DVD Releases September 30, 2008: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre
From IMDB

Five friends visiting their grandpa's old house are hunted down and terrorized by a chainsaw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.

Cast

Marilyn Burns ... Sally Hardesty
Allen Danziger ... Jerry
Paul A. Partain ... Franklin Hardesty
William Vail ... Kirk
Teri McMinn ... Pam (as Teri Mcminn)
Edwin Neal ... Hitchhiker
Jim Siedow ... Old Man
Gunnar Hansen ... Leatherface
John Dugan ... Grandfather
Robert Courtin ... Window Washer
William Creamer ... Bearded Man
John Henry Faulk ... Storyteller
Jerry Green ... Cowboy
Ed Guinn ... Cattle Truck Driver
Joe Bill Hogan ... Drunk



Plot

En route to visit their grandfather's grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated), five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse, pick up (and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station, before ending up at the old family home... where they're plunged into a never-ending nightmare as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills... Written by Michael Brooke {michael@everyman.demon.co.uk}

The year is 1974. A group of five close friends are heading through the back roads of Texas en route to their grandfather's potentially vandalized grave. Among them are Sally Hardesty, and her invalid brother Franklin. They encounter an unpleasant hitchhiker (Neal) who slashes both himself & Franklin with a wicked-looking knife. The others manage to eject the hitchhiker from the vehicle, but shortly after wards, they are forced to stop & wander over to a small, sinister clapboard house nearby in hopes for gas. What none of them realize is that this house is the home of the ghoulish Leatherface (Hansen) and his evil, demented family of cannibalistic psychopaths. One at a time, the teens are murdered by the evil Leatherface in horrifying ways. Sally soon finds herself an involuntary guest at Leatherface's home, and flees into the night to escape the demented cannibal and his loudly-buzzing chainsaw. Can she escape the grim fate that befell her friends & brother? Based on the terrifying true story of Ed Gein. Written by Derek O'Cain

A group of five hippies on a road trip through the backwaters of 1970's rural Texas fall prey to a murderous cannibalistic family making up of a leather-masked chainsaw-wielding maniac, his knife-wielding grave robber brother, and their cannibal chief father and decaying grandfather. Written by Jayjay

Five friends visiting their grandpa's old house are hunted down and terrorized by a chainsaw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals. Written by Helltopay27

Upon hearing that vandals have desecrated a graveyard where her grandfather is buried, Sally recruits her boyfriend Jerry, her brother Franklyn, and her friends Pam and Kirk to investigate. On a side trip to the grandfather's deserted farm, the travellers pick up a slimy hitchhiker who cuts himself and slashes Franklyn. After arriving at the farm, Pam and Kirk search for an old swimming hole--Kirk hears a generator and believes he can find some gasoline. He enters the house hoping to find the owner. Unfortunately, this is the home of the hitchhiker, as well as Leatherface, who has some surprises for the travellers consisting of sledgehammers, chainsaws, and assorted cutlery. Written by Rick Gregory {rag.apa@email.apa.org}

Sally Hardesty and her wheelchaired brother Franklin along with three friends travel to a cemetary where there have been grave robbings.To continue their trip, they pick a hitchiker. The hitchiker turns out to be crazy so they drop him off and proceed with the trip. They go to visit an old house where Sally and Franklins' Grandfather used to live . One follows a trail from the back of the house and that's when it all begins. Written by Robert E. Altmeyer {leatherface-007.@worldnet.att.net} Fixed up by HARRYPOTTER1928

The Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre [Blu-ray]
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Average customer review:

Product Description

It has been called grisly, sick, and perverse," as well as raw, unshakeable, and the movie that redefined horror. It was attacked by churches, banned by governments, and acclaimed by only the bravest of critics. It stunned audiences worldwide and set a new standard in movie terror forever. In 1974, writer-producer-director Tobe Hooper unleashed this dark, visionary tale about a group of five young friends who face a nightmare of torment at the hands of a depraved Texas clan. Today it remains unequaled as a landmark of outlaw filmmaking and unparalleled in its impact as perhaps the most frightening motion picture ever made.

Bonus features include:
Brand new never-before-seen featurette with reclusive actress Terri McMinn entitled Off the Hook
Feature-length commentaries with director Tobe Hooper, cinematographer Daniel Pearl, actors Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Allen Danzinger, and art director Robert A. Burns
Featurettes The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth and Flesh Wounds
Theatrical trailers and TV and Radio spots
A tour of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre House with Gunnar Hansen
Deleted scenes and outtakes
Blooper reel and still gallery

Product Details
  • Amazon Sales Rank: #369 in DVD
  • Released on: 2008-09-30
  • Rating: R (Restricted)
  • Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
  • Formats: Anamorphic, Color
  • Original language: English
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Running time: 84 minutes
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
This sensational, extremely influential, 1974 low-budget horror movie directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Salem's Lot), may be notorious for its title, but it's also a damn fine piece of moviemaking. And it's blood-curdling scary, too. Loosely based on the true crimes of Ed Gein (also a partial inspiration for Psycho), the original Jeffrey Dahmer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of teenagers who pick up a hitchhiker and wind up in a backwoods horror chamber where they're held captive, tortured, chopped up, and impaled on meat hooks by a demented cannibalistic family, including a character known as Leatherface who maniacally wields one helluva chainsaw. The movie's powerful sense of dread is heightened by its grainy, semi-documentary style--but it also has a wicked sense of humor (and not that camp, self-referential variety that became so tiresome in subsequent horror films of the '70s, '80s, and '90s). OK, in case you couldn't tell, it's "not for everyone." But as a landmark in the development of the horror/slasher genre, it ranks with Psycho, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. --Jim Emerson

Review
the Ultimate, the zenith, the most exhaustive possible celebration and dissection of this horror classic. I d even wager that no one will be able to put out a better one in the next 10 years --Fangoria

Customer Reviews

Who will survive, and what will be left of them?5
If you're reading this review because you have never seen this film, stop now, navigate back to the product information page, and click "order". Created in summer of 1973 by Tobe Hooper, TCM has become one of the most recognized and influential horror films of all time. Achieving super cult status, spawning sequels, action figures, Atari games, it's safe to say that this one is a force to be reckoned with.

"The film which you are about to see, is an account of a tragedy that befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother Franklin. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But had they lived very, very long lives, they could not have expected, nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that day. For them, an idyllic summer afternoon drive became a nightmare. The events of that day would lead to the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

The infamous monologue that is forever etched in the minds of horror lovers everywhere begins the tale of five youths who embark on a roadtrip across rural Texas to visit a relative's burial site. However, the trip becomes a nightmare as they one-by-one fall victim to a family of cannibalistic savages in the Texas backwoods.

Reviewing a horror classic as revered as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is hardly necessary as there is certainly nothing I can say about it that hasn't already been said. However when I see an overall rating of four stars for a movie like this, I am forced to throw my two cents in. TCM is a horror classic and will remain viewed as such for many generations to come.

The True Beginning4
This is a concept that today remains disturbing. Purely the concept and characters are the sole reason to watch this movie. Shot on some of the worst equipment ever created and with virtually no special effects, this movie still is able to be extremely entertaining. The family of Leatherface is entertainingly dysfunctional, and is part of the thoroughly creepy concept. An amazing film for the lack of budget, and is truly a good way to expose the world to the demented.

Great Classic4
I own the remake, I'd never seen the original before until recently. If your looking for a gore and blood fest in this movie, its not there. This is more of a darker type of movie. If your a fan of the remake that was released a few years ago, I'd say you'd like the 1974 original. I highly recommend buying this 2 disc edition the case and bonus disc are pretty sweet.


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