The Chainsaw- Useful tool or weapon of choice.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, and others like them, are
what I like to consider true horror movies, or even terror
movies. They have the ability to really put a fear into someone.
At least they're the type that puts a fear into me. Friday the
13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, these movies are of
the fantastic, not what is real; therefore they have little
scare power. They may be able to get you to jump, if my wife
sneaks up on me she'll be able to momentarily frighten me, but
she's not scary. Quick thrills, or quick scares are not horror
movies to be. Horror is beyond such simple tricks, to truly be
horrified you have to care, and who cares about a bunch of pot
smoking punks taking a summer off to have sex when they should
be working to pay for school!
You may be thinking to yourself how the Texas Chainsaw movies
are any different. They're not real either, and you're right
they aren't technically real. But what they represent is an
actual part of society. Tobe Hooper, the creator of the Texas
Chainsaw, based the main horror figure on a real life person. Ed
Gains. Now Hooper was young when he first learned of Gains and
the image of him became distorted, Hooper based Leatherface (the
manic who wears womens faces and skins) on what he picture Gains
to be like. Now of course Gains looked normal, but he was very
similar to Leatherface. Gains would rob graves for body parts to
make almost anything, furniture, soup bowls, whatever he wanted.
He also did some other things that are much worse but I won't
delve into too much detail on those. These people actually do
exist. Murders who haven't been caught, mass murders that
haven't been caught.
Sure the original Friday the 13th was based on a concept that
might be true, child drowns, mother seeks revenge, sure it's
possible. But what about the next 10 movies? The characters in
these movies are indestructible, or so it seems, by the end they
have some kind of plan that will usually work. In the Texas
Chainsaw movies however, most don't even get a chance to fight,
the family knows they are regular people who can be damaged just
like anyone else. It is realistic.
Fear to me only exists if I think it is possible that what I'm
afraid of might exist. I don't think it's possible that a psycho
family in Texas will kill me, but maybe there's a psycho family
right next door to me, or down the street, or in the next place
I intend to visit. These are practical fears in my mind. Of
course I'm not as worried of being murdered as I am of getting
into a car accident or something much more probable, but when
I'm watching the movie I let myself be drawn into the fear,
that's the fun. Movies that don't even stand a chance of being
even remotely true just don't do it for me. The Ring for
example, yes some good effects but when I got home that night I
wasn't bothered by the TV. However I watched the Blair Witch
Project at a cottage and the forest was suddenly frightening,
not because I thought a witch might live in it, but because I
could easily get lost in it.
True terror, and maybe you don't want to experience true terror,
but if you do, watch the Texas Chainsaw with an open mind, think
how you would handle yourself in that situation. The good thing
that comes from horror movies is that we get to experience an
emotion that we really don't want to experience in real life. I
don't want to be in a position that causes real fear, but I want
to get a rough idea of it, and true horror movies do just that.
They give you a taste of the real thing. There are two very good
reasons for wanting to feel what it's like to be afraid, one, it
can be a huge rush adrenaline is the best drug, the movie is the
method, roller coasters accomplish the same feat. The second
reason is that you may have some insight into how you'll react
in a real life situation. Obviously you'll never really know
until you are in a bad situation and hopefully most of us won't
even be in such a situation. If you even have a taste though,
you may know if you're a fight or flight kind of person.
Understanding why your brain is reacting in any given way will
allow you to make rational decisions in irrational situations.
You may want to run but if you know why you want to run you may
be inclined to stay when staying it really the right thing to
do. This does not only apply to life or death situations it can
apply to almost anything. Have you ever felt bullied by a car
salesman? These are confident people you're dealing with and if
you're not as confident as they are, you should still be able to
walk out without being ripped off. So what am I saying? I guess
I'm saying if you want a deal on a car, go shopping after you
watch a good horror flick. Saw II is in the theatres as of the
writing of this article that would be a good example of what I
call a true horror movie. Go show that car dealer who's boss,
just don't bring your chainsaw.