When you talk about horror icons, you can’t exclude the infamous Leather face. A lot of people may not know him by name but instantly recognize his appearance. There are a lot of shitty remakes, sequels, and reboots in the franchise. Through the grace of God, I avoided most of them. One of my favorite iterations of the character is from 2006, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. My introduction to the cannibalistic, cross-dressing, maniac.

As a movie buff, I decided to check out the original from 1974. I’m glad to announce that it was a good decision. It possessed a raw quality not found in big productions. No polished cinematography or digital movie magic. Visuals were grainy with practical effects and relatively barren environment. This meshed well with the poor souls that stumbled upon the sinister residence of a disfigured madman. It wasn’t perfect, the victims annoyed the hell out of me.

So when they got picked off, I had no sympathy for them. The exception to this sentiment came in the final girl, who delivered a performance that left me unnerved. During the chase scene, you could feel the terror. Her stunts convinced me a killer was after her. At the end of all the chaos, I swore to myself to never visit rural Texas in any capacity. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre gets a 6 out of 10.