Pwaters' Month of Terror Day 7: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Hello ladies, gentlemen, and creatures lurking in the shadows!  This month, October, is a favorite among horror fans, such as myself.  My goal for the next 31 days is to share with you the scariest and best of the genre.  The films will range from old school classics to modern day gorefests (they won't be in any particular order).  So scout these movies out, grab a bag of popcorn (or a blood bag) and enjoy!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Dir. Tobe Hooper

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was loosely based around the real-life psychopath Ed Gein, a nutcase who's been inspiring Hollywood for a long time (his "doings" also provided the basis for Norman Bates in Psycho and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs).  The story goes as this: Sally, her wheelchair-bound brother Franklin, and three of their friends are on their way to an old family homestead.  Along the way they pick up this completely demented hitchhiker .  Since he's completely bonkers (he burns a photograph on tin foil, cuts himself, cuts Franklin, and talks about "headcheese"), they kick him out of their van; later they stop by a swimming hole where they find a house.  Unfortunately for them its the house belonging to the cutter, and a whole family-gone-fucked.

The film is very gritty and grimy and feels totally authentic.  When the group of friends stumble upon the farmhouse, housing some of the creepiest people in all of movies, it actually feels lived in, with bones and dust covering the furniture.  Despite their craziness, the villains do have a sense of home and family (however morbid each of those categories are), which makes it even scarier.  Instead of one nameless killer, there's a family of them that love each other - and killing only strengthens their bond.

The whole family is demented, but the official chainsaw-weilding mascot, Leatherface, is the focal point of this kinship from hell.  He personally likes to wear the skinned-off faces of his victims on his face as a mask, which is an activity that Ed Gein actually did do (he had some mommy issues).  'Chainsaw Massacre' taps into something that is over the top, but real at the same time.  Looking back, there really is hardly any blood or gore in the film despite it feeling like there was, which I think is a testament to its power. As in 'Blair Witch,' your mind fills in the blanks of what's happening, and often it's your mind that's the scariest place of all.