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Post by Bone Daddy on Nov 24, 2006 22:32:22 GMT -5
Can you believe I finally saw this the other night?!!!!!
I dunno what took me sooo long. I picked up the Dark Sky 2 disc Tin DVD.
It deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it.
Classic in the truest sense of the word!
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Post by GL on Nov 25, 2006 12:46:01 GMT -5
I'll post my review here when I get the DVD for Christmas.
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Post by Bone Daddy on Nov 29, 2006 10:08:50 GMT -5
Finished watching the Doc on the SE DVD called The Shocking Truth. I didn't realize there (and is) some controversy on financing of the film and subsequent payment or non-payment of the actors and crew involved!
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Post by GL on Dec 28, 2006 12:05:58 GMT -5
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is a classic horror film.
**SPOILERS**
After receiving word that their relatives' graves may have been robbed, Sally Hardesty, (Marilyn Burns) her invalid brother Franklin, (Paul Partain) and their friends Jerry, (Alan Danziger) Kirk, (William Vail) and Pam, (Terri McMinn) drive through Texas to get to the location. While along they way, they get stranded in this strange town, which has a large house on the edge of town. Thinking a break along the nearby creek might be good for them, they stop and look around. As night falls and the rest of the group hasn't returned yet, Sally and Franklin decide to head into the night to look for them. While searching, they run into the chainsaw-wielding maniac Leatherface, (Gunner Hansen) who chases Sally through the woods.
The Good News: Wow, this is a great film! Even though Jason may be my favorite slasher villain, Leatherface is the first, so he holds special commendation. He is also one of the more unique killers in that he is based on a real person, the notorious Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein. The main differences, of course, being the leather mask and the chainsaw. Both are ingenious weapons for any killer to lay claim to: being the first masked killer in cinema history, and for having the most feared weapon of all time. That mask, the knowledge that it is sewn together from human skin, is completely freaky and scary, and that drained color tone, combined with Hansen's strong performance, make up one scary slasher. Even the other performers in the film are incredible. The family at the end is just a bunch of wackos, and the dinner scene is just completely freaky. It takes a special skill to successfully creep out the audience, and they play it so well that you sometimes wonder if these are actual actors or real insane people that he hires to scare the wits out of the rest of the cast. Even without Leatherface in the picture, it can scare you how good they are. Wow, highlights, where do we start. For me, I can sit till the end of time watching Leatherface chase Sally through the woods, chainsaw blaring, as we all hear her screams running around for at least ten minutes. This is pure suspense genius. All we see is the chase, running through the woods, with Leatherface sometimes cutting up tree branches that probably shouldn't have been cut, but that just makes the scene more suspenseful. It gives her a chance to get farther away, and yet he still manages to catch up with her, and the doom we feel when he is within striking distance and she is barely getting away are some of the scariest scenes in the history of cinema. This even comes after one of the biggest jumps I've ever had. Two people are walking in the woods, talking innocently, when after a while we hear a twig snap. One of them shines a flashlight in the direction of the noise, and from out of the darkness roars Leatherface, chainsaw blaring as loud as he is, and he then slices the first character up in not-very-gory fashion. Even still, the way it's filmed is so carefully planned out that we think we see the actual cutting of the character, but we never see a drop of blood. That is a brilliant twist over our heads, as we expect something and then something completely by surprise happens that shocks us. Leatherface's first on-screen appearance/kill is also a shock for first time viewers. One character goes walking around the house by himself and stumbles over a loose nail in the floor. When he regains his footing, a secret door has opened, and in the middle stands Leatherface, hammer in hand. With one swift blow to the head, he's down. He picks up the carcass, hauls it back into the room, and then just slamming the door shut, where it's loud banging comes as a long shock. I don't even have to use the dinner scene, that is too marvelous for me to spoil here, as I've said too much already. It needs to be seen yourself to know what I mean. Even the last five minutes are simply incredible, action-packed pieces of lunacy that no one in their sane mind could have come up with, and the brilliant acting already mentioned just drive the scene home so well that it gives the viewer goosebumps just thinking about a scene like that. That is how well made this film is.
