![]() Yet as loved and influential as the original classic has been, many who would seek to emulate its vision seem to overlook its true strengths. In the 29 years since `The Texas chainsaw Massacre' hit theaters, there have been countless imitators and four additional films in the franchise, three of them remakes. Who will survive and what will be left of them. In the climax of famous dinner scene, there is a feeling of cosmic forces pressing in on reality and warping it into some crude mockery of order, as if the world were but a TV or radio signal distorted into madness by flares on the surface of the sun. AKA: i, Stalking Leatherface, Headcheese, Le massacre à la scie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. One is forced to recall the solar flares in the film's opening credits. In it's later stages, the film becomes a cacophonous world of throat-peeling screaming, blood-shot eyes, laughter, and grinding machinery. At worst, in the loss of any acceptable answer, they are forced to ponder that terrible and limitless gulf of the imagination: the unknown. Questions about the villain's mask or the field of cars under camouflage netting are left for the viewer to answer on his or her own. This, along with some idle astrological chatter on the part of one of the teenagers early on, leads to a feeling of cosmic disarray in the lonely Texas hills they traverse. The first scene in the film depicts a desecrated grave with a voiceover of radio newscast, immediately followed by an opening credits sequence set against a backdrop of roaring solar flares. In the original, the feeling of dread and mounting paranoia creeps over the viewer in slow but steady waves. It is interesting to note that the filmmakers behind the latest `Chainsaw' film chose to implement all three of these stylistic vices in their remake. Instead, every mystery must be explained away, every mask ultimately pulled from a monster's face, and not a moment of exposition is spared. The later of these two staples of great horror is often cast aside in modern horror movies-especially in those churned out by the great Hollywood engine. From the manufacturer Synopsis: Violent, confrontational, and shockingly realistic, director Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE terrified audiences in a way never thought possible when it was unleashed on a politically and socially tumultuous America in 1974. Lovecraft called `the oldest and strongest kind of fear': the fear of the unknown. The power of `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' lies in its atmosphere and in what H.P. The film's characters and actual scares are not that remarkable. Yet despite this simplicity, what is it about `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' that continues to succeed so with its audience? Outside of one memorial scene involving a meet hook the movie is not particularly gory by today's standards. Psychological terror and chainsaws ensue. A group of five teenagers driving through rural Texas happen upon a deranged, cannibalistic family. The movie tells a fairly simple tale at heart. ![]() With the recent box-office success achieved by the latest remake of 1974's `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' it's worth looking back at Tobe Hooper's original horror classic.
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