I’ve seen over 3000 Horror/Thrillers and putting aside personal opinion, the Top 10 are hard to argue. They’re the titles you know must be conquered at some point if you’re even curious about the genre. I decided to acknowledge the Hall of Fame rather than lose all credibility up front by attempting to argue against them or push in a personal favorite. All of these films I like. Four of them would be in my personal Top 10.
Even though I was enthusiastic about Horror films at a young age, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a title that promised something I was reluctant to see. That dread was increased by the tagline, “Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?” What finally brought me to the door of the Sawyer family was learning why Spielberg hand-picked Tobe Hooper to helm Poltergeist (coming soon to this project), that there’s very little on-screen blood and lots of suggestion and promise of a gore-fest that never happens. Yet, viewers didn’t walk away unsatisfied.
The film lives up to its reputation more than its grindhouse title. The first half is surprisingly patient, but things escalate quickly from the first unforgettably shocking kill. A moment that ends as suddenly as it begins. The back half is full of shocks and close calls, and a moment in the middle where most films usually ease up but here, you realize it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
Watching more Tobe Hooper – I’ve seen 12 – I know he favors a perverse sense of humor. It’s all over the sequel, and if you’ve seen Eaten Alive then the climactic dinner here strikes a similar note. On a first watch though, the grimy realism has you wondering how far things will get and how terrible a set this must have been to work on.`
