Slasher Film Research: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Texas chainsaw massacre was made in 1974. It was directed by Tobe Hopper. The gross takings for the film were $30,589,000 (USA). The production company is Vortex. The film is based on the true story of Ed Gein who stole bodies from the grave. He also murdered two people and the police found skin, skulls, bones and other body parts in his house.

The Narrative.

It is 1974 and a group of five close friends are heading through the back roads of Texas to their grandfather's vandalized grave. In the group is Sally Hardesty, and her invalid brother Franklin. They come across an hitchhiker who slashes himself and Franklin with a knife. The others manage to get rid of the hitchhiker from the car, but shortly afterwards, they are forced to stop and wander over to a small house nearby in hopes for gas. But none of the group realize that this house is the home of Leatherface and his evil, demented family of cannibalistic psychopaths. One at a time, the teens are killed off by Leatherface in horrifying ways. Sally soon finds herself an involuntary guest at Leatherface's home, and runs away in the night to escape the cannibal and his chainsaw.

Target Audience.

I think that this film would be aimed towards males and females of the ages of 16-35. I think this because usually people under the age of 16 can get scared of Slasher film easily and find them too gory so it would not appeal to people under that age. I also think that people under that age range wouldn't understand who the film is based on. I think that the oldest age range would be 35 because people of that age may have remembered when the film first came out and may want to re watch it again. I think this would not appeal to people over that age range because I think older people don't find Slasher films entertaining and they may find it immature. People who go and see this film would expect gory and jumpy pleasures you would expect from a horror film.

Sound.

In this film opening the screen is black and there is a non diegetic voice over reading out the introduction on screen. The voice over is male and has a deep voice which could make the story seem more dramatic and scary. Using a deep voice could make the audience feel more intimidated and could also build a climax for the story After the voice over has finished  the screen goes black again and then the audience hears non diegetic sound of digging and some incidental music. The incidental music is quite deep and this could be creating a creepy atmosphere or building a climax for the audience. At some points in the incidental music the tone changes and goes more high pitched. I think that this helps to build the climax for the viewer. Later on in the opening sequence there is a non diegetic sound track which is someone talking on the radio. I think that this sound is meant to sound like it is coming from a cars radio. This can make the audience feel like they are listening to the radio themselves.

Representation of characters and Mise en scene.

In this film opening we do not see any characters but I can infer that the main group would be wearing casual clothing like jeans and t-shirts so the audience can distinguish them as normal stereotypical teenagers. I think that the villain would be wearing clothes that would make it easy for the audience to distinguish the villain character from the protagonists. I think that the make-up of the villain would make him look quite gaunt and easier for the audience to recognise that there is something not quite right with him. When the group of kids are on the way to see the vandalised grave I think the lighting would be high key to set a realistic day time atmosphere for the viewer. However when the group of protagonists arrive at the small house looking for gas I think that the lighting would turn to low key to set up the creepy and eerie atmosphere for the audience. In the opening the audience is shown an extreme close up of the body parts which seem to have been dug up judging from the non diegetic sounds earlier in the opening sequence. I think this camera shot would have been used to the audience can see the body parts in detail.

Slasher Film Elements.

I think in this film the storyline is a element that is used in the horror film genre. Usually in horror there is always a threat and a threat has been included in this film in the form of the chainsaw villain. In this film the physical threat is the chainsaw and other weapons- this is an element that is included in the sub genre of a Slasher. In horror films there is stereotypically a group of friends, usually there is a couple or relatives in the group. This element has been included in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Another element that has been included in this film is members of the group being killed off one by one and leaving one member left. This part of the storyline usually happens in most Horror films. It helps to categorise the film into genres and sub genres.