[10]

Oh, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways…

I love that you’re an unrelenting free fall into madness.

I love that your first half is mysterious and suspenseful, and that your second half is hysterically macabre.

I love how your 16mm film stock lends a raw, documentary feel to the horror.

I love your locations — from the graveyard and the old gas station to the farmhouse from hell.

I love Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen as the bizarre, murderous family.

I love the stamina and commitment of Marilyn Burns, who screams for at least thirty whole minutes.

I love the elegant dolly shots, especially the one that slides under the swing in the front yard.

I love the sound design that functions as music score.

I love that when something ghastly is about to happen, we hear swine squealing.

I love the closeups that are so extreme you can see the veins in people’s eyes.

I love the dead armadillo on the road.

I love the thick nest of daddy long legs.

I love the bone sculptures.

I love how William Vail goes into spasms after Leatherface bashes him in the head.

I love how Teri McMinn tries to pull herself off the meathook.

I love how distraught Leatherface gets when teenagers keep invading his home.  I love that he keeps a chicken in a small cage and that he wears a woman’s face when he cooks the family’s meals.

I love the wicked glee Jim Siedow exudes as he beats Marilyn with the broomstick.

I love Grandpa, especially when he writhes like a baby sucking blood from Marilyn’s pricked finger. I love that the more she screams, the more they laugh and mock her.

I love her desperate escape.  I love that after all is said and bloody done, she’s laughing hysterically in the back of that truck, while Leatherface dances with his chainsaw in the middle of the open road.

What I love most of all is that no matter how many times I see The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it leaves me breathless and inspired.