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Dom Robinson reviews
Special EditionDistributed by
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 9027111
- Running time: 80 minutes
- Year: 1974
- Pressing: 2003
- Region(s): 2, 4 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 16 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: 8 languages available
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras:The Shocking Truth documentary, Interview with Tobe Hooper,Interview with Kim Henkel, Deleted Scenes and Alternate Footage,Outtakes, Trailers, Original TV ads, Props and Sets, Film and ProductionStills, Posters and Lobby Cards, DVD-ROM weblink, Audio commentary
Director:
- Tobe Hooper
(Body Bags, The Dark, Eaten Alive, Lifeforce, Poltergeist, Spontaneous Combustion, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1 & 2, TV: Amazing Stories, Dark Skies, The Equalizer, Nowhere Man, Salem’s Lot, Taken, Tales from the Crypt)
Producers:
- Tobe Hooper and Lou Peraino
Screenplay:
- Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper
Original Music :
- Wayne Bell, Tobe Hooper and John Lennon
Cast :
- Sally Hardesty: Marilyn Burns
Jerry: Allen Danziger
Franklin Hardesty: Paul A Partain
Kirk: William Vail
Pam: Teri McMinn
Old Man: Jim Siedow
Leatherface: Gunnar Hansen
Grandfather: John Dugan
Window Washer: Robert Courtin
Narrator: John Larroquette
It’s August 18th, 1973and a dead body’s been perched on a monument after its owner was clearlyput through some pain prior to the life being taken. That’s the opening toThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
People can do stupid things when they’re young and a group of hippies travellingabout first pick up a hitchhiker who cuts himself and one of their group,the wheelchair-bound Franklin (Paul A Partain) and then stumble upon ahouse in which not all of them will get out alive, but who will stay and whowill escape?
And do you care? This is the first time I saw it and it’s incredibly dated fora film that’s nearly thirty years old as there’s no semblance of plot andpacing is weak. One character is bashed unconscious by the one and onlyLeatherface (Gunnar Hansen), before being decapitated with a chainsaw,another is lifted up and impaled on a butcher’s hook before being left tocool off in a freezer and another.. well, you get the idea. Oh, and the badguy’s got equally-disturbed relatives too.
There’s a lot less gore than I expected given the film’s iconic statusthat it achieved over the years, but then maybe I’ve become desensitised tothis sort of thing after seeing a number of slasher flicks – a genre that’slargely died a death (ahem!), due to it being a common staple for many youngactors nowadays.
If a cow ever got the chance,
he’d kill you and everyone you ever cared about.
The film is meant to be in 1.85:1 widescreen but looks a little less widethan that because, courtesy of it not being anamorphic, you have to zoom thepicture in to fill a widescreen TV and this results in opening credits gettingcut off the bottom of the screen, as well as not being able to see much ofthe van in a longshot when they pick up a hitchhiker.
The print used is thankfully free of blemishes, but it is rather on the softside. However, certainly no more so than you’d expect if you’ve been more usedto an old VHS recording.
The film has a stereo surround soundtrack, but not that you’d really notice,save for Leatherface waving his favourite toy around at the end..
However, for a Special Edition, there are quite a number of extras listed:
- The Shocking Truth (72 mins):An extensive documentary, presented in 16:9 letterbox, with chat from allthe necessary cast and crew members. It runs nearly as long as the filmitself, so you’ll need to be a fan to enjoy it.
- Interview with Tobe Hooper (14 mins):The director talks to the camera with further thoughts on the filming.Presented in 4:3 fullscreen.
- Interview with Kim Henkel (8½ mins):And more from the co-writer. Presented in 4:3 fullscreen.
- Deleted Scenes and Alternate Footage (17 mins):Six of the former and four of the latter, all in rather ropey 4:3 fullscreen.
- Outtakes (2 mins):Does exactly what it says on the tin.
- Trailers:Two for the original film, one for the initial release and one for there-release, plus one each for the three sequels, the fourth film starringRenee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey.
- Original TV ads:Two brief ones.
- Props and Sets (6 mins):A closer look at the set design. You can just imagine Loyd Grossman walkinground asking “Who lives in a house like this?”
- Film and Production Stills:56 of them to be precise.
- Posters and Lobby Cards:And there’s plenty more.
- DVD-ROM weblink:A link to the official website if you haven’t had enough yet, or “just go tothe website”, as it says, at:The Chainsaw.com
- Audio commentary:Hidden under the audio menu, the commentary comes courtesy of directorTobe Hooper, director of photography Daniel Pearl andLeatherface himself, Gunnar Hansen.
There are no subtitles for the film, a mere 16 chapters to break it upand, yes I am going to enthuse about something here, fantastic blood-colouredmenus in 3D including motion between the menus and sounds from the film.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.