The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was an attack of the senses. Though it was a low-budget film, with an unspectacular plot and flat characters, TCM was a great experience.

What I love most about the movie was how evocative it was without really showing that much. There wasn’t a whole lot of blood, but it was the suggestion of killing that made it scary for viewers. The fluttering of the guy’s body when he is knocked in the head. Pam hanging on the meat hook. Leatherface chasing Sally through the woods and wielding his chainsaw madly. The viewer is immersed in a disturbing killing spree, where the sensation of fear and anxiety is created more by the imagination than anything else.

For me, the most frightening scenes were when Sally was being chased. I could feel my adrenaline pumping as her predator neared her and my heart probably skipped a beat every time Leatherface’s chainsaw narrowly missed her. It was as if the withholding of death was even worse than death itself. When the other characters were killed, it was quick and relatively painless for me, but watching Sally being tortured, chased and bludgeoned in the head was agonizing. I wanted her to escape, but a small part of me was hoping they would listen to the cook and get it over with.

Another important part in creating the atmosphere for the movie was the use of physically disgusting elements. The gallery below contains some disgusting scenes that I could find on the internet. Some of what’s missing is the grandfather, especially the scene where he sucks on Sally’s finger and the room where Sally finds herself surrounded by bones and feathers and ghastly remains. What was scary was not only the senseless murders, but imagining coming in contact with some of those disgusting things.

I also wanted to add part of a documentary on the making of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In this particular video, they discuss some of the disgusting elements of the movie.