The texas chainsaw massacre is undoubtedly the best film to come from mainstream Hollywood. Made with no financial backing in the hot wastelands of Texas 1973, it's gritty and documentary-style vision shocks everyone who sees it. Based on actual events which took place in 50's Texas, it's realistic and graphic structure makes the viewer believe in what is being shown and shows to us the darker side of the human race.
Tobe Hooper was a talented, enthusiastic and promising young film-maker who had came out of Drama School seeking a project for the summer months. He gathered a selection of unknowns to star in his picture with an extreme budget - people he knew and teenagers who had no experience in this field. Little did Hooper know at the time, but this worked to his advantage and to a certain degree made Texas Chainsaw the cinematic horrorwork of the century. It just would not terrify audiences without this savage, brutal and honest way of creating terror. When you watch this for the first time, alone, midnight approaching and the DVD volume turned to its maximum, do you realise it is the most uncomfortable experience of your life. It is like someone has filmed this massacre with a video-camera as it happens, and you are actually glad when the credits role at the epic conclusion to go safety. As you walk up the stairs to reach your bedroom, looking around incase Leatherface is stalking behind, do you feel the real impact this classic has made. I guarantee from this moment you will never forget The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I am convinced without this movie, the horror genre would be at least 10 or 15 years behind where it is today. The Texas Chainsaw embarked on new terrortory with incredible confidence and shook Hollywood by the throat. The Halloweens, Nightmare on Elm Streets, Screams and Aliens would not have been made. Some critics have claimed it should be banned, others like Steven Spielberg have honoured it as one of the best ever.
