front operated by Louis Peraino ("Butchie"), who used the movie to launder profits he made from DEEP THROAT (1972). In return, the production received only enough money to reimburse the investors and pay the cast and crew $405 apiece. The producers eventually discovered that Peraino had lied to them about the film's profits. After he was arrested on obscenity charges when his role in "Deep Throat" was revealed, the cast and crew filed suit against him and were awarded $25,000 each. New Line Cinema, which obtained the rights to the film from the now-bankrupt Bryanston, paid off the cast and crew as part of the purchase agreement.

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related movies

THE WICKER MAN ​(1973)

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) MOVIE IMAGES

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THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Sally, Franklin and their three friends run out of gas while driving to their grandfather's house. One by one they are tormented and killed by a chainsaw-wielding killer and his psychopathic family.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 4 October 2017

​​Pop Movee Rating

​Despite what fans may say, Tobe Hooper’s original THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is not the terrifying, visceral experience it has been made out to be. As an exercise in low-budget movie making, there’s no doubt that Hooper’s story of a group of teens who run into more than they bargained for is an above average effort, but it’s certainly not the “Best Ever” Horror movie that many make it out to be.

The most impressive aspect of the film is the theme layered into Hooper’s script, co-written with Kim Henkel, that is a vicious commentary about the breakdown of American society. Gripped by the trauma of the Vietnam War, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE draws a distinct line between the liberal, “Hippy” blissful ignorance of the left-leaning element of society and the “Hawk”, hardline “Kill or be killed” attitude of the God-fearing, war-mongering right-wing conservatives.

Viewed as a reactionary political statement, the film makes a much greater narrative impact than it does in a cinematic sense, and says a great deal about domestic concerns that Americans were no longer as certain about their own ‘Manifest Destiny’.

The script takes a group of six young people and places them in an environment they are somewhat familiar with, but are unaware that life-threatening danger lurks close by. Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her paraplegic wheelchair bound brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) decide to take a swing by their grandfather’s abandoned, rambling house after visiting the cemetery to make sure his final resting place has not been disturbed by a spate of recent grave robbing.

Sally’s friends, Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail) and Pam (Terin McMinn), accompany her and Franklin on the trip. En route to their grandfather’s home, the group’s blissful ignorance is taken down a peg when they encounter a hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) who exhibits some deeply disturbing behaviour. The group recoil in terror when the hitchhiker attacks Franklin with a knife.

In spite of the attack, the group press on in search of the home, but are low on gas, so stop at the next road house. The manager of the road house (Jim Siedow) tells them that he’s also out of gas, but the tanker is on its way and encourages them to wait. He seems genuinely concerned that they shouldn’t continue their search because there’s people they may not be so hospitable to them. The warning goes unheeded. Sally and her friends head off, short on gas and even shorter on common sense.

By modern Horror film standards, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE takes its time to put Sally and her friends in danger, as the film’s first victim doesn’t fall foul of Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) until 36 minutes into the 83 minute running time. Even then, Hooper positions the camera a long way back from the action, choosing to film from the the front door entrance and down the hallway. This technique makes the killer’s attack on Kirk seem random as the viewer catches glimpses of what is happening while the young man is bludgeoned to death with a hammer.

In no way could THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE be considered gratuitous. The majority of the violence inflicted by Leatherface is suggested. It’s the non-visual elements that make the film a little unsettling. Noise effects such as the chainsaw, Wayne Bell & Hooper’s music and the Marilyn Burns’ scream combine to create a soundscape that milks every moment, especially when all three combine in the early morning climax.

This is just as well, as the chase that ensues when Sally escapes the marcarbe family meal degenerates into pure vaudeville. With the sound turned down, the images on the screen are utterly ridiculous; especially the Benny Hill chase around the cattle truck that pulls over after the hitchhiker, revealed to be Leatherface’s brother, is hit and killed.

​THE TEXAS CHANISAW MASSACRE became the blueprint for slasher Horror movies. When it becomes clear that the story is going to be a numbers game, the little suspense the film has built to this point quickly evaporates.

Pam goes in search of Kirk, Jerry goes looking for the pair of them and then Sally and Franklin gooes in search of everyone.

Unfortunately, the speed at which the majority of the group exit leaves little room for the story to go other than the bizarre!

The film’s Third Act features some downright strangeness, with Leatherface serving his family dinner dressed as a woman, while the previously thought dead grandfather comes to life when he gets the opportunity to suck the blood from Sally’s finger like some desperate, ill-fed vampire in search of its next fix of blood. By the time, Sally makes a second run for it, the film has well and truly worn out its welcome and the viewer is quite within their rights to be asking, “When will this end?”

It’s not until the film’s final, and most famous, moment that the narrative and its underlying message comes sharply into focus. Sally, representative of the liberal left, has escaped the madness of Leatherface and his family; all of whom are the living embodiment of the ultra-conservative, right wing extremists who somehow captured the American political agenda in the wake of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, thrust the country into the disastrous Vietnam War and allowed a second-rate politician (and third-rate criminal) like Richard Nixon to ascend to the Presidency of the United States.

The most frightening part of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is the absence of justice. Sally gets away, but Leatherface survives to kill another day. The most disturbing image of the whole film comes at the very end; Leatherface freewheeling with his chainsaw along the highway, acting like a defeated child who has just lost a high-stakes game of Catch and Kiss. That moment, caught against the dawning Sun, is why the film has left an indelible memory among those who extol the its virtues.

While the power of the film itself is over-emphasized, there’s no doubt, it’s not the simple, straight-out Horror outing that has helped it gain that misplaced reputation.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) USEFUL LINKS

​The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Wikipedia
​The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - IMDb
​The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Rotten Tomatoes

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