A group of teenagers go exploring in Texas to find a graveyard which has been desecrated. It contains their grandfather's grave. On the way there, of course they get lost and they are drawn to a big old ramshackle house in the middle of nowhere. A guy called Kirk goes to investigate by knocking on the door. He hears pig like noises. There's no mucking about here. Leatherface opens the door and in a flash brains Kirk with a mallet dragging him back behind the door and shutting it swiftly. There are, of course, many startling moments in TCM - like the mouldy old grandfather being exhorted to kill Sally at the dinner table. One of the girls gets strung up by a meathook. But the murder of Kirk is the mother of them all. First of all, we get a glimpse of Leatherface and that is shocking by itself - he is a terrifying looking creature. Then we have the speed of the attack - the whole sequence is 'did I just see that happen?' material. It is a terrifying piece of cinema which does not portend well for our hapless teenage friends.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
