Iconic Scenes in Movies:Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974)

If you are talking about iconic horror movies, then it doesn't get better than this one. Texas Chainsaw Massacre changed the face of horror movies by introducing a horrible family of cannibals to an unsuspecting public. People had never seen anything like it before and it was groundbreaking in its own way. I love this movie and feel that it should be considered a horror classic. As for iconic scenes, there are a couple in this movie that I feel make it a cut above the rest.

The first scene that I like is when one of the kids, Kirk(William Vail) wanders into a house which they have found in the countryside. The group are looking for a place to swim and they come by the house. Poor Kirk is the first one to walk inside. His gal pal Pam(Teri McMinn) is waiting outside for him. Kirk sees a doorway and he is intrigued. He hears a strange noise coming from it so he walks over to it. Suddenly, he is confronted by a grotesque figure wearing some sort of mask and he is killed by the creature. His body jerks and spasms as he dies. The horrible figure drags him away like an animal and pulls across the door. Pam waits outside.She eventually tires of waiting for him and she enters the house. She stumbles into a weird room filled with human bones which have been made into a bed and other furniture. She runs out only to collide with Leatherface who grabs her and hangs her on a meat hook in his workshop. He starts up his chainsaw and begins to dismember Kirk. This scene is so horrible and it looks so realistic that it has to be iconic. Watch Part 4 video above to see it.

My other scene is at the end of the movie. Sally(Marilyn Burns)has been caught and tormented by the utterly deranged family of weirdos. She knows that she has not much time left before they kill her. As they try and get their grandpa to hit her with a hammer, he fails and she manages to get away and jump out of a window. She is terrifed as Leatherface and the hitchiker creep try and catch up to her. Hitchhiker gets killed by a truck, but Leatherface is still after her. She calls after a truck which is passing while Leatherface chases her with his chainsaw buzzing. The driver tries to help her but Leatherface attacks them both and they run. The driver hits Leatherface with a wrench which slows him down a bit but then he chases them again. Sally stops a pick up truck and gets a lift while the driver runs off. Leatherface is left with his chainsaw dancing around while Sally laughs.Watch Part 8 video above to see it.

This movie has inspired many others, but  the original, as always, is the best so do yourself a favour- if you haven't see this movie, grab it now and enjoy the many great scenes and classic horror brought to us by Tobe Hooper. It is in the top ten of any horror movie lover and rightly so. It is cheap,full of great horror scenes and it has a chainsaw in it! What more could you ask for??