the texas chain saw massacre can and and will and be reinterpret by critic and theorist for decade to come . it be shoot in the summer of 1973 and during the aftermath of the vietnam war and the munich olympics massacre and at the height of the watergate scandal and the legal investigation into the shooting at kent state . it be an era of plane hijacking and government oppression and dishonesty and racial conflict and terrorism and revolution . a a mirror of a dark period in american history and chain saw remain one of the best evocation yet of the era and a a group of young individual and return to the nostalgic home of their childhood and stumble into the raw and irrational cruelty of the modern world . the movie have a weak and though functional storyline and one that have since become the staple for slasher movie while a group of teenager get lose and stumble across evil and get stalk and kill . but chain saw isn not about storyline and plot while it about create an experience and a sensory overload . the cast and crew work tirelessly to create scene and image that be raw and powerful and ultimately and against all expectation and beautiful . leatherface travesty of motherly domesticity a he prepare dinner and his child like dance in the dawn light and the open door at the gas station and the van make it slow turn off the road towards the derelict and ivy clad hardesty residence be all image that burn themselves into your consciousness after just a single viewing . the cinematography be exceptional . watch the special edition and you would never know that this be shoot on 16mm in poor light . the picture quality be outstanding and the color rich and vibrant and the black inky and menace . the brilliant azure sky and the jade green of the grass and the bright red generator and the searing sunlight and stifling shadow . every frame seem saturate in nicotine gold . beautiful . though not always likable and the actor be always believable . performance be universally startling and but special mention have to go to marilyn burn . though she have little more to work with than the clichéd scream heroine and she work it with remarkable conviction . it be a traumatic shoot and and it show . few actress have so effectively convey mind numb terror . the soundtrack be exceptional and deserve more recognition . it be a great testimony to the experimentation and risk take attitude of the era that all melody be destroy under an industrial ambient soundscape of metallic clang and scrape and scream and evoke the atmosphere of the local slaughterhouse and the family state of mind . terrify . despite the complete lack of gore or extreme physical violence and the texas chainsaw massacre continue to horrify and hold up the countless and shot on video and slasher clone of subsequent year for the puerile crap that they truly be . whether by accident or design and this one be a classic . positive .