“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” is the pinnacle of horror movies, permanently stored in the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, New York.

Between fiction and realism.

Now on to the main topic. This is the reason for fear. The biggest point is the strange reality that even though it's fiction, it doesn't seem that way. For the audience, the events in the film are no longer personal, and they have no choice but to approach the film with a sense of ownership. At the beginning, the movie begins with the words ``This is the story of a tragedy that happened to five young people'' without any background music, making the audience feel as if they are watching a documentary.

Also, surprisingly, there are almost no direct depictions or exaggerated bloodshed like in splatter movies. The whole story is made up of various techniques to avoid meaningless cuts that only add excitement, and to avoid being cut out of the fictional world. Therefore, when a violent scene is suddenly inserted, it is a huge shock.

An abnormal family and the director's madness

There are three elements that greatly contribute to creating a sense of reality.

First of all, there are the members of the abnormal family who can be called the main characters of this work. He has enough energy to make an entire movie just by himself, and his sharpness is beyond normal. He only acts abnormally, betraying our imagination, but what impresses me is that he is not depicted as a mere Monster, but as a full-blooded human being, a truly frightening human being. My family fights, and I get upset after killing someone.

"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

The scene in which a young woman encounters such a crazy family and faints due to mental breakdown is very convincing, as if it were not possible. Who on earth are these actors? Was he really a madman?

If you watch the making-of documentaries ``Family Portrait'' and ``Shocking Truth,'' which are essential for analyzing this film, you will be betrayed in a good way. The actors are very decent and even gentlemanly. However, it seems that the actors were under a lot of pressure from the director on set.

They met the director's impossible challenges, such as having to seriously hit each other during violent scenes, pressing their faces against the scorching ground for a long time and waiting for the sun to come out, and wearing the same costume for a month and smelling strange smells. I take my hat off to the actors who played their roles perfectly.

Development of Leatherface