I had the pleasure last weekend of visiting one of my favorite places in the world- the Riverside Drive-In in Vandergrift, PA. Twice a year, an ever-growing group of friends and I make the five-hour journey to enjoy a weekend of great (and sometimes not-so-great) horror flicks as part of their April Ghoul's Drive-In Monster-Rama and it's autumn counterpart the Drive-In Super Monster-Rama. It's always a memorable experience and one that I treasure a lot. As enjoyable as it is to watch an old horror movie in a dark room by yourself, nothing quite beats relaxing outside with a group of friends and a tub of popcorn, basking in the glow of a film like The Thing With Two Heads or Psychomania.
This year, four of the eight movies playing were ones that I still had to cross off of my Video Nasties list. The first film on Friday night was not one of those four but was still banned in England, so I decided to include it as a "half" entry.
(1974)
Director: Tobe Hooper
Writers: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
After a visit to the concession stand for a giant tub of popcorn and some great old school trailers, I was fully prepared to revisit The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. TCM is one of my favorite horror films and one that still gets to me on a visceral level every time i watch it. That being said, seeing it a drive-in is a totally different experience and is truly the way it was meant to be viewed. I don't think I need to go into any detail as far as the plot is concerned, if you haven't seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre you need to stop reading this right now and watch it immediately. It's a horror classic for a reason and is essential viewing for anyone who's even a casual horror fan. The biggest thing that struck me on this viewing was how funny the movie really is. I mean, I was already aware of the darkly comic streak that runs through the film, and maybe it was just the thrill of seeing it at a drive-in or the good spirits I was in, but I could not stop laughing. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is truly a masterpiece of black comedy-horror that has the ability to be a laugh riot or intense thrill-ride depending on how the audience views it. Sometimes it can even be both at once.
My father, although supportive of my obsession with horror films, is not really a horror movie guy. He saw The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at a drive-in back when it first came out and was not impressed. When I told him how much I enjoy it, he told me that all he remembered was that it was so dark you couldn't see anything and that there was a lot of chainsaw noise and screaming. After finally seeing it at a drive-in, I now understand what he was talking about. Though the print that was screened was pretty good, there were a few parts, especially toward the end, where it was hard to make out what was going on. That's kind of part of the drive-in experience though. If I wanted to watch a crystal clear presentation of a film, I could do so in my living room, blu-ray remote in hand. At a drive-in, all those barely visible scenes, all those cracks and pops and cigarette burns, they're all characters unto themselves and ones that I have grown to love dearly.
While not technically a "video nasty", Texas Chain Saw Massacre was banned in the U.K. Which is odd since the notorious film has barely an ounce of blood or gore in it. A very good possibility is that it's simply because it has the word "chainsaw" in it. Along with "ninja", among others, this was a trigger word for the BBFC and was simply not allowed. That's how England ended up with the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Whatever reason was given for banning this film however is completely undeserved. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre changed the face of horror cinema when it was released and still inspires and terrifies to this day. It has a grittiness and unapologetic tone that you can't turn away from, no matter how hard you may try. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre gets 6 out of 6 beers.
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