Leatherface is arguably the more sympathic slasher villian as he is as much a victim of his family's evil as the people he's told to kill by said family.
And from Leatherface's point of view, Kirk and Jerry were trespassers he killed in self defence because they broke into his house. Pam wasn't because he dragged her back in when she tried to escape, hung her on a meat hook, forced her to watch him chopping up her boyfriend for meat then put her in the freezer. And Sally and Franklin were just looking for Jerry to drive the van back so they could go home and Leatherface heard them while he was wandering around in the dark.
Jason Voorhees pre-resurrection (and in the reboot). Other major slashers have some sort of motivation. Leatherface on the other hand is like the family guard dog, while Jason is like a wild animal defending its territory.
They went through hell to make this masterpiece. You can even feel the heat while watching it. I enjoyed the remake but even they knew they can't beat the original dinner scene. Plus I enjoyed part 2, yeah its more of a comedy but hey even Tobe knew that he couldn't top the original, so why not go with this direction instead. I recommend checking out Rob Ager's analysis but warning, it's pretty disturbing.
Honestly I've never watched this channel's content, I really love this movie and I'd hate to see it butchered by a critic who doesn't understand it. But seeing your comment here reassures me it's gonna be great. I've seen you make a lot of great comments on other channels I like.
@@bentramer682 Thanks man. I just like to give my thoughts or opinions. It's fine if people disagree. Nothing wrong with that. Sorry for what happened to you in H2. The dumb cop was blind.
When you said Hooper’s inspiration for this movie came from when he was in a claustrophobic crowd that he wanted to chainsaw through…I felt that. Great video, Matt! This movie’s production sounded like hell for the cast and crew. Looking forward to more horror videos.
With the Cannibal family, the old "granny", the backwoods setting from TCM and the chaisaw duel and cocaine hillbilly vibe of TCM2, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard was problably the best rip-off/homage to this series.
The way Franklin describes cattle being killed by a Sledgehammer is almost the exact way that Leatherface kills Kirk later. Saying how they wouldn't die right away and it would take a couple of strikes. I've only just noticed this watching the film back
@@adamshows1142He first talked about the sledgehammer, but then brought up the bolt gun before picking up the Hitchhiker. Then Franklin and the Hitchhiker were talking about both.
I watched this for the first time at home with a bunch of friends back when I was in college. My mom called me on the phone to tell me that the neighbor lady had called her to tell her that she suspected that "someone was getting assaulted and raped" in our house. I guess we had the volume a little bit too loud 😂
I very immature with Texas Chainsaw Massacre when first watched it as a teen. I was looking for unfiltered, relentless blood splatter and felt cheated when there was lack of. (The fact that I watched it on grainy vhs perhaps didn't help either as I it wasn't released on DVD at the time 😅) When I watched it again for the first time in 15 years, I watched it more with an open mind to absorb everything in. I never realised how morbidly artistic the film was I found things I missed the first time around. And had a greater appreciation for the film then before. Up there with The Exorcist & Halloween as one of the best made horror films, more impressive that it was made with practically chump change
I was running this saw for about 2 hours at about a 30-50% duty cycle ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxfQm1wmg0ItKDLavxj1nXtQY9HP7EF504 and it did a great job. I used the lever for the built in sharpener to clear chip buildup out more than to actually sharpen the chain. It managed to cut some hardwood stumps much larger than it's size without bothering the neighbors with hours of 2 stroke noise.
This kind of horror movie is what I categorize as a "spider web story": some people somehow end up in a place that will soon cause their doom in a dreadful manner. It's not unlike a fly or some other flying bug getting trapped in the sticky silken net. Once you've arrived or trespassed or your car has broken down there, you will be dead before long. I always enjoy the fun touches in movies like this that give their audience an indication that something is very wrong. Here in TCM one of those moments is when we see several old cars on the property-- former vehicles of previous victims ("meals"?) that have happened upon the house.
I still can’t believe they limited the gore because they were going for a PG rating 😂. Absolutely no way was this getting a PG even without much blood, too grimy and nasty.
There was no limit on the gore, it was just made and got an R rating - and even banned in many countries because of its intensity. People back then were not nearly as jaded as we are today. Along with The Exorcist the year before, no one had ever seen such films because there were no films like this. Some people got sick, had to leave the theatre or passed out. Cinema staff were trained on how to help overwhelmed customers & the use of smelling salts. It was a very different time.
Would you believe me if I told you that I used to hate horror movies? Somehow through your video essays I’ve fallen in love with the depth and creativity of so many in the genre!
This popped up in my recommendations and thought why not. I watched TCM late last year for the first time after putting it off for so many years and man, I was so impressed with this film. It literally felt like a real snuff film found in an old videotape in a basement or something with the camera visuals, the point of views and share rawness of the film. I loved the ending with Sally running away and barely making it out alive while Leatherface just dances his frustrations away. That was so intense I didn't think she was going to make it Something about Leatherface dancing with the chainsaw while Sally literally snaps while being driven away is a work of art, it really is. The heroine has escaped but left severely traumatized by the whole ordeal while Leatherface and his family are still out there preying upon the next unfortunate souls to come their way. Also, I originally thought Drayton was the father and not their brother so that surprised me a great deal, and I also find him hilarious especially when he said " Kill the bitch" lmao Another thing I want to add. After seeing this film it stuck with me for several days because it was that damn good and just had to go out and buy a DVD copy. The psychological attack where it makes you think it was so gory but really when you go back and check it really wasn't. Genius
The original movie scared me the first time I watched it. The 2nd time I tried to watch it and got bored in a college dorm. We started playing guitar instead. The 3rd time, it became my favorite horror movie. It is funny and very artistic.
9:19 The person you can hear breathing and who takes the photos at the start is the hitchhiker digging up the bodies. He probably also made the bone sculptures in the house and dug up Grandma Sawyer's body and put it up in Grandpa's room with him.
Are you just guessing that he specifically took the snapshots or did you get that info from someone who was part of the making of this movie? Honestly I never wondered who took them; just assumed it was the crime scene police team.
This is an interesting kind of slasher film, because the main killer of the film, Leatherface, isn’t even the main villain, he’s a henchman to his family, not to mention he’s completely human. He’s not like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees where they are semi-supernatural. No, Leatherface is just a big, mentally disabled guy. I think James Rolfe of Cinemassacre said it best in his review of the film. “What makes it scary is not whether or not it did happen, it’s that it could happen.”
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a lightning in a bottle masterclass film, everything is what it needed to be and the films that came after don't even come close to it. What make this film so scary is that instead of depending on bloody gore its greatest strength is its very gritty realism, camera work, and its grainy look that makes what is seen look so realistic and when something does happen its so disturbingly quiet which just adds to the realistic horror brought by the family of psychopaths. A true horror film.
I'm now 46, I first saw this film when I was 13, my mate had it on pirate VHS and we watched it after school lone day. Back in the early 80's we would rent VHS tapes and it was quite easy to get 18 rated films, (if you looked older), and there was a great moral panic, whipped up (as always) by the mass media, so these film's were banned as being 'video nasties.' It didn't help that many of these tapes had lurid box art, that often exaggerated the 'horrific content' (see Driller Killer, a piece of shit) that helped condemn them. Fast forward to the late 80's, the moral panic now had moved on to video games and you could even buy many of these 'video nasties', I bought 'Evil Dead' for £5 in 1991. From a 2021 perspective, all this is hilariously over-blown, even cute. Back then, at age 13, the illicit thrill of watching a 'banned' movie is something I don't think could ever happen now but having re-evaluated, after watching this great review, there seems to be a lot more social commentary going on, commentary that I previously missed? I will have to watch this film again soon.
Banned in Scandinavia (cept Denmark......i just got the danish 1sh poster , been looking for it for 10 yrs) , also all vhs was to be confiscated in Germany (Munich ?) , banned in France originally then 5 yrs later they allowed it
For me, nothing is better able to embody the horror of the 70s quite like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I just hope that with the new film that’s coming next year, they’ll do justice to the original. As the films following this are, how do I put this, not great.
I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre back in October (because Halloween). And while I liked it and appreciated it for its themes and influence, I’d probably never watch it again. This was a great video that shows how this film was made and it’s influence on modern horror movies to come. I like how you make horror videos even when it’s not Halloween. P.S. I would never work for someone like Tobe Hopper after hearing this film’s production.
Grandpa is definetly the best thing to discover in this gem that you can't know just by osmosis. You're ready for a guy with a human leather mask and a chainsaw, mad creepy people and orrible killings going in, but nothing prepares you for that green grandpa trying to hammer in the head the final girl. That scene is as pathetic as it is horrifying, and i fucking love it. Also, nice to see that Better Call Saul writers took inspiration from that scene in one of their recent episodes! 😉
I'm really glad you mentioned that the movie is almost entirely gore-less. The gore is 95 % implied and while it's oft said about the film by others, it always bears repeating. ( I did eat a turkey and swiss sandwhich while I watched this) I think the second movie is the only other one worth watching if only for the fact that it was by Hooper himself AND was intentionally meant to be a parody of the original by the creator, and the fact that it's fairly balls out insane enough to at least be entertaining, if not a mess
I do love the never-ending reboot of the Texas Chainsaw franchise. Seeing how each director approaches this project with only a vague idea of a character and a group is really interesting in itself for me, the neverending campiness and personality of the second movie, the gruesome and livid nightmare that is the 2003 reboot. Gosh, the only that I don't really like is the Netflix reboot 'cause removing the family of the film turns Leatherface into just another Jason (is like reviving Chuck outside a doll body or taking back the xenomorph apex predator aesthetic).
Great job on the video ! Really perceptive observations about Hooper, the film itself and this very important film in not only horror history but the history of film making as well !
Gunnar Hansen based his performance as Leatherface on the patients of an institution he was a guest at, copying how some walked and acted as part of the character being a manchild who was frightened of his family and strangely enough, scared of all the strangers coming into his house. Tobe Hooper said Leatherface has no personality of his own and wears the masks he's made of people's faces to express himself. He wears the Killing Mask when he's killing and cooking people, the Grandmother Mask when he wants to help in the kitchen and the Pretty Woman mask with the makeup to dress up for dinner.
A video that reminded me how grossed out I was after watching the movie, but also reminded me how awesome it is to watch movies for the first time. Thanks for a great video, Matt!
It’s really interesting that so many of the very best horror films of all time - TCM, night of the living dead, Halloween, Evil Dead etc - were made for next to nothing with zero Hollywood interference purely by super talented and motivated people who just wanted to do it. They grabbed a camera and made it happen. We now live in an era where making amateur films is easier than ever - I could shoot a reasonable quality one on my phone, I can download editing software for loose change - there should be a huge surge of these amateur films breaking through and whilst there is a big number of good quality horror shorts being uploaded onto UA-cam the breakthrough into the mainstream seems to have stopped.
I remember seeing this movie late at night with my dad when I was really young. It truly spooked me, and was probably one of the only movies that gave me nightmares back then (I wasn’t used to that much “violence” in movies. I look back at it and think that if this movie was the one that scared me back then, then it was most definitely one of the greatest films ever made. And I am proud to say that.
Saw this at the age of 6..... Scarred me for the longest time. The sound of a chainsaw made me nervous. Chainsaw Charlie from the WWF scared me yet Undertaker and Kane didn't.
