X
- 1974
- R
- Bryanston Distributing
- 1 h 23 m
- 1974
- R
- Bryanston Distributing
- 1 h 23 m
Summary The story begins with five innocent kids on their way to checkout reports of grave robbing. As Sally, (Marilyn Burns) her invalid brother Franklin, and three friends head out to inspect the gravesite of her family, they are soon side tracked on the ultimate journey of terror. One by one, they wander into the murderous clutches of Leather...
Directed By: Tobe Hooper
Written By: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
- 1974
- R
- Bryanston Distributing
- 1 h 23 m
- 1974
- R
- Bryanston Distributing
- 1 h 23 m
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
7.9
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Summary The story begins with five innocent kids on their way to checkout reports of grave robbing. As Sally, (Marilyn Burns) her invalid brother Franklin, and three friends head out to inspect the gravesite of her family, they are soon side tracked on the ultimate journey of terror. One by one, they wander into the murderous clutches of Leather...
Directed By: Tobe Hooper
Written By: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Where to Watch
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
91
94% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
91
94% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
No other later horror film – and certainly none of the many sequels to this one – captured so well the strangeness of living through a long night of evil and emerging into bright sunlight, with its tacit promise of restorative justice or virtue, or just normality.
By Bryan Curtis
FULL REVIEW
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 239 User Ratings
7.9
82% Positive
195 Ratings
195 Ratings
15% Mixed
37 Ratings
37 Ratings
3% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 239 User Ratings
7.9
82% Positive
195 Ratings
195 Ratings
15% Mixed
37 Ratings
37 Ratings
3% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
Report
Su tratamiento de la locura y la violencia sin sensibilidad pero tampoco sin ser realmente explícito en lo que vemos. Hooper sabe cómo manejar la tensión, sabe cómo horrorizar y jugar con la imagen mental que nuestro cerebro intenta rellenar. Y es que sorprendentemente en La Matanza de Texas apenas vemos sangre, no hay desmembramientos, no hay gore; hay un trabajo de creatividad experimental y una atmósfera creada para llevarnos a un descenso a la locura, que irónicamente no deja de escalar en **** decir, no sabes cuándo va a suceder el terror, no esperas cómo, no sabes si alguien sobrevivirá y no te imaginas hacia dónde va a terminar todo; durante 1h hora y 20 que dura la película, vamos a asistir a un ejercicio de horror bestial. También es una masterclass para todo aprendiz de cine y ejemplo soberbio de lo que es el cine independiente, su falta de recursos no solo fue una limitación a nivel artístico, sino que al mismo tiempo fue una ayuda tanto para sacar todo el carácter creativo del equipo, como para generar esa ambientación que relatamos antes en su rodaje infernal. De la influencia del filme han dado testimonio otros artistas como Stephen King, Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Craven, Rob Zombie o Guillermo del Toro; el Museo de Arte Moderno de Nueva York incluyó una copia entre su colección permanente y la revista Empire la incluyó entre las 200 mejores películas de la **** este largometraje no hay un solo engranaje mal engrasado, todas las piezas conforman un puzzle tan maquiavélico y afilado como la sierra de Leatherface. La dirección magistral de Tobe Hooper, las actuaciones de todos los miembros de la familia Sawyer y en especial de la scream-queen por excelencia Marilyn Burns, que nos lleva hasta la extenuación. Una fotografía impecable y experimental, influida por esa experiencia en rodar documentales de Hooper que hace que todo sea más realista, con esas sacudidas y movimientos de cámara en mano, planos centrados en la búsqueda de acción/reacción y ese grano y color tan característico. La creatividad perturbadora del atrezzo, los maquillajes, efectos de sonido y música son piezas claves para crear un ambiente enfermizo e impactante. Nosotros como espectadores seguimos a un grupo de jóvenes que entiendes que algo malo les va a suceder porque crees saber cómo funciona el cine de terror al uso, pero al poco que te adentras sabes que esto es diferente. En definitiva, La Matanza de Texas ha sido y siempre será uno de los mayores exponentes del cine de terror, del cine independiente y del séptimo arte en general, una experiencia única, merecedora del éxito y reconocimiento que tiene como película de culto.
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While nobody could seriously call it a work of art, it was in my opinion a quite formidable piece of directorial artifice, a horror comic brought to the screen with frenetic energy and life.
By Derek Malcolm
FULL REVIEW
The film has outstanding sound effects, art direction and editing, and a clutch of effective, if necessarily, one-note performances.
A black-humored, unflinching look at the Ugly American at his psychotic worst. And Tobe Hooper is at his best as a writer and director here.
By Chris Parcellin
FULL REVIEW
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is as violent and gruesome and blood-soaked as the title promises -- a real Grand Guignol of a movie. It’s also without any apparent purpose, unless the creation of disgust and fright is a purpose. And yet in its own way, the movie is some kind of weird, off-the-wall achievement. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to make a movie like this, and yet it’s well-made, well-acted, and all too effective.
On the face of it, it looks pretty amateurish but looking deeper the extensive dolly shots, moody imposing angles and intense zooms make for very original cinematography. It is so gritty and so ugly but it fits the content perfectly. It sounds messy and the music is ill timed at places but this adds to the believability and intense realism. Compared to the relatively soulless remake The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) which utilises much higher production-values I think that the sound and vision really complement the content. This is really scary and so intense considering the age of the film. It contains many memorable moments and you can understand why it spawned so many sequels which took the characters and turned them into eighties franchise clichés. This first film was totally original and brutally fascinating to watch. It is unrelenting. I forgot how amazing this horror really is. Although technically not perfect this is the perfectly constructed horror.
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It kind of pains me to have to criticize this movie for not aging well. I mean it was made it 1974 for crying out loud and it's not hard to imagine how terrifying it must have been to people back then. Today however it's not scary in the least and can be rather boring. Sometimes it's even annoying.
The excellent portrayal of the crazy, backwoods family is still kind of creepy and absurd in a black-humor sort of way. However outside of that and the influence it had on the genre there's nothing else that stands out about it. At least not in a good way.
The pacing has aged mostly well, but some scenes just drag on for too long. Was it really necessary to have a prolonged section where Marilyn Burns is just screaming non-stop for several minutes? It's old-school filmmaking decisions like that which make the film kind of hard to watch today.
It's definitely a classic of the horror genre. However it's just not one that's aged well at all. Due to it's legacy it's one I can say I'm glad I watched. I just can't say that I enjoyed it. It's a piece of horror history that any hardcore genre aficionado should check out. However doing so means putting up with a lot of issues brought on by age. Because of that it really is only for the most hardcore of horror fans.
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I quite enjoyed the 2003 remake and the two prequels that followed afterwards so I kind of wanted to go back to where it all began and see what the original was like. Considering it's mid 70's I still managed to enjoy it and can see how effective this would have been back then, perhaps not so much now but still its a very well done Horror film, and was probably the first of its kind back then. All things considered its not a great film, but I'll give it props for still making me jump!
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Production Company
Vortex
Release Date Oct 1, 1974
Duration 1 h 23 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline The idyllic summer's day that became a nightmare of fear and blood... [UK Video]
Awards
Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Online Film & Television Association
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
The Guardian's Best Films
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination