Disc Details
Special Features:	Commentary by director Tobe Hooper, director of photography Daniel Pearl, and star Gunnar Hansen Theatrical trailer(s) Deleted scenes and alternate footage Blooper reel Trailers for other "Chainsaw" movies Still photos Posters and collectibles New widescreen digital Superscan Original Mono soundtrack New stereo surround soundtrack
Video Format:	Widescreen (1.85:1) [SS-DL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles:	none
Captions:	No
Casing:	1-Disc Keep Case

This twisted tale put together by co-writer/director Tobe Hooper explores something that most horror movies have forgotten about: the deep and unrelenting human fear of the macabre. The style in which the film was shoot is the first thing that makes it great. "Chainsaw" looks, feels and sounds like a documentary. "Chainsaw" scares you because it 'feels' like the horror is happening. Another plus "Chainsaw" has over other genre films is the fact that Sally isn't super girl. Sally's not going to come up with a plan to defeat Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen); Sally's a normal girl, who has never seen anything like this before. When she does, it scares her to the core of her soul. Hooper shows this through long and extreme close-up shots of her eyes. Not to spoil anything for any of you poor unfortunate people that haven't seen "Chainsaw," but when Sally's strapped to the dinner table and the feast is presented before her, she's hurting and she's screaming and she's doing the only thing that she can do, begging. She offers anything to them if they just let her go.

The film as a whole is not perfect, but what film is? For the most part "Chainsaw" has so much going for it that you overlook its faults. The bottom line the reason this movie works so well is that it SCARES YOU! You feel uneasy when you watch "Chainsaw." It's gory enough to make you understand and feel the character's pain, at the same time it has enough oddness in it that it keeps you off balance. From the opening shot of the corpse to the closing insaneness of Leatherface spinning around in circles with his chainsaw wearing Jerry's face, you are unnerved. THAT is what a horror film should do to you.

Picture Quality: 6/10
The widescreen format is not anamorphic. This is a letterbox of the original film. The shadows need some work. I saw some delineation problems. Most of the colors come through the way you would expect from film that old, but there is some drop off in the blacks and shadow areas.

Sound Quality: 5/10
There are two soundtracks, the original mono and a new stereo surround sound track. The surround sound is much better than the original theatrical Mono version. For the most part it is Mono sound, which has been remastered in Chace Stereo Surround. Add some enhancements and you have the new sound. My opinion was that some of the surround was a little aggressive and blown out during some of the more important moments in the film. For the most part the new sound of the old film added just a little bit of terror to this classic.

Menu: 6/10
Again this is not "Star Wars," the menu is very simple. A backdrop of the DVD cover and straightforward menu. The navigation is very simple, and easy to use.

Extra Features: 6/10
I have mixed feelings about the Special Features on this disc. I enjoyed the commentary track. It lent an ear to the thought and work that went into this film. Most of the deleted scenes and the bloopers didn't have sound to them. So for the most part you're watching old film, with no sound, that is not cut together. Unless you really have an interest in this, it can get a little bit boring.

For you filmmakers out there, there is an interesting feature called "FILM STUDY." The feature takes you through and shows you a couple scenes uncut and, then shows you the same thing cut together. You get a good look at the importance of great editing.

One of the features is a display of trailers for all the "Chainsaw" films. This was fun. I enjoyed looking at the first trailer that Tobe Hooper and the other filmmakers put together, and comparing it to the trailer that the studio put together. It also reminded me of just how bad all the sequels are.

You can view through old posters, and still photographs. There are a couple other collectables on there you can look at, if that is your thing.

The Final Word:
What can you say about "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" that hasn't already been said. It's a classic for good reason. Now I hear that they are doing a remake of it directed by Marcus Nispel (Janet Jackson: Design of a Decade). This new version is said to have less gore more thrills. Names have been changed and I'm sure this new director thinks he's just going to have to change some of the story too. I hope it's good, cause you're fucking with a classic and remember what was said about that "Psycho" remake. You just don't fix things that aren't broken.

Jeremy Benson