I always thought of TCM as a vegetarian polemic, and I became a vegetarian shortly after seeing it 38 years ago. It solidified a lot of thoughts about eating animals that I had, and perhaps nudged me over the edge. Most uncomfortable movie I've ever seen. Great video as always Matt 💪🏼
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is probably my all time favorite horror film. I love the OG Halloween and Hereditary as my other top 2 films in the genre in my limited experience watching horror. I love how demented and viscerally terrifying it is. Irrational violence without justifiable reasoning just hits so well
Wait a minute. The friends head out investigating the grave robbing? I was under the impression that they were simply heading out to the one family members old house as a little getaway or something.
This morning I actually found my notes for a Texas chainsaw film form way back in 2018ish to EXTREMELY early 2020, when they first put out the word that they wanted a new Texas chainsaw massacre script. Frankly I'm kinda happy it didn't pan out concerning what happened in 2020. Because well, let's just say that If this had somehow been made into a film, I would have had my right to breath air "canceled" The plot was set in like 2016 to 2018 and was about Choptop being the patriarch of a new clan as they embark on a revenge massacre. Basically the original 4 Sawyers were all killed in a massive violent clash with police after Sally's escape, but because the police fucked the operation up so bad there was a some public opinion that sympathized with the Sawyers, (my notes used some radical righters and leftist as examples though mostly seams to be using Ruby Ridge) now decades later in a increasingly polarized post 2016 America a group of More rational less Straw man Liberals and leftists for some reason decided to go to Texas to protest something (my notes say something about police and anti abortion laws) but in the process discover Choptops clan of cannibles (all sorta parodies of extremist members of left wing groups/organizations that are genuinely standing for something good) ploting revenge for the lost of their kin at the hands of "police brutality." I wrote down that ChopTop seams to genuinely think that they were victims of police brutality and compares them to Rodney king which shows the crack in his ultra leftist guise when he remarks "if my family were black they would have sparked a fucking race war." The heading Sums it up, "I WANT THERE TO BE NO HEREOS, NO PRO ANY POLITICS, NO WISH FULFILLMENT, NO ONE IS GOOD IN ANY WAY AND ANYONE WHO SAYS THEY HAVE ANSWERS IS A LIAR. ITS A VERY VERY MAD WORLD" This whole thing is a big Yikes from me
It's so funny, I got my special edition movie a few months ago and when my caregiver was at my place I had it playing and she was leaving at the moment right before the last dinner section. She had a very scary look on her face. When I texted her apologizing for the movie scaring her too much, she was like that didn't scare me at all. I was like those eyes of yours didn't lie.
By far my fav horror flick. Every time I’ve stopped at a small gas station, I think of this movie. Plus I LOVE dressing up like leatherface to scare kids on Halloween
Man, I wasn't allowed to watch this growing up so my first introduction to Tobe Hooper was via the band Showbread, who liked to put hella horror movie references in their otherwise Christian music. Seeing it years later, I totally got why this one in particular was on the off-limits list. Unlike other slashers that I had totally snuck to watch behind my dad's back, TCM was just so utterly visceral. Finally got around to the 2nd one a few years back, and I've gotta say the radio station scene is probably the most tense scare I've ever had in a horror film. Loved that they pulled from this for RE7, it really helped pull the series back to its roots after the shitshow that was RE6.
There's something about TCM that still feels transgressive, even after watching countless slashers. Good call with RE7, it's for sure TCM but with some moldy bits!
I've always been squeamish when it comes to slasher movies and gore, but I'm not gonna lie, this video might just be what opens me up to that whole subgenre. Fantastic work as always, Matt! Can't wait to see what creepy stuff you cover next!
Thanks! I find them to be pretty entertaining once you get in the groove. Some are excellent, some are dumb fun. You just gotta find the style you like the best!
Another mini-masterpiece. Matt Draper you almost always find just the right way to dissect (does that sound about right in this case) your subject matter. TCM is a true seminal classic, and you picked it apart (hard to get away from meat based metaphors) in a marvelous way. But, I strangely found it interesting how you were able to point out some of the truth behind all the laughable attempts to make this into a real ongoing franchise. It IS seminal; it has codified and solidified many tropes of the slasher genre. But it is as it’s own work of art, totally singular unto itself. There is neither reason or need to return to see what the Sawyer clan is up to later, nor any reason to find out via prequel, what brought them to this state...it is all already there for us to see. Great work Matt.
This movie is a masterpiece in my opinion. I usually hate horror movies (more so that I feel most are predictable or playing the same tune as many before it), but this is the only film that transcends the genre - it isn't just a horror movie, it's a true horror experience. Speaking about horror, I'm really looking forward to Last Night in Soho - what are your thoughts on it?
Great video! It's hard to overstate just how good TCM is. No other film can touch its atmosphere and realness. As you said, you can smell it and feel the heat.
Fun fact the serial killer Ed Gein inspired this, psycho and silence of the lambs each movie took a bit from him Psycho: his obsession with his mother Texas chainsaw massacre: his use of body parts for furniture Silence of the lambs: I have absolutely no idea 🤷♂️ HAIL GEIN but seriously what he did was fucked up
This is my favorite horror movie ever and as a stand alone film its in my top 5. I saw it for the first time in 1985 when I was 11. Local Dallas/Ft. Worth tv showed it for the first time on "free tv" on a Saturday night. My parents insisted that I not stay up and watch it so of course I did. It changed my life😂
I first saw this at the movies and, the ticket price was 75 cents.. In the 70's... Scared the daylights outta me for year's...😮😮😮 No other movie came close to this one...😮😮
Thankyou for giving Texas chainsaw it's due credit as the true begining of the modern slasher film. I feel too much credit always goes to Halloween for this. Even tho I also love Halloween.
