The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4k is still scary as hell

Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a perfect horror film. In many ways, it might just be a perfect film, full stop. At 82 nail-biting minutes, there isn't a wasted second in this nightmarish thrill that is as horrifying today as it was 50 years ago.

From the very first frame, Hooper invites us into a desolate landscape torn from the apocalyptic visions of the bible. Grave robbers loot the dead, leaving behind gruesome fixtures of mutilated bodies. The temperature soars into unbearable heights. The summer of love is well and truly over. All that's left is a long stretch of highway where nobody trusts one another.

Somewhere in Texas, a group of teenagers are on an ill-defined road trip. On the way, they run afoul of deranged locals – one fixated on violence, the other on his barbecue. The kids are looking for the farm they once grew up on, but it's clear they don't belong to this territory anymore.

Hooper spends much of the first half teasing the audience. Nothing bad happens, but it's still unnerving as hell. Like the whole world is wrong, but we can't quite place how. As the long day drags on, the kids grow impatient with each other. Not least Franklin, the handicapped brother to Sally, who barely fits in with the crowd. The whole time, we expect something bad to happen. We know it will, but we don't know how, and Hooper toys with that desire and repulsion. After all, we've come to see a chain saw massacre.

By asking us to consider our sacrificial lambs as people, Hooper smartly forces us in their shoes. When Leatherface finally appears, we've almost forgotten what we came for. As the ensuing violence unfolds, it's quick, brutal, and unforgettable. Yet, Hooper isn't a gore hound, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a surprisingly bloodless affair. Instead, it's what we don't see that frightens us the most.

Here, the 50th anniversary restoration proves most effective. The 16mm print is beautifully brought to life with vivid color and detail, without ever losing the grimy texture that lends the film its power. In fact, the fact that we can see just how mundane the surroundings are makes the film even more horrifying in return. This isn't a dark fantasy, but the house down the road. Help, or lack thereof, exists just hundreds of meters away on a busy country road.

In the superlative final set piece, where Sally encounters the family entire, Hooper drags us into a nightmare that is both absurd and intimately real. On the big screen, it feels claustrophobic and suffocating. It grabs hold of the viewer and forces them on a rollercoaster that only Hooper controls. We're just here for the ride, and 50 years later, that ride is as scary, unrelenting, and brilliant as ever.

Make every effort to see it for yourself.