The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) dir. Tobe Hooper, Vortex
We did the last entry of the series but not the first. So why not rectify that with a film that borrowed a bit from the infamous Ed Gein?
As the voiceover (John Larroquette) tells us, the most bizarre crime in America has happened. In rural Muerto County, Texas, graves are being disturbed. The bodies are being disinterred and turned into grotesque art. As we see one such corpse roasting in the hot Texas sun, the Hardestys Sally (Marilyn Burns) and her brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain), along with their friends Kirk (William Vail), Pam (Teri McMin), and Jerry (Allen Danziger) all head out to the remote cemetery to check on the grave of Sally and Franklin's grandfather.
They find the grave without too much trouble, but it appears to be undisturbed. Remembering that the Hardesty homestead is pretty close by, they decide to check the old home out. On the way out, they decide to pick up a hitchhiker (Edwin Neal). This proves to be a mistake as the fellow is a bit nuts. He cuts Franklin with a straight razor and gets tossed out of the van for his trouble, but not before he smacks the back with his own bloodied hand. Almost like he's leaving a mark, eh?
The van is running low on gas, so the group pulls into a lone gas station/BBQ place. The cook (Jim Siedow) is friendly enough but he apologizes. Seems he's out of gas. Truck won't be in until the morning...although he changes later to a few hours when the group mentions being from out of town.
The group finds the Hardesty home although Franklin finds evidence that someone might have been there, given the junk that's too neatly piled up. Exploring the area, Kirk hears a gas generator. Figuring to get some gas, he enters the rundown looking mansion. He doesn't get far into the house when a steel panel slides open and Leatherface (Gunnar Hanson) makes his big screen debut. Things go poorly.
The problem with a fantastic first is that it's usually all down hill from there. Hot, sticky, and repellent; Hooper creates a brilliant and utterly unsettling look into madness. Shockingly little violence though, although I recall it being gorier than it actually was. We get set up and violent payoff in short order, so there's no time wasted on building characters we can't like. Hooper takes no prisoners and spares nothing.
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