This is possibly the best TCM video I've seen, really love your work mate. Always get excited to see you drop a new video, especially horror Although I watched TCM 2 last year and was impressed with the amount of fun I had with it. I was laughing from the opening yuppies shooting at signage and then Dennis Hopper took a little stroll down to the chainsaw shop, my aching banana that's quite the scene. It's a tonal opposite to the original but if you're looking for a crazy, funny, 80's, cocaine fuelled horror movie then you're in the right place. It's the horror movie Rob Zombie is trying so desperately to make but cannot capture the magic that film conjures. I never though Leatherface would have me laughing my ass off with just facial expressions.
I remember the first time I saw TCM. I wasn't frightened by it. Nor did I find it that entertaining. BUT from begining to end there's this weird feeling the film induces in a viewer. Decades later, it retains the effect.
When leatherface drops that chick on the meat hook and she's still alive...Fucked up horror. After seeing this movie, I didn't eat meat for like a year.
Rest easy, Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, and all others involved with this masterpiece that have passed, and happy 50th anniversary to this masterpiece
RE7 was heavily influenced by TCM and Evil Dead. In fact all of RE is influenced by horror films. If you play RE1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, its a classic lesson in horror films.
I saw TCM, The Shining, JC’s The Thing, The Hills Have Eyes and Scalps In a one night horror movie marathon when I was 5 in ‘85. Huge impression on movies. No I’m not psychotic. Gritty as fuck, had intertwined nightmares for weeks.
I hear the original house is moved now. It became a restaurant who's original owners played up the fact it was the Sawyer house. But now, it has new owners, and they try to hide the fact unfortunately. Still would like to check it out.
Leatherface is arguably the more sympathic slasher villian as he is as much a victim of his family's evil as the people he's told to kill by said family.
And from Leatherface's point of view, Kirk and Jerry were trespassers he killed in self defence because they broke into his house. Pam wasn't because he dragged her back in when she tried to escape, hung her on a meat hook, forced her to watch him chopping up her boyfriend for meat then put her in the freezer. And Sally and Franklin were just looking for Jerry to drive the van back so they could go home and Leatherface heard them while he was wandering around in the dark.
I wouldn’t really consider Leatherface good or evil. I don’t even think he understands those concepts
If Freddy Krueger is an anti-hero then I think Leatherface might be an anti-villain.
Jason Voorhees pre-resurrection (and in the reboot). Other major slashers have some sort of motivation. Leatherface on the other hand is like the family guard dog, while Jason is like a wild animal defending its territory.
It's a delusion thinking he is a victim as to he was once a victim. He's not anymore, pure evil.
They went through hell to make this masterpiece. You can even feel the heat while watching it. I enjoyed the remake but even they knew they can't beat the original dinner scene. Plus I enjoyed part 2, yeah its more of a comedy but hey even Tobe knew that he couldn't top the original, so why not go with this direction instead. I recommend checking out Rob Ager's analysis but warning, it's pretty disturbing.
Imagine watching this during a hot Summer Day.
TCM 3 was good as well all the rest stunk though
@@robertpreston2220 3 is ok, I can deal with it.
Honestly I've never watched this channel's content, I really love this movie and I'd hate to see it butchered by a critic who doesn't understand it. But seeing your comment here reassures me it's gonna be great. I've seen you make a lot of great comments on other channels I like.
@@bentramer682 Thanks man. I just like to give my thoughts or opinions. It's fine if people disagree. Nothing wrong with that.
Sorry for what happened to you in H2. The dumb cop was blind.
When you said Hooper’s inspiration for this movie came from when he was in a claustrophobic crowd that he wanted to chainsaw through…I felt that. Great video, Matt! This movie’s production sounded like hell for the cast and crew. Looking forward to more horror videos.
Thanks, Diego! We've all been there haha
everytime I go to a big box store there's a part of me that definitely wants some murder
Matt Draper: the channel that redefined video essays
YES!
You haven't seen many video essays then. Nothing particularly new here, and that's fine. Its like saying exorcist 3 redefined horror movies.
With the Cannibal family, the old "granny", the backwoods setting from TCM and the chaisaw duel and cocaine hillbilly vibe of TCM2, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard was problably the best rip-off/homage to this series.
And Ethan and Jack's chainsaw fight is clearly inspired by Lefty and Leatherface's in TCM 2.
Not to mention Jack looks like he was based on Hooper.
@@Xehanort10 he says “groovy” too, homage to Evil Dead’s Ash; another chainsaw toting horror icon
4:46 Edwin Neal who played the hitchhiker had been in the Vietnam War but he said shooting the film was even worse than that.
This whole production sounded like hell. Heat wave, getting your finger actually sliced, the mafia handling distribution & taking most of the money...
@@loganbigmo Literally suffering for their art.
@@loganbigmo The mafia?
@@elijahbrink4596 Yes.
@@loganbigmo Got any sources?
Man, that intro and camera noise is everything! I could watch the movie in pure daylight and still get uneasy!
The way Franklin describes cattle being killed by a Sledgehammer is almost the exact way that Leatherface kills Kirk later. Saying how they wouldn't die right away and it would take a couple of strikes. I've only just noticed this watching the film back
I thought he talked about using a gun in the slaughterhouse, and the Hitchhiker talks about using a sledgehammer instead.
@@adamshows1142He first talked about the sledgehammer, but then brought up the bolt gun before picking up the Hitchhiker. Then Franklin and the Hitchhiker were talking about both.
I love the way you blend your analysis of the film with all the history and context behind it because it just flows so well. Terrific work!
