In 1974, Tobe Hooper's groundbreaking horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was released. Viewers might not realize that the amount of on-screen violence is very limited because Hooper had hopes of achieving a PG rating. The film is just so terrifying though, that it was slapped with an R and banned in several countries. This makes it sound like the movie must be straight fear, but there's more to it than meets the eye.
The story revolves around a group of young people driving through Texas, looking for the main character Sally and her brother Franklin's grandfather's homestead. Along the way, however, they stumble upon a menacing family of cannibals and the face of the franchise, the main villain Leatherface. It was marketed as a "based on a true story" film but it's almost completely fictional, with minor inspiration drawn from serial killer Ed Gein.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a very highly regarded film and is seen as one of the most influential horror movies of all time. It's credited as introducing and popularizing multiple staples of the slasher genre, such as the masked, silent, brutish, killer as well as the use of a power tool as a weapon. To no one's surprise, it has since been turned into a massive franchise with many sequels, of varying quality and success. This is undoubtedly a horror series, and the first film especially is completely terrifying but looking at it with a bit of a different lens reveals some pretty strong comedy elements too.
The sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, released in 1986, is very much a black comedy film that sort of parodies the original. It's very different from the 1974 original. Viewers might not realize though, that the original film is very much a comedy in many ways as well. Throughout the film, it is very subtle, and certainly overshadowed by the violence, but the ending is practically a slapstick comedy bit that will make audiences laugh out loud.
Audiences don't get to know the victim characters all that well in this film. It's got a relatively short runtime and the majority is spent with them in peril. What is seen, especially in the beginning, is quite comical. The character of Pam, who serves as somewhat of a fake-out final girl, is very into horoscopes. At the beginning of the movie, she's reading a zodiac book and telling all of her friends what certain things mean. It's played out to be very comical, almost making fun of silly things that young people are into, and it's a really interesting element when compared to the very grim and grimy atmosphere they're in.
Victim characters aside, the villains here are truly something. Audiences meet the first member of the cannibal family at the beginning of the film. He's a hitchhiker, picked up by the victims. The interaction between him and the youths is incredibly awkward, in a very intense way. He's fumbling his words and not making sense, just in general acting extremely chaotic, and it's so strange to witness. The characters are confused, and viewers are confused right along with them. While this is a pretty intense scene and in some ways a little disturbing, there's this underlying tone that is just kind of funny. It's so outrageously strange and off-putting, that it almost reads as humor. And this only becomes more apparent at the end of the movie, when the entire family is introduced and the infamous dinner scene takes place.
While the rest of the film hides its sense of humor rather deeply, the dinner scene almost feels like a comedy bit. Truly, some moments just make viewers laugh out loud. It's still a terrifying scene. The final girl has been captured by Leatherface and his family. She's tied to a chair at the head of their dinner table, and the whole gang is there terrorizing her. She's witness to their insane family antics, as are viewers, and she cannot stop screaming. But, much like the beginning scene with the hitchhiker, everything they say and do feels so raw yet so outrageous that it comes off as humorous. And then finally, in a moment of purely brilliant physical comedy, they wheel their nearly dead, extremely elderly, grandfather out to kill the final girl and he can't even hold the hammer. It's brilliantly chaotic, and it's hilarious.
The funny moments of this film aren't lost on everyone, nor do they feel unintentional, but for those who haven't seen this movie yet, it's certainly a surprise to hear that there's any humor at all. It's just such a different film, everything about it feels so honest but so absurd all in one. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a film that washes over its audience, instead of simply catering to their needs. The juxtaposition of physical comedy and laugh-out-loud moments with complete and utter terror is an absolutely strange one and makes for a weird watching experience. It's something that has to be seen multiple times, to be truly understood.