THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: 4K UHD Blu-ray (Vortex/Henkel-Hooper Production, 1974) MPI Home Video

Tobe Hooper's bloody disgusting watershed, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) remains one of the most perverse horror movies ever made, if not – in fact – the most viscerally stomach-churning/cookie-tossing classic of the fear-soaked slasher ilk. It strikes on a gut level (pun intended), with Hooper sustaining a thoroughly apocalyptic sense of dread from first frame to last. This one is NOT for horror virgins.  Hooper’s technique preys upon us like fingernails grating against a chalkboard as victim, Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) does her best to outlast the wicked carnage of her manic hunter; Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen). There is, I suspect, a truly sadomasochistic streak to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as, in spite of its utterly twisted and shameless assault on our senses, the audience under its spell remains more captivated in their seats rather than repulsed to flee the demented carnage unfurling on the screen. Leatherface’s relentless pursuit of fresh flesh and other disembodied human parts to adorn his isolated house of horrors represents an inescapable nightmare from which even exiting the theater can never be purged. Personally, this is one movie of cult repute I wish I had never seen because, even if I close my eyes to consider it, there are still moments abysmally seared into my memory and likely to remain so forever. Damn, Hooper!

Our story – as so many horror movies before and since this one - concerns 5 unsuspecting teens; the aforementioned, Sally, brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), and friends, Pam (Teri McMinn), Jerry (Allen Danziger), and Kirk (William Vail). Traveling an isolated, sun-drenched road somewhere in Texas, these idiots decide to up a hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) whom they quickly surmise is a few cards short of a deck. Hitch takes a picture of Franklin but quickly burns it. He then performs a little self-mutilation and knifes Franklin before being ousted from the van. The teens make their pilgrimage to Sally and Franklin's grandfather’s tomb, concerned it may have fallen to vandalism. Mercifully, all seems right with grand pappy’s final resting place. Next, the five friends drive to the old Hardesty homestead. Alas, they are already low on fuel and, as the local gas bar appears to have been depleted, must remain overnight in town. With nothing to do, Kirk and Pam meander in search of the ole swimming hole, presumably to have sex. To their ever-lasting detriment, they instead come upon the dilapidated farm house where a deranged Leatherface quickly dispatches his reign of death upon them. Bye-bye, Kirk and Pam.

Next on the slab – Jerry, whose search for Pam and Kirk ends when he discovers Pam’s spasming remains inside a freezer and is quickly murdered by Leatherface with a hammer. Of course, Sally and Franklin arrive on the scene and are likewise ambushed. Ole Frank gets it with the chainsaw. Leatherface pursues Sally into the house where she comes across the seemingly deceased remains of a man (Jim Siedow) and a woman's rotting corpse. Surprise! The guy’s alive and chases Sally back to the gas station before disappearing from view. The station's proprietor (Robert Courtin) feigns a safe haven for Sal’. But once in his clutches, he beats her senseless before trucking her back to Leatherface’s abode. Now, the hitchhiker reappears, admonished by the proprietor for his graverobbing. We come to learn Leatherface and Hitch’ are brothers. The man who chased Sally is actually their deranged grandfather. A little finger amputation and blood-sucking and Sally faints dead away, only to awaken the next morning – still, ironically, alive. The plan, apparently, is to wait until Sal’ regains consciousness so the brothers and grandpa can take turns bludgeoning her to death with the hammer. As grandpa is too enfeebled to partake, a blood-soaked Sally manages her escape, flagging down an oncoming cattle truck. The driver (Ed Guinn) stops to pick her up and pulls away in a fury, mere moments before Leatherhead emerges from the underbrush, though unable to exact his revenge.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is grotesque picture-making. It’s also rather clever in its audacious unravelling of good taste to strike and strum our primal chord of fear that, once plied, continues to throb long after the houselights have come up. The weirdness in the exercise is such that the demented family who enjoy their cannibalism are ‘at home’ in their own narrowly-construed concept of normalcy. To the outside world (and anyone with the good sense God gave a lemon) these folk are obviously insane, cruel and revolting. But they’re also family. And you know what they say about the family that ‘preys’ together… As co-written by Hooper and Kim Henkel, and photographed by Daniel Pearl on a shoestring with a complete and utter disregard for camera setups, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s lack of finesse serves its truly dreadful and sordid storytelling. The lack of backstory or immediate clarity to crystalize Leatherhead and his family as the personifications of pure evil, propels us to crave any base lucidity to ‘comprehend’ their motivations. As none is forthcoming, we are left, as the picture’s sole survivor, to contemplate fear on its exclusive/heart-pounding terms, leaving all logic – and hope, for that matter - behind.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 4K UHD from MPI is a vast improvement over previous Blu-ray incarnations. Represented for the first time in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the overall image is darker with more pronounced detail and advanced and appealing film grain. Black levels are accurate. Colors are bolder. No kidding – red is favored. There are still baked in, age-related problems with this transfer and occasional image blocking that, given the gritty texture of the accurately reproduced details elsewhere, will likely go unnoticed. During the early scenes, details in the sky, evident on the Blu-ray, are now completely blown out and undistinguishable. We get DTS 1.0, 2.0, and Atmos 7.1 (a bit of an overkill – pun intended, yet again) audio options. Expunged here, the 5.1 DTS from the original Blu-ray. Did we really need it? Then again, did we really need Dolby Atmos? Surprisingly, the Atmos works rather well for those seeking a more contemporary listening experience from a movie almost 50-years-old. With 2 exceptions, extras have been ported over from MPI's 40th Anniversary Blu-ray. The 4K UHD disc includes 4 separate audio commentaries: the first, featuring production designer, Robert Burns, Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain. The second stars Tobe Hooper, Gunnar Hansen, and cinematographer, Daniel Pearl. #3 is exclusively afforded to Hooper, while #4 brings back Pearl, reunited with editor, J. Larry Carroll, and sound recordist, Ted Nicolaou.

We get a Blu-ray that contains a brand-new 83-min. documentary, written and directed by Phillip Escott with reflections from critics, Heather Wixson and Meagan Navarro, producers, Fede Alvarez, Ben Raphael Sher, Jed Shepherd, filmmaker, Jamie Blanks, Fangoria’s editor-in-chief Phil Nobile Jr., directors, Marcus Nispel, Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, Masters of Horror creator, Mick Garris as well as a few other notable horror aficionados. Actually, I found this piece far more entertaining than the movie. We also get the almost hour-long conversation piece between Tobe Hooper and director, William ‘The Exorcist’ Friedkin – remastered in 1080p. There are also two vintage documentaries – each running just over 70-mins., detailing the making, and, enduring impact of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a 20-min. episode from Horror’s Hallowed Ground, plus, a brief tour of the slaughterhouse set, just under 20-mins. of reflection from actress, Teri McMinn, two other, just-under-20-min. conversations, the first, with production manager, Ron Bozman, the second with John Dugan, a 10-min. interview with editor, Larry Carroll, nearly a half-hour of deleted scenes and outtakes, a blooper reel, stills gallery, trailers and TV spots. Bottom line: while I can honestly say I have never been a fan of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the 4K represents the most finely wrought and best-looking option for this movie. Is it worth your time and coin? With so many real horrors afflicting the world at large today, such manufactured ones meant for our ‘entertainment’ and ‘distraction’ seem shamefully obtuse, obscene and just, plain silly. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

1

VIDEO/AUDIO

4.5

EXTRAS

5+