The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

There is far less on screen than its reputation implies. The gore is nearly all suggested, and the film would probably pass a modern certificate on content alone.

What it has instead is texture. Shot in genuine 110°F Texas heat on a schedule that broke the cast, on 16mm that makes everything look like evidence. The house is full of real animal remains that the art department collected and let cook. Everyone involved has described the production as miserable, and the misery is the film's entire aesthetic.

The last twenty minutes, the dinner scene and then the chase into the dawn, are the most sustained stretch of pure duress in horror. Hooper shoots it like a documentary crew who can't intervene.

Free of any redeeming feature and completely essential.