Thanks! I think one of the most satisfying parts of writing these is trying to tie it all together in a unique, compelling configuration.
Hooper was a mad genius when he directed this macabre masterpiece. Great work Matt. I hope you make an analysis video of Candyman one day.
candyman isnt good.. (sorry for my unsolicited, unpopular opinion. its just true..)
That dinner scene oddly reminds me of Resident Evil 7's dinner scene. I guess that was it's reference/inspiration.
It was.
I live near that location where they filmed the movie. It's all gone now and it's a corporate park.
I read that they moved the Sawyer family home to another city and it's a restaurant now. Weird!
@@MattDraper Yeah, it's now part of a diner miles off. Still haven't been there but really want to check it.
That's somewhat depressing.
horrifying.
I watched this for the first time at home with a bunch of friends back when I was in college. My mom called me on the phone to tell me that the neighbor lady had called her to tell her that she suspected that "someone was getting assaulted and raped" in our house. I guess we had the volume a little bit too loud 😂
Raped by a gas powered dildo?? 😂
OMG LMAO🤣🤣🤣
Lucky she didn't call the police instead. But what if someone were getting assaulted and raped in the house? She should've called the police!🤔
I very immature with Texas Chainsaw Massacre when first watched it as a teen. I was looking for unfiltered, relentless blood splatter and felt cheated when there was lack of. (The fact that I watched it on grainy vhs perhaps didn't help either as I it wasn't released on DVD at the time 😅)
When I watched it again for the first time in 15 years, I watched it more with an open mind to absorb everything in.
I never realised how morbidly artistic the film was I found things I missed the first time around. And had a greater appreciation for the film then before. Up there with The Exorcist & Halloween as one of the best made horror films, more impressive that it was made with practically chump change
I was running this saw for about 2 hours at about a 30-50% duty cycle ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxfQm1wmg0ItKDLavxj1nXtQY9HP7EF504 and it did a great job. I used the lever for the built in sharpener to clear chip buildup out more than to actually sharpen the chain. It managed to cut some hardwood stumps much larger than it's size without bothering the neighbors with hours of 2 stroke noise.
This kind of horror movie is what I categorize as a "spider web story": some people somehow end up in a place that will soon cause their doom in a dreadful manner. It's not unlike a fly or some other flying bug getting trapped in the sticky silken net. Once you've arrived or trespassed or your car has broken down there, you will be dead before long.
I always enjoy the fun touches in movies like this that give their audience an indication that something is very wrong. Here in TCM one of those moments is when we see several old cars on the property-- former vehicles of previous victims ("meals"?) that have happened upon the house.
I still can’t believe they limited the gore because they were going for a PG rating 😂. Absolutely no way was this getting a PG even without much blood, too grimy and nasty.
I know! I always imagine what this would’ve looked like with full gore 😮
There was no limit on the gore, it was just made and got an R rating - and even banned in many countries because of its intensity. People back then were not nearly as jaded as we are today. Along with The Exorcist the year before, no one had ever seen such films because there were no films like this. Some people got sick, had to leave the theatre or passed out. Cinema staff were trained on how to help overwhelmed customers & the use of smelling salts. It was a very different time.
Would you believe me if I told you that I used to hate horror movies? Somehow through your video essays I’ve fallen in love with the depth and creativity of so many in the genre!
This popped up in my recommendations and thought why not. I watched TCM late last year for the first time after putting it off for so many years and man, I was so impressed with this film. It literally felt like a real snuff film found in an old videotape in a basement or something with the camera visuals, the point of views and share rawness of the film. I loved the ending with Sally running away and barely making it out alive while Leatherface just dances his frustrations away. That was so intense I didn't think she was going to make it
Something about Leatherface dancing with the chainsaw while Sally literally snaps while being driven away is a work of art, it really is. The heroine has escaped but left severely traumatized by the whole ordeal while Leatherface and his family are still out there preying upon the next unfortunate souls to come their way. Also, I originally thought Drayton was the father and not their brother so that surprised me a great deal, and I also find him hilarious especially when he said " Kill the bitch" lmao
Another thing I want to add. After seeing this film it stuck with me for several days because it was that damn good and just had to go out and buy a DVD copy. The psychological attack where it makes you think it was so gory but really when you go back and check it really wasn't. Genius
18:49 The reason Hooper made 2 more comedic was because he felt like no one picked up on the dark comedy elements of the original.
The original movie scared me the first time I watched it. The 2nd time I tried to watch it and got bored in a college dorm. We started playing guitar instead. The 3rd time, it became my favorite horror movie. It is funny and very artistic.
To me, the 3 scariest, creepiest, frightening movies are:
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
2. The Exorcist
1. The Shining
The Japanese film Audition was incredibly good plus; scary...😮😮
Watch Martyrs (2008)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre was way ahead of its time when it you compare it with other horror movies from the 70s, 80s, and 90s
9:19 The person you can hear breathing and who takes the photos at the start is the hitchhiker digging up the bodies. He probably also made the bone sculptures in the house and dug up Grandma Sawyer's body and put it up in Grandpa's room with him.
Are you just guessing that he specifically took the snapshots or did you get that info from someone who was part of the making of this movie? Honestly I never wondered who took them; just assumed it was the crime scene police team.
@@eduardo_corrochio I just assumed it was him taking the photos with his camera.
@@Xehanort10 Ok.
This is an interesting kind of slasher film, because the main killer of the film, Leatherface, isn’t even the main villain, he’s a henchman to his family, not to mention he’s completely human. He’s not like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees where they are semi-supernatural. No, Leatherface is just a big, mentally disabled guy. I think James Rolfe of Cinemassacre said it best in his review of the film. “What makes it scary is not whether or not it did happen, it’s that it could happen.”
