texas chainsaw massacre comparative essay

Texas chainsaw massacre (1974) was one of the first slasher movies that were made famous because of their explicit and visual scenes from killing the victims to cutting off various body parts. This movie brought about the infamous ‘leather face’ for his unusual face features and also brought about the fascination with the chainsaw and landmarked it as a symbol of the slasher genre. The 2003 version was responsible for starting a rebirth of the legend that was ‘Texas chainsaw massacre’ and revitalised the concept of the chainsaw and the character of ‘leather face’. The main difference between the two movies was the change in the technology and the more advance creativity that was used in making the movie. The newer movie was made to be more gruesome as it showed graphic images of the injuries and the killings taking place.

The lighting in both movies is mostly natural lighting because of the emphasis placed on the authenticity, particularly in the original version, whereas the newer version used more of a mix between natural lighting and low key lighting. The low key lighting used in the newer version is there to create the ‘scary’ and the intense atmosphere whereas, the natural lighting is there to create the authentic look for the audience. Some scenes in particular have used the different lighting to very good effect with the scenes at the beginning in the vans being drawn together by the natural lighting. The beginnings of both movies are exactly the same with a group of young people travelling in a van in the middle of nowhere, looking for somewhere to find shelter. This plot at the starting is there to raise the imagery of fun with friends being together and joking with each other however, the fact that they are travelling in the middle of nowhere raises the awareness of negativity and warns the audience that something is about to happen. The narrative in the original begins to change when we get the first glimpse of a maniac who is at the side of the road and enters the van, showing no awareness of surroundings. The scene when the maniac cuts his own hand is the first sighting of things going strange and it represents the first instant of good vs. evil.

Iconography in both movies is very significant with there being many things that make this movie in particular very famous and very noticeable such as the leather face mask, the chainsaw that is used as the main weapon and the house standing in the landscape by itself providing the atmosphere needed to bring the audience into action and create a more visceral affect. The more physical and visceral effect would be more affective amongst an audience that is new to slasher films rather than an audience who have already seen various slasher movies and have experienced this behaviour before. The chainsaw being included in the movie has been a revelation but has also proved to be unique as no other slasher movie has a weapon as loud or as large as this movie however, it has proved to be a big hit rather than being strange because of the adrenaline that comes along with the sound of the chainsaw.

The special affects in this movie have lifted this movie from what was a old movie with ordinary effects to a movie which has used special effects to a new height, especially in the areas like the leather face mask, the connotations of the weapon and the setting, paying particular attention to the night scene where the light is used to good affect to add more watch-ability to the scene. This movie’s killing scenes in particular are unusual of a slasher film, as a lot of noise is made right before the killings which is unusual as the killings are supposed by done quietly and very discretely, compared with other slasher movies where the killings are done with much less noise, as the killers are more undercover and the silence adds a more sinister side to the killings.
The roles played by the characters go along with the generic expectations that the audience members would have of the movie with there being the psycho killer who is out to kill innocent people and then you have the bad people who have sex, who end up getting killed and then you have the final girl who in the 2003 version is played by a now experienced actor, Jessica Beil. Having the killer and the final girl at the end of the movie creates and moves the narrative along with the movie as a whole and creates an opposition as well. The role of the final girl has been given more importance because of Carol Clover’s book, ‘Men, women and chainsaws’, which is a book which is specifically derived to cater to the needs of the slasher genre. The final girl has become such as big part in slasher movies because of the fact that it creates an opposition and also because it makes a change from the men being in control throughout the movies, it gives the women power over the villain who are males.

One of the major changes between the two sets of characters was the willingness not to give up on life and carry on fighting until they died. In the 1974 version it seemed that not one member of the group put up a decent fight to survive and all died in weak and feeble circumstances. In the old movie, the killer was killing everyone with ease as no one was trying to put a fight even the final girl was feeble and very weak towards the end and in contrast to the new one, the final girl puts up more of a fight to save her life and it shows through her behaviour being very anxious and very on edge to show that she has put a price on her life and is willing to do anything to save herself.