Vroom Vroom (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (DVD))

Member Name: michellej

Product:	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (DVD)
Date:	21/01/01 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Education to horror

Disadvantages: Nightmares, maybe?

Fans of today's gore-and-guts shockers may be surprised to learn that this notorious shocker is among the least bloody of modern horror films. But looks can be deceiving. It still packs quite a punch, and may well be the scariest film ever made. Director Tobe Hooper adopts a documentary-like style using static set-pieces, grainy film and a no-nonsense technique. This method was necessitated by budget, of course — the film was made for next-to-nothing, using drama students from the University of Texas — but for some odd reason, it works. It's not really a movie. As it unfolds, it comes across as a filmed nightmare, and it gets under the viewer's skin like no horror movie before or since. The scene in which Marilyn Burns is held captive at the cannibal family's dinner-table is almost surrealistic in its relentless depiction of insanity and horror. By the time they wheel down Grandpa (John Dugan) to beat her on the head repeatedly with a hammer, it's nearly unbearable. Suffice it to say that fans of relentless horror should make this film their first priority.

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