The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (DVD 2000)

This,Tobe Hoopers original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is back again and under director Hoopers supervision has been digitally remastered with enhanced widescreen picture and surround sound.
Few films can be described as true "cult classics",but the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is more than worthy of this description.

First lets clear something up.Many people believe that this film was based on a true story.This is and isn't true.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is very loosely based on the exploits of Wisconsin killer Ed Gein.Whilst we only know of two victims whom he killed,we know a lot more about the disturbing manner in which he behaved.Deemed "sick in the head",upon his arrest police discovered he had a tendency to dig up cadavers from graveyards and use their skin and bones to decorate his house.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre takes a lot from his house and behaviour,but if you thought someone actually went on a rampage in Texas with a Chainsaw,you'd be very wrong.

En route to visit their grandfather's grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated),five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse,pick up(and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker,eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station,before ending up at the old family home...where we find out that "the saw is family".
This,the last house you'd want to wind up in,is the home of the horrifying Leatherface and his family of Cannibals who are just as much perverted as they are deranged.
A simple road-trip turns into a never-ending nightmare for the teenagers who are disturbingly dispatched.

Its a disturbing film.Dont expect heaps of gore,because there is very little.Dont expect body parts flying off,because it just doesn't happen.
Do expect however to be shocked.Thats the reason that this film was banned.It wasnt because of gore,or horrific scenes,it was banned purely because no-one had ever encountered anything like this.Of course we all knew that there were psychopaths in the world,but to see them visually onscreen in this film freaked a lot of people out and genuinely disturbed them.The cannibal family are superbly cast and are chillingly played to perfection.Their love of the macabre completes the film and you yourself begin to feel the frustration of the victims who cant understand why anyone would do such ghastly things.

You would be crazy not to rent or buy this film,as it is one of the true greats of cinema history.Plus,whilst the sequels are not nearly as good as the original,all three of them will provide some entertainment at least,especially to those who rate the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

This review was written by Chris on 01 April 2006.

I bought this film as I am a big horror film fan and heard this was very good and it had also been banned 20 odd years which only made it more appealing to me. My dvd is Special Edition and Tobe Hoopers full uncut version. The film was shown at cinemas in 1974 and took the world by storm. In some countries it was so shocking it was banned. This made me want it. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I enjoyed every minute of this horrifying and exciting horror.

One hour and 22 minutes of pure gut wrenching action. My dvd has amazing extras too. A fantastic 72 minute docu called The Shocking Truth. Director and Crew Interviews. 16 page collectors booklet full of pics and info on the film. Full length commentary. Deleted Scenes,Outtakes,Orig tv ads,Stills, Posters and lot's more. I found the extras just as entertaining as the actual movie. Widescreen quality picture and sound are very good. Dvd also comes in a really nice folder.

What I really liked about the film is the style of filming and directorship. Tobe Hooper(director) had a really small budget when making it and used local people rather than prof actors. Leatherface (Gunnar Hanson). But this worked really well. Shot in a kind of Blaire Witch camera style. It made me feel like I was really there. Another reason why I found it so terrifying was because the film was loosely based on a real cannibal killer called Ed Gein.


A group of young adults drive across Texas in the heat of summer and meet up with the cannibal family from hell. Leatherface and his weird frightening family do not like being disturbed and they are hungry. I found the film so real and believeable as such people have existed before and such people are around now. Mad killers are on this planet and this film shows us our innermost fears. Being murdered in a terrifying way. But one more thing I really like about Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the way shots were filmed. This film did not have many gory scenes as such. Shots were filmed in a style that left the gory horrific scenes all to your own imagination. And this style works really well. The creepy people and fantastic filming style made this low budget film a huge success.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (DVD 2000)Dont miss this classicer to your collection of horror dvd. The story is so famous for everyone so I don´t belive I need to introduce this movie more than is a bunch of friends who stay on wrong place in Texas and get contact with the cannibal family, Leatherface & co and they get stabbed one by one. But this movie is a Masterpiece and can not compairs with any horror movie at all. Buy this one, you most have this one!!! This is the director Tobe Hooper best movie ever and one of the best horror movie ever made!

i decided to buy this because i have seen the upto date version i had not seen the original one. if you like horror films i think this is the scary one out of the texas chainsaw massacre films.

I saw this back in 1974 it scared me to death then but in todays style of horrors it not so shocking. Lots of blood curdling moments though. If you like this kind of grusome moviw you wont be dissapointed.......John Rutter