The last movie I watched was Halloween.
The end.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
31 Days of Halloween: Day 31
Halloween (1978) Director: John Carpenter
The last movie I watched was Halloween.
The end.
The last movie I watched was Halloween.
The end.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
31 Days of Halloween: Day 30
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Director: Tobe Hooper
This too, is one of the greatest movies titles of all time. Straight, and to the point. No one goes into this film without good understanding of what to expect from the title alone.
Many people (mom) have this prejudice against slasher films, believing that they're all trashy gore fests. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is no exception, which is a shame, because not only is this one of the greatest films of the 1970s, but it also has hardly any blood in it at all.
That's right, for those of you who have not seen it, this film is rather tame when it comes to gore. Sure there is violence, but most of it is suggested through atmosphere and sound effects. This film was released before there was a PG-13 rating, so films were either G, PG, or R. The filmmakers behind Chainsaw were actually trying to get a PG rating, but got stuck with an R one from the MPAA. Can you imagine if the a film called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was rated PG?
This film is not just good, it's fantastic. In 2012, it was given a bit of critical validation when it was ranked the 183rd greatest film ever made by the Sight and Sound critics poll. 183 may not seem that impressive at a glance, but that's relative to every film every made, and this is a serious list; none of that IMDb crap. When I first saw it, I was genuinely surprised at how good the film actually is.
So what makes it great?
The story is bare bones, but to the point. A group of kids go on a road trip in Texas to stay at an old house the belonged to two of the kids' grandparents. Shortly after arriving at their destination, the kids encounter a family of psychopaths that kill them one-by-one. There is no motive to the killings, or any sort of reasonable explanation for most of anything that happens. It's just pure insanity.
The world of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one completely without reason. The film is a visual manifestation of total madness. This is expressed both through the story as well as the filmmaking. Shot on 16mm, the movie has a distinct look to it that gives it the sort of "reality" that is seen in found footage films. The editing is also wild and fast in each of the intense scenes, which works to create a heightened sense of disorientation. Each of the actors of for the psychotic family are creepy to the ultimate level, but also hit different notes of crazy. Instead of being redundant, they complement each other well.
This film is like a thematic adaptation of Heart of Darkness, and translated into the horror genre. Tonally, Apocalypse Now (1979) has much in common with Chainsaw. The two portray a world that is ruled by those who have lost their mind, and whose influence has impacted the minds of others and their own perception of reality. In both films, the audience joins a group of people who enter the world perfectly sane, but the lone survivor escapes with a look in their eye that suggests that they have just seen Hell.
See this movie.
This too, is one of the greatest movies titles of all time. Straight, and to the point. No one goes into this film without good understanding of what to expect from the title alone.
Many people (mom) have this prejudice against slasher films, believing that they're all trashy gore fests. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is no exception, which is a shame, because not only is this one of the greatest films of the 1970s, but it also has hardly any blood in it at all.
That's right, for those of you who have not seen it, this film is rather tame when it comes to gore. Sure there is violence, but most of it is suggested through atmosphere and sound effects. This film was released before there was a PG-13 rating, so films were either G, PG, or R. The filmmakers behind Chainsaw were actually trying to get a PG rating, but got stuck with an R one from the MPAA. Can you imagine if the a film called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was rated PG?
This film is not just good, it's fantastic. In 2012, it was given a bit of critical validation when it was ranked the 183rd greatest film ever made by the Sight and Sound critics poll. 183 may not seem that impressive at a glance, but that's relative to every film every made, and this is a serious list; none of that IMDb crap. When I first saw it, I was genuinely surprised at how good the film actually is.
So what makes it great?
The story is bare bones, but to the point. A group of kids go on a road trip in Texas to stay at an old house the belonged to two of the kids' grandparents. Shortly after arriving at their destination, the kids encounter a family of psychopaths that kill them one-by-one. There is no motive to the killings, or any sort of reasonable explanation for most of anything that happens. It's just pure insanity.
The world of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one completely without reason. The film is a visual manifestation of total madness. This is expressed both through the story as well as the filmmaking. Shot on 16mm, the movie has a distinct look to it that gives it the sort of "reality" that is seen in found footage films. The editing is also wild and fast in each of the intense scenes, which works to create a heightened sense of disorientation. Each of the actors of for the psychotic family are creepy to the ultimate level, but also hit different notes of crazy. Instead of being redundant, they complement each other well.
This film is like a thematic adaptation of Heart of Darkness, and translated into the horror genre. Tonally, Apocalypse Now (1979) has much in common with Chainsaw. The two portray a world that is ruled by those who have lost their mind, and whose influence has impacted the minds of others and their own perception of reality. In both films, the audience joins a group of people who enter the world perfectly sane, but the lone survivor escapes with a look in their eye that suggests that they have just seen Hell.
See this movie.
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