The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Limited Edition – Second Sight Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1974
Director: Tobe Hooper
Writers: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Cast: Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen, John Dugan, John Larroquette 

Release Date: April 10th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 83 Minutes 22 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: Dolby Atmos English, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region B (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: £44.99

"Five friends travelling through rural Texas stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. The group soon find themselves picked off, one-by-one, by a masked madman with a chainsaw.on. What follows is a nail-biting fight for survival." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.75/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "A new presentation featuring additional restoration work."

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 90.5 GB

Feature: 59.2 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent, and it is arguably the best The Texas Chain Saw has ever looked on home video. Flesh tones look healthy, the nicely saturated colors look amazing when watching in HDR10 or Dolby Vision, and image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are rock solid. Also, grain is well managed, and the image always looks organic, which is another exceptional encode from Fidelity in Motion.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.3 GB

Feature: 25.9 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source as the 4K UHD does for its transfer.

There is a second single layer Blu-ray disc that only has extras.

Audio: 4.5/5 (Dolby Atmos English, LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in English and a Dolby Atmos mix in English. Both audio mixes are in excellent shape. Dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Both audio mixes do a great job with ambient sounds, and range-wise, they sound robust when they should. The newly created Dolby Atmos track does a great job updating the original mono source while retaining the original mono source. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a stills gallery (50 images - posters/stills), trailers, TV and radio spots (5 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), deleted scenes and outtakes (25 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with screenwriter Kim Henkel (8 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  an archival interview with director Tobe Hooper (13 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival extra tilted House Tour with Gunnar Hansen (8 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with production manager Ron Bozman titled The Business of Chain Saw (16 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  an archival interview with actress Teri McMinn titled Off The Hook (17 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival extra titled Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw (71 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (20 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor John Dugan titled Granpaw's Tales (15 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with editor J. Larry Carroll titled Cutting Chain Saw (10 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Shocking Truth documentary outtakes (7 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival documentary titled The Shocking Truth (72 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas titled Behind The Mask (8 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary titled The Legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (82 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Amanda Reyes and Bill Ackerman, an archival audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, an archival audio commentary with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, J. Larry Carroll, and sound recordist Ted Nicolaou, an archival audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, Daniel Pearl, and Gunnar Hansen, and an archival audio commentary with actress Marilyn Burns, actors Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain, and art director Robert A. Burns.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc one include trailers, TV and radio spots (5 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival documentary titled The Shocking Truth (72 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas titled Behind The Mask (8 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary titled The Legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (82 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Amanda Reyes and Bill Ackerman, an archival audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, an archival audio commentary with Daniel Pearl, J. Larry Carroll, and Ted Nicolaou, an archival audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, Daniel Pearl, and Gunnar Hansen, and an archival audio commentary with Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain, and Robert A. Burns.

Extras on Blu-ray disc two include a stills gallery (50 images - posters/stills), deleted scenes and outtakes (25 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with screenwriter Kim Henkel (8 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  an archival interview with director Tobe Hooper (13 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival extra tilted House Tour with Gunnar Hansen (8 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with production manager Ron Bozman titled The Business of Chain Saw (16 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  an archival interview with actress Teri McMinn titled Off The Hook (17 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival extra titled Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw (71 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (20 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor John Dugan titled Granpaw's Tales (15 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with editor J. Larry Carroll titled Cutting Chain Saw (10 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and The Shocking Truth documentary outtakes (7 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras exclusive to this limited edition include a rigid slipcase with original classic UK VHS artwork, six art cards, and a 190-page hardback book with cast & crew information, an essay titled Cruel Summer The Punishing Heat of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Lindsay Hallam, an essay titled ’Their Malefices are Increased’ Uncanny Occult Forces in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Miranda Corcoran, an essay titled Of Eventful Augusts and Cold War Anxieties in ‘60s Czechoslovakia as in ‘70s Texas written by Cerise Howard, Where’s the Beef? Class, Food and Blue-Collar Decline in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Martyn Conterio, an essay titled A Basket of Deplorables written by Kimberly Lindbergs, an essay titled You Can’t Go Home Again The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Caden Mark Gardner, an essay titled Madness, Mothers and Masks The Macabre Cinematic Legacy of Ed Gein written by Tim Coleman, an essay titled Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them written by Neil Mitchell, an essay titled ‘My Family’s Always Been in Meat’ Speciesism, Animalism and Human Consumption in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Lee Gambin, an essay titled Citizen of the Other Place Franklin’s Ritual of Abjection in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Annie Rose Malamet, an essay titled Serial Killer Lore and the Division of Social Class written by Jerome Reuter, an essay titled There’s Blood in These Backwoods Rural Fear in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Heather Drain, an essay titled When the Sawyer Family Met the Five Families written by Robert Skvarla, an essay titled The Saw is Family written by Heather Buckley, an essay titled The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on 42nd Street written by Maitland McDonagh, and Acknowledgement’s & Production Credits.

Summary:

They don’t make films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre anymore. Though modern film audiences have become more desensitized to violence when compared to audiences who saw The Texas Chain Saw Massacre when it was initially released forty-nine years ago. In more recent years, there has been a reactionary outrage crowd when it comes to viewing things from the past. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to something that is truly shocking. 

Also, films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre have inspired other films or been remade. Unfortunately, these films never achieve the level of terror that a film like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was able to deliver due to modern cinema’s distilled view of morality. That said, true horror comes from the darkest corners of the mind, and when something is forced, it is painfully unfrightened.

The narrative revolves around a group of teenagers en route to visit one of their friends grandfather's graves. They soon run out of gas and are unable to get any more when the station opens in the morning. One of the boys decides to go looking for some gas, and what he finds is the home of leather faces. One by one, they start to disappear as they try to find out where their missing friends went.

Tobe Hopper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the most frightening movies ever made. Its power to send chills down your spine is even more impressive when one considers that most of the violence is implied or off-screen. Tobe Hopper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre uses the more is less technique that was so masterfully executed in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The narrative is overlooked by many as being simple when, upon closer inspection, one can clearly see the deeper subtext that Hooper cleverly injects in a subtle way.

Tobe Hooper’s direction is nothing short of masterful. He sets up many classic horror scenes. Several have since been borrowed by countless filmmakers. The acting, while not the film's strongest asset, is more than adequate, with a tour de force performance from Gunnar Hanson as Leather Face. Gunnar Hanson perfectly captures the primal and child-like facets of the cold-blooded killer known as Leather Face. When talking about the lasting impact of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, one must never overlook the invaluable contribution of cinematographer Daniel Pearl, whose combination of shadow and light vividly and perfectly reinforces the nihilistic mood. Ultimately, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is an extraordinary cinematic experience that deserves its reputation as one of the most frightening films ever made.

In terms of packaging, extras, audio, and video presentation, Second Sights Films is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s best release to date, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer