The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 40th Anniversary

Since the dawn of time, man has entertained one another by telling chilling tales of the mad and macabre. In the beginning merely illuminated by the flickering lights of a campfire, later the stories of horror was put on to paper and the theater stage as the institution of man grew more sophisticated, through the annals of time.When the magic of motion pictures first dawned upon us in the early 20th century, that grand tradition naturally continued in this new medium and now, almost a hundred years later, an extensive catalogue of titles have been responsible for generations upon generations of nightmares, chronicled and passed down through the ages to invoke joy and wonderment in the hungry masses of scare crazed fans.In the 21st century however, one of the ultimate truths in the way of fright flicks is that something changed back in the smoldering summer heat of 1974 (just as it did when George A. Romero created the modernized version of the zombie in 1968). The change? From them on out, all roads traveled in the ways of horror would inevitably lead to Texas.After hearing rumors about grave robbing and ritualistic desecration of the corpses at various rural graveyards in and around Texas, five youths, consisting of Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her invalided brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) accompanied by three of their friends are subsequently en route to examine the condition of their grandfather's resting place and afterwards spend a few days crashing at an old family heirloom - an abandoned farmhouse, that's as desolated as it is sheltered - for a bit of relaxation under the blistering hot summer sun. As the group ventures though the bucolic landscape, they pass a depleted and crumbling old slaughterhouse, where they decide pick up a dense looking hitch-hiker (Edwin Neal) standing at the side of the road, but this benevolent act backfires horribly as the mood turns increasingly sinister, culminating in the ominous stranger attacking the wheelchair bound Franklin and cutting his arm with a filthy straight razor before the group can managed to push him out of the van.As the party reaches the confides of the old family home, the mood is understandably a bit tense, with Franklin in particular, distressed by the preceding events, getting on everyone's nerves with his excessive whining about the matter.As the mood starts to settle and the group begins to unwind, the faction soon separate and while some stay at the house to get settled, others turns to exploring the area - an initiative that will prove highly ill-advised as a certain part of the region's residents doesn't take too kindly to strangers. Soon the kids plunge into a seemingly never-ending nightmare as they are attacked by the monstrous Leatherface (Gunner Hansen) and his nefarious family of cannibals who proves that you don't need much in the way of etiquettes or social skills, when equipped with a bloody big chainsaw and a full-size supply of meat hooks.You might wonder why I chose to incorporate the little intro on the history of horror, preceding the synopsis. Well, you see, I was going for that epic feel - a touch of grandeur, if you will, as I not only regard The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the greatest horror film of all time but quite possibly the greatest motion picture ever produced, period!Just like it pertains to most examples of great filmmaking, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is utterly unique - a movie that completely obliterates genre conventions and transcends the boundaries of its form. I cited Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968) earlier, which is the film that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre undoubtedly shears most of its attributes.Both were conjured up during times of great turmoil, globally as well as within the United States. Both movies also reflects an alarming distrust in authorities and societies' appointed leaders and their escalating lies and deception, while simultaneously operating as a stake through the heart of the American myth concerning the altruistic good guys sporting white hats while forever prevailing against the deficient elements. In these films man as a whole, was the deficient element. Another funny coincidence is that both films have also been added to the permanent collection of New York City's Museum of Modern Art, thus validating their claim as legitimate, unconventional art. Not bad for a film originally entitled Headcheese.Co-written by Kim Henkel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is, just as Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) and Deranged (Alan Ormsby, Jeff Gillen, 1974), inspired by the heinous crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, and introduces gritty Texas-atmosphere in a sizzling heat with discomfort, disgust and death along with the now almost mythical chainsaw and one of the most iconic masks in horror cinema history. But the film is not just cruel and horrifying. It's also a kind of social satire (without being funny), which turns and twists 'the American dream' and the gloss image of the perfect American family.Daniel Pearl's secure sense of eerie cinematography is one of this film's many strengths. Shot on 16mm using a Bolex and Eclair NPR camera, the visuals and the compositions are a work of pure incontrovertible art (you could hang any frame on the wall) and Pearl's handheld, free-wheeling, pseudo-documentary cinema-vérité style with almost panic-like zooms on skulls, bones, rusty birdcages and dilated eyes, is an ideal fit for the frantic and unsettling narrative, palpable throughout the piece. But that doesn't mean that there isn't room for some sly and rather sophisticated set-ups along the way. Check out the scene where Teri McInnis' Pam walks from her previous position by a swing set, towards the ominous looking farmhouse, for further proof of this.A grainy and nicotine yellow color pattern seems to be all pervading in the scenes depicting daytime activities, capturing the desolated landscape of the lone star state flawlessly, with its desiccated dirt roads and untamed vegetation, whereas nighttime as a fusion of shadowy black and steely blues invokes similar awe and astonishment at the capacity of the film and the people behind it.The score by Wayne Bell and Hooper himself is another triumph. This experimental soundtrack is reminiscent of twisted uncontrolled metal sounds and squeals, and is highly unorthodox in its chaotic sound design, tailor-made for evoking anguish and discomfort.Last I want to mention the film's brilliant set-design courtesy of art director Robert A. Burns, which truly act as a benchmark for the genre and has acted as inspiration for every "Hillbilly Horror" following.The acting performances are also incredibly effective. Especially Marilyn Burns and Paul A. Partain are extremely valuable in bestowing the film with an almost impenetrable sense of tension and despair, throughout its 90 minute of run time. The rest of the fresh faced cast seems to act primarily as fodder, but personally I enjoyed the fact that they are portrayed with an air of naive innocence about them.But let's face it, you came here for the family and boy do they deliver, as this is quite possible the baddest bunch of hombres ever depicted on film. Edwin Neal is absolutely radiant as the psychotic Hitch-Hiker, attacking each scene with a manic energy befitting a true berserker; he doesn't so much draw you in as pull you violently face to face with his epic performance.Equally impressive is the character of the cook, the irascibly family patriarch, who is brilliantly brought to life by veteran character actor Jim Siedow. Sadly he passed away in 2003 but left us this immaculate part to enjoy. Leatherface meanwhile is a full-fletched horror-icon, celebrated by all as the true face of the franchise and it's not difficult to see why. Gunner Hansen embodies this monstrosity with all his might and he truly is Leatherface, reducing all others who have subsequently donned the human skin mask to a mere afterthought.Tobe Hooper's almost apocalyptic landscape is a deserted wasteland of dissolution where vibrant colors and hope for a future is all but desiccated. The lone star state has metamorphosized into a hellish bone yard of dying cattle, rusted gas stations and desecrated cadavers, and now functions as home base for a pack of psychotic killers whose hunt for rations is the standard when it comes to challenging the established American experience in movie terminology.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is without a doubt Tobe Hooper's masterpiece and an utterly flawless motion picture experience and its impact on the unsuspecting viewer, neither can nor will be replicated, ever again. Hooper has never since managed, or even gotten close, to reaching the majestic heights of his debut feature. Much like a young Orson Wells, Hooper hit the ground running, only to gradually run out of steam throughout his subsequent career. Never the less, I have lived this film like few others, through the times of VHS and Laserdiscs up until DVDs and Blu-ray and a viewing of this magnum opus have come to constitute a homecoming. To me, the saw is family!The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has more releases then there exists jokes about pedophilia in the Catholic Church, but for true TCM aficionados there is only one real choice, that being the pricey yet absolutely beautiful Japanese 5-disc box set from DEX Entertainment.Not only do you get the discs housed in a fantastic digi-pack confined in a sturdy hard cover box but the film's iconographic artwork is gorgeously recreated on the package for maximum effect.Furthermore you get the film's Japanese lobby cards, two booklets (one of which has a hardback spine) with lots of great pictures, the Japanese movie poster and some sort of certificate.Disc one is home to the main feature presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 and the picture quality is absolutely flawless, the same goes for the audio track available in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0, and mono for purists.Extras on this disc consist of various trailers, TV and radio spots for the film. There are also two audio commentaries available. One features director Tobe Hooper, cinematographer Daniel Pearl, and star Gunnar Hansen and it's an essential listen filled with tons of making-of info about the development of the script, shooting in crazy, harsh conditions and the success of the film.The second track features art director Robert A. Burns intercut with cast members Marilyn Burns, Paul Partain and Allen Danziger and it's a fun albeit fluffy listen.Disc two presents a wide variety of extras, starting off with the hour long documentary `Flesh Wounds' and two featurettes entitled `Chainsaw House Tour' lasting 20 minutes where Gunnar Hansen gives us a walking tour of the infamous halls of horrors and `Off the Hook' which lasts 10 minutes. Last you get deleted scenes and outtakes, blooper reel, still gallery and various promotional materials to round off the disc.Disc three is somewhat exclusive as it presents the Japanese TV version with a plethora of Japanese promo material like trailers and poster art.Disc four and five houses the two excellent feature length documenters entitled `A Family Portrait' and `The Shocking Truth', and there's a wide selection of extras, but these consist of Japanese filmmakers in interviews talking about the impact the film has had on their lives and doesn't have any subtitles so unless you speak the language it's filler, I'm afraid. Most of this material is already available on other releases but there is absolutely no way you'd be able to refute the awesome presence that this stunning release will instill on your DVD/Blu-ray collection. Enjoy!

A CULT FAVORITE IN 4K IS AN ADDED BONUS

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE has been released and re-released on VHS and DVD so many times that comparing the best version seems impossible, but I think they've finally done it. This marks the first time I have ever double-dipped on a film without regretting it just a teeny bit. I seriously doubt that a better version of this film could be released without inventing an entirely new type of data technology.The major reason I bought this is to take advantage of the brand new much-ballyhooed 4K restoration for the anniversary release this year, and even I have to admit, it looks better than the previous Blu-ray edition. I think the image quality we see here is as good as the film can ever get. TCM was shot on 16mm reversal stock--meaning the film was shot as a positive image instead of a negative image as was traditional--so the limitations of the source material have finally been reached. ALL the special features from the previous editions have been ported over and some even upconverted so they don't look as poor as they did before, and included are some featurettes that had been left off the previous editions, such as interviews with the producer (who sheds some light on the dark financial history), and a new interview with Jim Dugan, who played Grandpa.The only thing that seems to be missing is the 1988 feature-length documentary TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: A FAMILY PORTRAIT, which was probably too long to include on the special features disc or perhaps in copyright limbo. Either way, that seems to be the only thing they could have added to make this 100% complete.The 4K restoration is glorious. The image is as clean and bright as any I've seen despite the heavy-handed digital color-correction that's been in place since the mid-2000s. The image is slightly grainier than it should be because the film has been formatted to fit a 16:9 screen, so as a result it has been "magnified" to fill that and as such, the flaws in sharpness and the textures in grain have been magnified with them, giving the final image a little general fuzziness because it's been enhanced so large. At times it feels like watching the movie through binoculars focused on the actual frame because the details are so big. And that brings me to the special feature I am DYING to mention:SUPER SPECIAL FEATUREAlong with all the additional featurettes comes a NEW set of outtakes and deleted scenes, which consist mostly of BTS production footage. Unhappily, the audio has long since been lost, but the footage looks like it was shot yesterday. Whoever had this footage apparently kept it locked in a vault for 40 years because aside from the scratches and dirt it probably accrued in the field, it looks positively pristine.This BTS footage is kept in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and as a result, the image looks probably the way the feature film should: viewing it in its untruncated aspect ratio makes the fine details finer, and the grain doesn't create the border fuzz that you see in the actual feature. Despite the lack of restoration and the cleaning of dirt, I get the feeling watching these outtakes that the final film should look the same way, and the magnification effect I mentioned above doesn't occur. But you definitely get to see how this film would have failed because the deleted portions show the B-roll and alternate angles that are very plain, boring, and functional, and with none of the impact of those in the master. Included is a test shot of the famous dolly shot of Pam approaching the house as a functional profile angle, which would have been a disastrous choice.CONTROVERSYThere are 2 small differences in this full restoration from previous versions that have been noted and I'm confirming that I have found 1 of them. The first is in the beginning "flash bulb montage" where the shot of the boot cuts immediately to black rather than fading to darkness. This is the only shot in the montage that does so, and from what i have gleaned from official Facebook posts, this was a request of Tobe Hooper's during the restoration. It isn't jarring, it's merely noticeable from the previous shots. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't detract from the film at all. The 2nd is a looping of Marilyn Burns' screams at the 1:21:xx point but I haven't detected the differences although I believe them to be true. There are still questions as to whether Dark Sky will adjust these changes in the future, but they are so incredibly insignificant that even I don't care that they've occurred.Overall though, if you're going to buy TCM to have it as a reference library copy, then this is the edition to get. I think that all the previous editions have been building to this one, and even I don't foresee a future edition any time in the next 20-30 years that can top this. Not only do you get the film and it's features in Blu-ray, but you also get the exact same thing on DVD as well (2 Blu-rays, and matching 2 DVDs).So yes, I recommend this as THE DEFINITIVE VERSION TO GET.