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a lightning in a bottle masterclass film, everything is what it needed to be and the films that came after don't even come close to it. What make this film so scary is that instead of depending on bloody gore its greatest strength is its very gritty realism, camera work, and its grainy look that makes what is seen look so realistic and when something does happen its so disturbingly quiet which just adds to the realistic horror brought by the family of psychopaths. A true horror film.
I'm now 46, I first saw this film when I was 13, my mate had it on pirate VHS and we watched it after school lone day. Back in the early 80's we would rent VHS tapes and it was quite easy to get 18 rated films, (if you looked older), and there was a great moral panic, whipped up (as always) by the mass media, so these film's were banned as being 'video nasties.' It didn't help that many of these tapes had lurid box art, that often exaggerated the 'horrific content' (see Driller Killer, a piece of shit) that helped condemn them. Fast forward to the late 80's, the moral panic now had moved on to video games and you could even buy many of these 'video nasties', I bought 'Evil Dead' for £5 in 1991. From a 2021 perspective, all this is hilariously over-blown, even cute. Back then, at age 13, the illicit thrill of watching a 'banned' movie is something I don't think could ever happen now but having re-evaluated, after watching this great review, there seems to be a lot more social commentary going on, commentary that I previously missed? I will have to watch this film again soon.
Banned in Scandinavia (cept Denmark......i just got the danish 1sh poster , been looking for it for 10 yrs) , also all vhs was to be confiscated in Germany (Munich ?) , banned in France originally then 5 yrs later they allowed it
This is by far the beat ever analysis of Texas Chainsaw.
Well done Mr Draper that was brilliant
For me, nothing is better able to embody the horror of the 70s quite like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I just hope that with the new film that’s coming next year, they’ll do justice to the original. As the films following this are, how do I put this, not great.
I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre back in October (because Halloween). And while I liked it and appreciated it for its themes and influence, I’d probably never watch it again. This was a great video that shows how this film was made and it’s influence on modern horror movies to come. I like how you make horror videos even when it’s not Halloween.
P.S. I would never work for someone like Tobe Hopper after hearing this film’s production.
I actually was eating a cheeseburger when I watched this essay, and that was clearly a mistake.
Lol
why?
Grandpa is definetly the best thing to discover in this gem that you can't know just by osmosis. You're ready for a guy with a human leather mask and a chainsaw, mad creepy people and orrible killings going in, but nothing prepares you for that green grandpa trying to hammer in the head the final girl. That scene is as pathetic as it is horrifying, and i fucking love it.
Also, nice to see that Better Call Saul writers took inspiration from that scene in one of their recent episodes! 😉
My #1 favorite horror movie of all time. The 1970's is my decade. Tobe hooper is my favorite horror director. Great Video.
I truly think you just did the best documentary on the original Texas chainsaw massacre, I have ever heard... Thank you... 👍👍
I'm really glad you mentioned that the movie is almost entirely gore-less. The gore is 95 % implied and while it's oft said about the film by others, it always bears repeating. ( I did eat a turkey and swiss sandwhich while I watched this)
I think the second movie is the only other one worth watching if only for the fact that it was by Hooper himself AND was intentionally meant to be a parody of the original by the creator, and the fact that it's fairly balls out insane enough to at least be entertaining, if not a mess
I do love the never-ending reboot of the Texas Chainsaw franchise. Seeing how each director approaches this project with only a vague idea of a character and a group is really interesting in itself for me, the neverending campiness and personality of the second movie, the gruesome and livid nightmare that is the 2003 reboot. Gosh, the only that I don't really like is the Netflix reboot 'cause removing the family of the film turns Leatherface into just another Jason (is like reviving Chuck outside a doll body or taking back the xenomorph apex predator aesthetic).
These video essays are always a treat. Especially being both a comics and film fan.
Still to this day I find this to be the greatest horror movie ever made and I wasn't even born ( 1981 ) when it came out. A true masterpiece.
This and Exorcist are the scariest films ever recorded for the specific ideas they put on film
Great job on the video ! Really perceptive observations about Hooper, the film itself and this very important film in not only horror history but the history of film making as well !
I remember seeing this at the drive-in in the 70's. It was disturbing. That was when it cost $5.00 to see 2 movies.
Ok boomer. Were frankfurters still a nickel too? 🎉😂
Yep, and a burger was 10 cents. Gas was 79 cents a gallon. Good old days man.@@LouSassoleSledgecock_III
@@galimirnund6543I wish I were alive back then. The present feels like humanity is just dragging itself on and on per inertia.
As a fellow creator ...
Love your hard work and clean edits. Much appreciated my guy 🔥
On a visceral level nothing else compares to the original TCM . It’s in my top 5 of the greatest horror films of all time .
Psycho Started the Idea,
the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Invented the Tropes,
Halloween Perfected the Genre, and
Scream Pays Respect to it All.
The description of the heat and how cast members fainted had puked between takes, gives the film an entirely new layer of horror.
Gunnar Hansen based his performance as Leatherface on the patients of an institution he was a guest at, copying how some walked and acted as part of the character being a manchild who was frightened of his family and strangely enough, scared of all the strangers coming into his house. Tobe Hooper said Leatherface has no personality of his own and wears the masks he's made of people's faces to express himself. He wears the Killing Mask when he's killing and cooking people, the Grandmother Mask when he wants to help in the kitchen and the Pretty Woman mask with the makeup to dress up for dinner.
Took me a while to watch this movie. TCM was banned in UK for quite long time and I enjoyed watching it. One of the best horror film of all time.
A video that reminded me how grossed out I was after watching the movie, but also reminded me how awesome it is to watch movies for the first time. Thanks for a great video, Matt!
Did you know that Tobe Hooper was going to direct a Spider-Man movie?
