20 Movies That Prove That The 1970s Was The Best Decade For Film

19. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

'Who will survive and what will be left of them?' Tobe Hooper's 1973 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is exhausting. When you're done watching the film you feel like you've just survived a night running away from Leatherface and family. That's just the way it should be, of course. Chainsaw is 1970s guerrilla filmmaking at its finest: shot on a budget of just $300,000 with a cast of unknowns, the crew was stretched for resources filmed every day of the week for long hours in the Texas heat. The strain of the production really comes through in the finished film: you can sense the actors' anguish. The film received many complaints and was banned for its violence when, in reality, it's not really all that violent. You think you see a lot more than you actually do, and there were other, more mainstream films, doing things just as violent and getting away with it. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has had an incredible impact on the horror genre and has, as is standard with the genre, become a franchise. The returns have diminished with each sequel and remake, but nothing can take away the impact of the original film.