REVIEW: ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ on 4K UHD
Image courtesy of Dark Sky Films / Provided by Sapkar PR with permission.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has two sets of fans: those who split chain saw into two words (real fans) and those who keep it one word (casual fans). Consider this reviewer a real fan, someone who knows that Tobe Hooper’s horror classic, for some inexplicable reason, decided to split chain saw into two words upon its 1974 release.
Now, in honor of its almost-50th anniversary, Dark Sky Films has released the seminal film on 4K UHD. This version essentially ups the ante of crispness for a movie that prides itself on non-crispness. The graininess is still intact, but now it can experienced via a modern lens, one that restores the original film and makes that rough-around-the-edges filmmaking pop off the screen.
The extras on the two-disc set are wonderful for horror aficionados, but they are not the main selling point because the features have been around for some time. The 4K UHD disc has a commentary track from the late, great Hooper, along with the equally great (and sadly late) Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface. Cinematographer Daniel Pearl also chimes in with his insights (amazingly Massacre was his first film).
Other commentary tracks in the commentary-heavy set include an actors roundtable with Marilyn Burns (often considered the first final girl), Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain, along with production designer Robert Burns. Yet another track features Hooper alone, and a fourth and final track brings back Pearl and places him alongside editor J. Larry Carroll and sound recordist Ted Nicolaou.
The Blu-ray second disc has the rest of the extras, including a documentary about the legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Film lovers will love the conversation between Hooper and William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist. Other featurettes run the gamut, from the true story that supposedly inspired the movie to a tour of the original house with Hansen.
What matters most for this box set is that one of the most important horror films of all time has been restored using the best technology of 2023. That, alone, is worth another journey into Chain Saw land.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper, is now available in 4K UHD from Dark Sky Films. Click here for more information.