Thanks! Honestly, I still get a little grossed out after rewatching it.
@@srstriker6420Did you know the director of The Omen went on to direct Superman: The Movie?
It’s really interesting that so many of the very best horror films of all time - TCM, night of the living dead, Halloween, Evil Dead etc - were made for next to nothing with zero Hollywood interference purely by super talented and motivated people who just wanted to do it. They grabbed a camera and made it happen. We now live in an era where making amateur films is easier than ever - I could shoot a reasonable quality one on my phone, I can download editing software for loose change - there should be a huge surge of these amateur films breaking through and whilst there is a big number of good quality horror shorts being uploaded onto UA-cam the breakthrough into the mainstream seems to have stopped.
A great watch/listen during my morning run! Don’t be shy of these longer vids. They’re great, thanks!
I remember seeing this movie late at night with my dad when I was really young. It truly spooked me, and was probably one of the only movies that gave me nightmares back then (I wasn’t used to that much “violence” in movies. I look back at it and think that if this movie was the one that scared me back then, then it was most definitely one of the greatest films ever made. And I am proud to say that.
Saw this at the age of 6.....
Scarred me for the longest time.
The sound of a chainsaw made me nervous. Chainsaw Charlie from the WWF scared me yet Undertaker and Kane didn't.
I always thought of TCM as a vegetarian polemic, and I became a vegetarian shortly after seeing it 38 years ago. It solidified a lot of thoughts about eating animals that I had, and perhaps nudged me over the edge. Most uncomfortable movie I've ever seen. Great video as always Matt 💪🏼
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is probably my all time favorite horror film. I love the OG Halloween and Hereditary as my other top 2 films in the genre in my limited experience watching horror. I love how demented and viscerally terrifying it is. Irrational violence without justifiable reasoning just hits so well
Wait a minute. The friends head out investigating the grave robbing? I was under the impression that they were simply heading out to the one family members old house as a little getaway or something.
Thats what recall as well.
@@willnill7946they’re actually out there to see if their grandparents grave has been robbed
that's what's actually happens.
This morning I actually found my notes for a Texas chainsaw film form way back in 2018ish to EXTREMELY early 2020, when they first put out the word that they wanted a new Texas chainsaw massacre script. Frankly I'm kinda happy it didn't pan out concerning what happened in 2020. Because well, let's just say that If this had somehow been made into a film, I would have had my right to breath air "canceled"
The plot was set in like 2016 to 2018 and was about Choptop being the patriarch of a new clan as they embark on a revenge massacre. Basically the original 4 Sawyers were all killed in a massive violent clash with police after Sally's escape, but because the police fucked the operation up so bad there was a some public opinion that sympathized with the Sawyers, (my notes used some radical righters and leftist as examples though mostly seams to be using Ruby Ridge) now decades later in a increasingly polarized post 2016 America a group of More rational less Straw man Liberals and leftists for some reason decided to go to Texas to protest something (my notes say something about police and anti abortion laws) but in the process discover Choptops clan of cannibles (all sorta parodies of extremist members of left wing groups/organizations that are genuinely standing for something good) ploting revenge for the lost of their kin at the hands of "police brutality." I wrote down that ChopTop seams to genuinely think that they were victims of police brutality and compares them to Rodney king which shows the crack in his ultra leftist guise when he remarks "if my family were black they would have sparked a fucking race war." The heading Sums it up, "I WANT THERE TO BE NO HEREOS, NO PRO ANY POLITICS, NO WISH FULFILLMENT, NO ONE IS GOOD IN ANY WAY AND ANYONE WHO SAYS THEY HAVE ANSWERS IS A LIAR. ITS A VERY VERY MAD WORLD"
This whole thing is a big Yikes from me
What an awesome breakdown of an iconic horror classic! Loved the video, Matt!!
Thanks, Marianna!
Incredible video, so well done, amazing analysis and insight!! Wonderful job!!
It's so funny, I got my special edition movie a few months ago and when my caregiver was at my place I had it playing and she was leaving at the moment right before the last dinner section. She had a very scary look on her face. When I texted her apologizing for the movie scaring her too much, she was like that didn't scare me at all. I was like those eyes of yours didn't lie.
I had no idea how deep this movie was
By far my fav horror flick. Every time I’ve stopped at a small gas station, I think of this movie. Plus I LOVE dressing up like leatherface to scare kids on Halloween
This was great. Your film analysis is simply brilliant.
Man, I wasn't allowed to watch this growing up so my first introduction to Tobe Hooper was via the band Showbread, who liked to put hella horror movie references in their otherwise Christian music.
Seeing it years later, I totally got why this one in particular was on the off-limits list. Unlike other slashers that I had totally snuck to watch behind my dad's back, TCM was just so utterly visceral. Finally got around to the 2nd one a few years back, and I've gotta say the radio station scene is probably the most tense scare I've ever had in a horror film.
Loved that they pulled from this for RE7, it really helped pull the series back to its roots after the shitshow that was RE6.
There's something about TCM that still feels transgressive, even after watching countless slashers. Good call with RE7, it's for sure TCM but with some moldy bits!
Well I would have thought of the Monster League where they are a monstrous version of the Justice league
I've always been squeamish when it comes to slasher movies and gore, but I'm not gonna lie, this video might just be what opens me up to that whole subgenre. Fantastic work as always, Matt! Can't wait to see what creepy stuff you cover next!
Thanks! I find them to be pretty entertaining once you get in the groove. Some are excellent, some are dumb fun. You just gotta find the style you like the best!
Great video, the Resident Evil Code Veronica save room music in the background was a nice touch.
Fantastic video, this was a great watch, the insight and perspective is right on the money!
Simply the greatest horror movie ever made.
