The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
I got really frustrated when I found out that the public library did not carry such a seminal horror film. I almost wrote them to see if they would order it, but wimped out when I couldn't justify my request. "I want to see some gory deaths, thx, Ian."
Cut to about three days ago. I'm on vacation at a resort in Durango, Colorado and they have IFC, which we don't have here. Excitedly, I noticed that Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the original, mind you) was playing that evening. So I finally got to see it without paying OR without swindling anyone. It was wonderful. And then there is the film itself, which kind of took my expectations and...did something very strange with them. The first hour or so went as expected, but I was confused. After 4 of the 5 teenagers had been killed off by Leatherface, I wondered where they could go from there. Honestly, I was disappointed that the kids got killed off so fast, but maybe I was just frustrated by the characters: cardboard cutouts of teenagers. You couldn't really identify with any of them and that idiot in the wheelchair, well, you wanted him to get it (and when he does, I think it is one of the best kills I've ever seen). It just wasn't scary to me. I think a film needs sympathetic characters for it to be truly horrifying, which is why I think Hostel is so good. These guys are enough like me, and have you know, dimensions that I can relate with. So when the horror hits, it hits me pretty hard. But here, it's just exploitation. And it's fun, there are some good jumps whenever Leatherface jumps out of some doorway and grabs someone, but about 45 minutes into the movie I was very "Eh." It wasn't really that scary.
And then the guy in the wheelchair gets it and everything changes. That kill, and the girl getting chased through the woods was masterfully done and completely fucking horrifying. And even though the girl just screamed, and she was some tall, pretty, blonde model looking thing, I was scared for her. And the third act of the movie is just so insane, so weird and uncomfortable, that I couldn't breathe. I was disgusted, and the more the girl screamed, the more scary it got. Tobe Hooper took me to a dark place and I liked it. It's such a cheaply made film but he makes the best of it and it looks great and yeah, it's pretty damn good.
I got really frustrated when I found out that the public library did not carry such a seminal horror film. I almost wrote them to see if they would order it, but wimped out when I couldn't justify my request. "I want to see some gory deaths, thx, Ian."
Cut to about three days ago. I'm on vacation at a resort in Durango, Colorado and they have IFC, which we don't have here. Excitedly, I noticed that Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the original, mind you) was playing that evening. So I finally got to see it without paying OR without swindling anyone. It was wonderful. And then there is the film itself, which kind of took my expectations and...did something very strange with them. The first hour or so went as expected, but I was confused. After 4 of the 5 teenagers had been killed off by Leatherface, I wondered where they could go from there. Honestly, I was disappointed that the kids got killed off so fast, but maybe I was just frustrated by the characters: cardboard cutouts of teenagers. You couldn't really identify with any of them and that idiot in the wheelchair, well, you wanted him to get it (and when he does, I think it is one of the best kills I've ever seen). It just wasn't scary to me. I think a film needs sympathetic characters for it to be truly horrifying, which is why I think Hostel is so good. These guys are enough like me, and have you know, dimensions that I can relate with. So when the horror hits, it hits me pretty hard. But here, it's just exploitation. And it's fun, there are some good jumps whenever Leatherface jumps out of some doorway and grabs someone, but about 45 minutes into the movie I was very "Eh." It wasn't really that scary.
And then the guy in the wheelchair gets it and everything changes. That kill, and the girl getting chased through the woods was masterfully done and completely fucking horrifying. And even though the girl just screamed, and she was some tall, pretty, blonde model looking thing, I was scared for her. And the third act of the movie is just so insane, so weird and uncomfortable, that I couldn't breathe. I was disgusted, and the more the girl screamed, the more scary it got. Tobe Hooper took me to a dark place and I liked it. It's such a cheaply made film but he makes the best of it and it looks great and yeah, it's pretty damn good.
posted by Ian at 5:16 PM
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