"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974)

....and no, ladies and gents, I'm not talking about the remake with Jessica Biel, or for that matter the one with Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey.  No, no, today we are looking at the orignal The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, directed by horror rock star Tobe Hooper.  A group of teenagers/dirty hippies are traveling in a van to see their grandfather's house in Texas.  Unfortunately for them, they are soon targeted and tracked down by an isolated, malicious family that has a taste for bloodshed, and human flesh.  Literally.  While each member of the clan is frightening in their own way, the one who takes the cake is Leatherface, a large, husky man who adorns himself in his victim's skin and a chainsaw.

(Photo Credit)

You can rent this gem from Netflix, or bite the bullet and purchase it from Amazon.  Don't forget to check out the following clip below:



P.S. Even though the film states that it was based on a true story, no hippies were actually harmed in the making of this film, or in real life.  Instead, the character of Leatherface is based off of serial killer Ed Gein, who made lamp shades and masks out of his victims' flesh.  He is also stated as the inspiration behind The Silence of Lambs antagonist Jamie Gunn, as well as Psycho's Norman Bates.

P.S.S. Gunnar Hansen, the actor who played Leatherface, was actually a computer operator before auditioning for the film.  He did a wee bit of theater and thought it would be fun to be in a movie, and so he auditioned for and won the role.  Apparently, he endured a lot during filming.  For instance, the budget was so low that his character only had one shirt.  He had to film for four weeks in the hot Texas weather.  By the end of shooting, apparently no one wanted to eat lunch with him because he smelled so bad.