The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Special Edition

"I just can't take no pleasure in killing. There's just some things you gotta do.
Don't mean you have to like it." - Old Man

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Special Edition

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Special Edition Year of Release - 1974
DVD Release - Universal - 2003
Region 2 - PAL - Rated 18
Running Time - 79:59

Director: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen.
Music: Wayne Bell & Tobe Hooper

As with Alfred Hitchcok's Psycho, Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel wrote a script inspired by the events surrounding real-life psycho serial killer, Ed Gein. This seemingly innocuous little horror film was shot in the blazing Texas heat duirng the early 70's, with many of those involved not even thinking that it would even get released.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was indeed released and became one of the most influential Horror films since Night of the Living Dead.

SYNOPSIS

The news that graves have been desecrated in a quiet town in Texas brings Sally Hardesty (Burns) and her wheelchair-bound brother Franklin (Partain) to check whether their grandfather's grave has been disturbed. Along for the ride are their three friends, Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail) and Pam (Teri McMinn). Fortunatly they discover that the grave has been untouched and they head back into town.

On the way back they pick up a Hitchhiker (Neal) who is a few cans short of a six-pack. He freaks out the kids big-time by mutilating himself. They promptly boot him out of the van and take off.

The van is low on petrol and the Service Station is out of fuel until later in the day, so the kids decide to go back to Sally and Franklin's grandfather's old house to spend the time.

Kirk and Pam decide to explore the surrounds, looking for somewhere to swim. They hear a generator running and figure that they can get petrol from whomever the generator belongs. A short trip though some woods reveals an old farm-house. Kirk goes inside. Big mistake...

VIDEO

Shot on 16mm film and presented in 1.85:1, digitally re-mastered plus with the added clarity of the PAL image, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has never looked so good. It's not perfect, but considering the age and the budget of the film, it is superb.

AUDIO

Presented in Dolby Surround 2.0, the Audio track is more than servicable. In fact, I feel that most of the terror in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre comes from it's chilling sound and music effects more than the visuals.

EXTRAS

Audio Commentary - Tobe Hooper (Director), Daniel Pearl (Director of Photography), Gunnar Hansen (Actor)

A very good Commentary, which is essentially three great mates reminiscing about a little film they made some 30 years previously. It's informative, good-natured and entertaining. This is one of the good ones!

Documentary - The Shocking Truth - 72:51

This is an in-depth and informative documentary about the history and the making of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and it's sequels. Quite outstanding. Worth the price of admission alone.

Interview with Tobe Hooper - 13:48

Tobe's thoughts on Texas, the Family, the House, the Woods, the End, the Mix, and the film's Reception. Of great interest.

Interview with Kim Henkel - 08:27

Kim Henkel (the co-writer of Texas) gives his thoughts about the film and his experiences making it.

Deleted Scenes

All of these are of varying audio and video quality.

The Van - 01:15 - Parts of the dialogue from this scence exists as voice over in other Van scenes in the finished film.
The Campsite - 02:00 - Several coverage shots of Kirk and Pam coming across and examining the ruined campsite.
Make-Up Scene - 03:34 - Several coverage shots of Leatherface putting on make-up for the Dinner scene.
Death of a Hitchhiker - 00:38 - A close-up shot of the bloody face of the dead Hitchhiker.
Sally's Escape - 00:30 - A shot of The Family's reaction to Sally's escape through the window.
Tantrum Outside the Service Station - 01:25 - Several coverage shots of Leatherface throwing a slight tantrum over Sally's escape into the Service Station.

Alternative Footage

Corpse in the Graveyard - 01:17 & 01:31 - The raw footage of the corpses used in the opening scenes of the film.
Original opening - 01:15 - Instead of a dead Armadillo, the original opening starts on the image of a dead Dog.
Sally in the Service Station - 02:38 - Extra footage of Sally getting emotional.
A Study in Filming - Death of Kirk - 01:58 - The coverage shots of Kirks death.

Outtakes - 02:13

A reel of stuff-ups and some mildly amusing mistakes presented in very poor audio and video quality.

Trailers

Original Bryanston Theatrical Trailer - 01:38 - Of very poor audio and video quality.
Re-release Trailer - 01:25 - New Line Cinema's re-release trailer is of good audio and video quality.

Sequel Trailers

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 - 01:04 - Of average quality.
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 3 - 01:08 - An amusing parody of the Lady of the Lake giving Excalibur to King Arthur.
Early Rough Cut Promotional Reel for - The Return of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (a.k.a. Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 4: The Next Generation) - 02:45 - It's average quality can be forgiven, given that it's an old rough cut.

Original TV Ads - 00:31 & 00:30

Much like the Theatrical Trailers - this is the Original Bryanston TV Spot and the New Line Cinema Re-release TV Spot.

Props and Sets - 06:09

This silent reel of the various bone sculptures and furniture is of mild interest. The picture qualtiy isn't that great.

Film & Production Stills

Over 50 pictures in both colour and B&W. These are good pictures, although I'm not a huge fan of these features.

Posters & Lobby Cards

A great collection of alternate poster art and promotional material. I like these gallerys much better than production and film stills.

DVD-ROM Weblink

It's a link to http://www.thechainsaw.com (which is no longer available).

OVERALL

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the seminal Horror films of all time. It's horror comes mostly from the atmosphere created by Hooper's documentary-like visuals and the innovative sound and music effects.

The collection of creepy and off-the-wall characters that make up The Family are unparalleled in film. Grandpa, The Old Man (Siedow) and the Hitchhiker are all scary characters in their own right, but the character that steals the show and that everyone knows, is the Chain Saw wielding, Leatherface (Hansen).

However a great deal of praise must be given to the performance of Marilyn Burns. Her scream-filled terror is a major contibutor to the audiences terror.

One of my favourite shots of the film is when Kirk and Pam, while on the way to The Family's house, pass a ruined campsite. The camera focuses on a clock with a large nail driven through the middle. This Dali-esque image suggests that time has indeed run out for the kids.

This Region 2 DVD release of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the ultimate edition. It has everything that Pioneer's Region 1 release has and everything that Force Video's Region 4 release has. And more besides.

The Region 1 release misses out on:

An anamorphic 16:9 enhanced transfer.
The Shocking Truth Documentary
The Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel Interviews

The Region 4 release misses out on:

Trailers & TV Spots
The Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel Interviews

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has taken it's rightful place in the pantheon of great films. And this release has taken it's rightful place in the pantheon of great DVDs. You simply must see it.

The Film: 1/2
The Disk: