I've had a few days to mull over this film and here are my thoughts about it:
Dated 1970s production extremely low budget. Filmed on 16mm film stock I believe. The 16mm film adds to the gritty documentary like cinematography.
Now the title, and indeed pictures and clips of this film you may have seen may make you believe it is a slasher horror blood-fest. It surprisingly isn't and indeed has very little gore when compared to more recent horror films.
It has a simple story, a group of five teenagers drive through Texas in a camper van. On their journey they encounter a 'strange' family of cannibals who gradually start to kill them.
The final act is probably the best of the film and shows a character called Sally (Marilyn Burns) being mentally tortured at a dinner table scene with constant screaming and close up shots such as her bulging eyeballs showing her terror at the crazy captor family including a crazed character with a Leather like face.
Now the actual chainsaw is used briefly as she escapes from the house trying to get help on a local road escaping the leatherfaced chainsaw wielding madman.
Now I admit for a purported slasher horror, admittedly an early example the gore is minimalist. It is the sheer terror of Sally's plight that makes the film terrifying in a different way.
The constant screaming can become tiresome.
The film begins with a written summary of the events of the film and ends with a black screen suddenly. Certainly the career high of Director Tobe Hooper.
Dated 1970s production extremely low budget. Filmed on 16mm film stock I believe. The 16mm film adds to the gritty documentary like cinematography.
Now the title, and indeed pictures and clips of this film you may have seen may make you believe it is a slasher horror blood-fest. It surprisingly isn't and indeed has very little gore when compared to more recent horror films.
It has a simple story, a group of five teenagers drive through Texas in a camper van. On their journey they encounter a 'strange' family of cannibals who gradually start to kill them.
The final act is probably the best of the film and shows a character called Sally (Marilyn Burns) being mentally tortured at a dinner table scene with constant screaming and close up shots such as her bulging eyeballs showing her terror at the crazy captor family including a crazed character with a Leather like face.
Now the actual chainsaw is used briefly as she escapes from the house trying to get help on a local road escaping the leatherfaced chainsaw wielding madman.
Now I admit for a purported slasher horror, admittedly an early example the gore is minimalist. It is the sheer terror of Sally's plight that makes the film terrifying in a different way.
The constant screaming can become tiresome.
The film begins with a written summary of the events of the film and ends with a black screen suddenly. Certainly the career high of Director Tobe Hooper.