The Bad News: The main problem I have with this film is that Leatherface is not the mass murderer many think he is. We only get five kills in the film, and even worse, only one by chainsaw. Granted, the chainsaw kill is the best one in the film and one of the best in horror history, it still can't make up for the fact that hardly anyone dies in the film. This is a problem that even the remake and nearly all the sequels have in common. A massacre is not five deaths. That can be a bad traffic accident. The storyline needs to be changed so that he has the opportunity to slash up multiple victims. I might be scared of him more if I knew, that in his whole series, he was capable of killing more than one "Friday the 13th" film. These are not body count flicks, so don't be expecting a large cast to be killed off.
The Final Verdict: This is a pretty solid film. It is a bona fide classic; it has some great shock moments and one of the better villains in horror history. Just kill more people along the way. That part of the critique should not be taken seriously, though, and this film MUST be seen as soon as possible. Rated R: Violence, mild Language and the murder of a handicapped person
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Post by DrSatan on Dec 31, 2006 19:35:18 GMT -5
i voted a 5 this is a great movie. conan let me watch it along time ago but i still love this movie!
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Conan
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Post by Conan on Jan 3, 2007 16:57:16 GMT -5
Its a classic thats for sure.
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HNT
Grizzled HMaM Vet
Horror in General & Everything Else Moderator[/i]
Kiss my tuchis
Posts: 6,296
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Post by HNT on Aug 24, 2007 13:06:14 GMT -5
After revisiting this one, I think my favorite thing about it is relatively subtle. Leatherface has two skin masks. The first is his butcher's mask and it is the most famous and iconic. During the dinner scene, however, he serves the family while wearing a woman's mask. While wearing it, he acts submissive to the other characters and this creates pure lunacy. I just love it
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Post by Dr. Butcher M.D. on Dec 18, 2007 12:04:45 GMT -5
I hadn't even noticed that. I need to give this film another viewing when I finally pick up the new 2-disc special edition of it.
Definitely one of my favorite films and classic for sure.
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Lazario
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Post by Lazario on Feb 4, 2008 2:55:49 GMT -5
1974 original - 5. One of the very rarest perfect horror films made after the mid 1960's. A true masterpiece, through and through. An inspiration for all other horror films to look up to. Can't say enough about this movie.
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Post by CT on Feb 5, 2008 5:32:37 GMT -5
I need to give this film another viewing when I finally pick up the new 2-disc special edition of it. Get the 2-disc steelbook version. That one is awsome!
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Post by CK on Feb 7, 2008 10:20:41 GMT -5
I need to update this from VHS to DVD soon, I been getting lazy as far as building up my horror section more.
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Lazario
Zombie Flesh Eater
BANNED FOR FLAMING
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VOTED OF THE ISLAND!!!
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Post by Lazario on Feb 7, 2008 14:26:19 GMT -5
I have the Pioneer Special Edition DVD from 1998. Until 2003, when MPI re-released the special edition, that Pioneer DVD was $30.
I'm happy with it, but I can't wait until I get the Dark Sky 2-Disc. I'm told they made the movie look and sound a lot better than MPI / Pioneer.
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Post by CT on Oct 23, 2009 23:42:39 GMT -5
Considering this came out in 1974 I cant see any reason for it not to get a 5. The gradual descent into mayhem is iconic with enough really tucked up scenes spread evenly throughout. Great setting, characters, originality and even good acting.
5/5
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Post by The Walking Dude on Oct 24, 2009 0:44:35 GMT -5
Another one that I experienced on the big screen at the Be afraid festival.It was a reminder of just how powerful and disturbing the film is.Leatherface's first appearance is as shocking a moment as you will ever see, and when he slams that door - oh man!
If any of you ever get the chance, I emplore you to see it on a cinema screen.
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Post by CT on Oct 28, 2009 22:06:09 GMT -5
Will do.
Note to self: get rich and purchase cinema screen.
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