Sally (Marilyn Burns) and her brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) take a road trip to the middle of nowhere, Texas, to visit their grandfather's grave and see the old homestead with three of their friends (Teri McMinn, Allen Danzinger, and William Vail). What they don't know is that the neighbors aren't real friendly. More murder-y. And cannibal-y.
You know how you watch something when you're young and you think "whoa, that's scary" and then you watch it again as an adult and you're like "those assholes had it coming"? That's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Also, you know how I talk about horror movies having a moral? Like Don't Have Pre-Marital Sex or Don't Build Your House on Indigenous Sacred Land? Well, this moral is Don't Go into Other People's Houses Without Permission. I don't even think Leatherface would get prosecuted in Texas for murdering these fools. Eating them and wearing their faces, probably. Definitely for grave robbing. But clobbering some hippie after he busts into the parlor and starts judging your decorating? Not in the Lone Star State.
I have to say Texas Chainsaw Massacre was damn near progressive for 1974. It had a disabled main character, no gratuitous nudity, no sexual violence, not even strong language. And the gore is really minimal. Most of what makes it horror is the art design, which features a large number of human and animal skeletons in home decor, and the costuming. He is called Leatherface for a reason.
It's not currently streaming for free but you can rent it on Amazon for $4.
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