One of the creepiest movies ever. Much ❤ as always Matt
I feel you dismissed rather unfairly what the second was looking for and what the remake achieved decades later.
The remake didn't achieve anything other than being terrible
@@hcaz5818 OMG thats what I was going to say! The remake suuucks!
The remake shouldn’t have been made , it was terrible , it has nothing on the original masterpiece....
I love both the original and the remake. They each offer a different experience and atmosphere
Another mini-masterpiece. Matt Draper you almost always find just the right way to dissect (does that sound about right in this case) your subject matter. TCM is a true seminal classic, and you picked it apart (hard to get away from meat based metaphors) in a marvelous way. But, I strangely found it interesting how you were able to point out some of the truth behind all the laughable attempts to make this into a real ongoing franchise. It IS seminal; it has codified and solidified many tropes of the slasher genre. But it is as it’s own work of art, totally singular unto itself. There is neither reason or need to return to see what the Sawyer clan is up to later, nor any reason to find out via prequel, what brought them to this state...it is all already there for us to see.
Great work Matt.
This movie is a masterpiece in my opinion. I usually hate horror movies (more so that I feel most are predictable or playing the same tune as many before it), but this is the only film that transcends the genre - it isn't just a horror movie, it's a true horror experience.
Speaking about horror, I'm really looking forward to Last Night in Soho - what are your thoughts on it?
Looks interesting! I'm an Edgar Wright fan
Well done touching on the family's economic situation. An aspect almost never examined.
3:43 and history repeats itself 50 years later...
I’m 24 and hearing TCM is making me think of Turner Classic Movies😂 I was raised by my grandparents in the south😂😂
Great video! It's hard to overstate just how good TCM is. No other film can touch its atmosphere and realness. As you said, you can smell it and feel the heat.
I remember in elementary In 5th grade I heard kids talk about this movie older kids that were in junior high
They never saw anything like it
The greatest and scariest and most disturbing horror film ever made by far!!!
Fun fact the serial killer Ed Gein inspired this, psycho and silence of the lambs each movie took a bit from him
Psycho: his obsession with his mother
Texas chainsaw massacre: his use of body parts for furniture
Silence of the lambs: I have absolutely no idea 🤷♂️
HAIL GEIN but seriously what he did was fucked up
Gein made skin suits out of the bodies of the women whose bodies he dug up just like Buffalo Bill wanted to do.
This is my favorite horror movie ever and as a stand alone film its in my top 5.
I saw it for the first time in 1985 when I was 11. Local Dallas/Ft. Worth tv showed it for the first time on "free tv" on a Saturday night. My parents insisted that I not stay up and watch it so of course I did. It changed my life😂
What an amazingly done video, bravo!
I love your style, Hou-ever... No this is great. You and Ryan Hollinger are both amazing at Horror essays. Different, but still as insightful.
Well now I gotta see that collab, Matt and Ryan could also probably host the coolest horror movie podcast
I first saw this at the movies and, the ticket price was 75 cents.. In the 70's... Scared the daylights outta me for year's...😮😮😮 No other movie came close to this one...😮😮
A video about tcm 2 would be awesome ❤
1974 TCM will always be my favorite horror movie!!
Thankyou for giving Texas chainsaw it's due credit as the true begining of the modern slasher film. I feel too much credit always goes to Halloween for this. Even tho I also love Halloween.
This is possibly the best TCM video I've seen, really love your work mate. Always get excited to see you drop a new video, especially horror
Although I watched TCM 2 last year and was impressed with the amount of fun I had with it. I was laughing from the opening yuppies shooting at signage and then Dennis Hopper took a little stroll down to the chainsaw shop, my aching banana that's quite the scene. It's a tonal opposite to the original but if you're looking for a crazy, funny, 80's, cocaine fuelled horror movie then you're in the right place. It's the horror movie Rob Zombie is trying so desperately to make but cannot capture the magic that film conjures. I never though Leatherface would have me laughing my ass off with just facial expressions.
Hard to imagine that the area they shot this on was once absurdly beautiful, despite the film itself
I remember the first time I saw TCM. I wasn't frightened by it. Nor did I find it that entertaining. BUT from begining to end there's this weird feeling the film induces in a viewer. Decades later, it retains the effect.
*Matt Draper: Uploads new video.
Me: Hits like without even reading title.
When leatherface drops that chick on the meat hook and she's still alive...Fucked up horror. After seeing this movie, I didn't eat meat for like a year.
Yeah, that is an unforgettable moment
Rest easy, Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, and all others involved with this masterpiece that have passed, and happy 50th anniversary to this masterpiece
RE7 was heavily influenced by TCM and Evil Dead. In fact all of RE is influenced by horror films. If you play RE1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, its a classic lesson in horror films.
I saw TCM, The Shining, JC’s The Thing, The Hills Have Eyes and Scalps In a one night horror movie marathon when I was 5 in ‘85. Huge impression on movies. No I’m not psychotic.
Gritty as fuck, had intertwined nightmares for weeks.
The Remake of this film was the 1st horror movie I have ever seen & it messed me up back then.
while i’ve seen some objectively more gruesome movies, this one still just gets me every time
I always loved the nest of arachnids. That to me perfectly set the tone. Completely creepy and unsettling.
First and only time I saw TCM, I lost my appetite for a whole week. Those set designs, man...
As a small child I was desperate to see this. Honestly I think it was the name. The name is just perfect
I hear the original house is moved now. It became a restaurant who's original owners played up the fact it was the Sawyer house. But now, it has new owners, and they try to hide the fact unfortunately. Still would like to check it out.
OG Leatherface gave me legitimate nightmares for years (saw it as a kid)
The Greatest Horror Movie Of All Time