This year marked the 50th anniversary of the legendary horror flick, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Variety also recently crowned the movie as the best horror film of all time on their website. On Halloween night with a bucket of candy and nothing better to do, I decided to sit down and watch the slasher classic. While the film was well made and clearly an influence for later horror classics, I found myself disappointed overall. The plot, characters, and actual horror of the film were all underwhelming in my opinion. The film follows an uninteresting group of friends, as they travel to visit an abandoned property. Based off the title, you can probably guess what happens from there. While I was not satisfied with the first viewing, after having some time to think, I started appreciating how this film founded tropes still seen five decades later.

I went into the film with what I would consider reasonable expectations. I kept in mind the movie was made fifty years ago and didn’t expect it to have the same scare factor as modern movies with hundreds of millions to spend. I did expect the film to compensate with a disturbing atmosphere, where I felt unsafe and unsure of what would happen next. The first couple of minutes led me to believe this might be the case, starting with mysterious reports on the radio of grave robbings and imagery of the dead. The film then cuts to a group of traveling friends who decide to pick up a hitchhiker, and that scene also had me feeling uneasy. The man they picked up is clearly unstable and ends up attacking one of the main characters.

However, this early tension only set me up for disappointment as the plot became comedically predictable. After the first major kill happens, the movie repeats the set up and reveal again and again. Once we see a man walk into a house and get murdered, it’s easy to guess what’s going to happen for the guy that walks in looking for him. Sure, horror movies are notoriously known for characters making the worst possible decisions. In this film, the characters don’t just make dumb choices, they’re also boring and unlikeable. I didn’t care about the wellbeing of a majority of the characters, because I never got to know them. I can live with boring characters, the film’s focus seems to be more on the antagonist and his family. Unfortunately, the antagonist of the movie was also a big let down.

To be fair, I find this to be the case with many classic horror films. I feel like this had to do with my preconceived notions about Leatherface, the chainsaw wielding murderer. I grouped him in with the other major horror icons like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, only to be disappointed with his actual portrayal. He can be intimidating at times, but as the plot progresses you start laughing at this bumbling idiot and his family of unstable freaks. I know the villains are supposed to be disturbing and intimidating, but the acting is so hammy I could not help but laugh at some scenes. One scene in particular has Leatherface’s father laugh maniacally as he attacks a woman with a broom. It could have been an intimidating scene fifty years ago. Today it feels more like a Looney Tunes bit.
With all these complaints about the film being formulaic, I realize the reason for this might just be because this film was the basis for the formula. Every horror film I’ve seen that has led me to being able to predict each twist and turn was inspired by this film. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a solid production, even if I thought overall it was lacking. It is well directed and the props (such as the various furniture seemingly made out of bones and skin) are disturbing and amazingly crafted. It is clear how this movie impacted the horror genre, and created a new era focusing on creepy mascots. However, just this year this film was acknowledged as the BEST in its field and I cannot agree with that.

While Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees might not exist without Leatherface, they are exponentially more interesting. I appreciate this movie for everything it pioneered and normalized. I would recommend it to anyone interested in horror movies, as it is one of the essential classics. Purely because you can see the foundation for the greatest horror movies of all time. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre feels more like a test trial than the definitive greatest. The film has solid ideas and does a good job at creating disturbing imagery, but the uninteresting plot had me wanting more. It is not that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a bad film, it just is not as good as I thought it would be.