The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Reviewer: Steven Conoboy

Horror movies. They're usually a bit of a disappointment, aren't they? You expect to get lots of suspense and to have a few good scares, but generally its just some naff monster, man, or man-monster running around a bit and killing a few people who you don't actually care about.

You could come up with worse stuff during cheese-riddled sleep. And banned films are often the worst offenders in the disappointment stakes, due mainly to the manner in which urban myth hypes them up to be Satan's love-children.

Take The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, for instance. From friends who had claimed to have viewed it, I received several versions of what the film actually contained, ranging from a) "It's disgusting, body parts flying everywhere." (untrue), to b) "It's crap, nothing happens." (also untrue). So, what's it really like?

Plot first. It is, amazingly, based very loosely on the same true story as Psycho (and for a more accurate, and again different, version of said story, try Deranged). Here, we have a group of youngsters( who, on their way to visit an uncle or some rubbish, give a lift to a man who turns out to be very strange indeed (pictures of dead animals, likes knives, the usual stuff). They boot him out, and he later turns out to be the uncle's neighbour.

The family he belongs to are, altogether now, psychopathic lunatics, and there's the inevitable spot of bother involving meat hooks and the chainsaw of the title, wielded by an under-used Leatherface, who, intriguingly, enjoys dressing in drag and squealing like a pig. Like I said, the guy is under-used.

This is, by now at least, a rather overly-familiar plot, but the all-important execution is what makes this film noteworthy. The acting, especially at the beginning, is abysmal, but this is a horror film we're talking about. By law, movies of this genre are not allowed decent acting.

Just look at Bram Stoker's Dracula for Christ's sake. No, what we're concerned with here is Tobe Hooper's direction, and that at least is up to scratch. The opening shot, a slow pan out from a corpse in a field as a newscaster in the background talks of grave-robbing, sets the tone for a dark, brutal (though not overly brutal) movie which, though dragging for the first half, comes alive during the second.

The deranged family Mr. Hooper creates is deeply worrying, and the set-pieces are blindingly realised. I defy you not to jump when Leatherface puts in his first appearance. You soon find yourself dragged into the terror of facing such a group of maniacs, and this is where the film's power lies, instead of in masses of gore.

There's a definite menace to the whole thing, and as such plays more on the mind than most of its type. But don't worry, it won't turn you into a raving lunatic. It's only a film.

So, if it isn't a gore-fest, why was it banned? An attack on a wheelchair-bound cripple is the answer, as well as the extreme terror one girl is put through. Personally, I found some aspects of the recently-released Event Horizon to be more horrific, but I guess it just goes to show where a few million extra dollars will get you.

Yes, I am indeed hinting that it's about time for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to get a release over here as, beneath the furore, there's a good movie waiting to get out. Of course, in no way am I advocating that you attempt to view a film that someone has decided is unsuitable for you whether you like it or not (big breath), but if you get a chance, try it.

Not the best film you'll ever see, but certainly not the worst. It'll definitely make you wonder what the hell went wrong with Tobe Hooper.


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