The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (Steelbook) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain

Release Date: February 28, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

The film follows a group of young friends (played by Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail and Teri McMinn) road-tripping by van through Texas who fall victim to a bizarre family of cannibals – including a huge masked madman known as Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) who always has a gas-powered chain saw at the ready. The shocker originated many elements of the slasher genre that would soon explode: the use of power tools as murder weapons, a hulking faceless killer, a desolate rural setting, and the sadistic slaughter of innocent young victims.

Please Note: MPI Media Group/ Dark Sky Films provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

The beloved horror cult-classic ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ tells the terrifying tale of a group of young friends travelling in a van through Texas who are unfortunate enough to happen upon a family of deranged cannibals including a masked madman called Leatherface with his trusty gas-powered chain saw always at the ready and prepared to track down and attack anyone unwise enough to try and run. As the group of young adults are tracked down and hunted by this deranged family and their large enforcer, it quickly becomes a fight for survival that not all of them will succeed in.

‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ was first unleashed upon unsuspecting audiences in 1974 and suffered a somewhat troubled release due to its violent content; soon becoming banned in multiple countries as well as pulled from various theaters in the states after complaints of its content ran rampant. Fortunately, none of that would do anything to taint the legacy and legendary status that it would develop, perhaps even helping it in the long run to cement its classic and almost taboo status. The film is beautifully guided along with a fittingly grimy and documentary-like style by director Tobe Hooper and stars Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen and John Dugan. This unforgettable gem of horror cinema still serves up a wickedly fun and effective good time nearly fifty years after its debut, as well as spawning a franchise that’s still going strong to this day and includes numerous sequels, prequels, a remake and more. There’s no question that ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ changed the genre forever and the fact that it still remains a masterpiece and an icon of horror to this day should come as no surprise.

Nearly fifty years after its initial release, Dark Sky Films now brings home the iconic horror masterpiece ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ for the first time on 4K Ultra HD featuring a quite impressive new director-approved 4K restoration presented in full Ultra High Definition with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, as well as in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The new video presentation is quite the treat and manages to deliver an equally clean and improved, yet still adequately grimy and grainy presentation that should have fans excited. The noteworthy new video presentation is only further complemented by a new Dolby Atmos soundtrack that sounds great, along with a truly impressive collection of bonus content featuring multiple commentary tracks and a bonus Blu-ray disc jam-packed with numerous hours of enjoyable extras both new and old. The end result is a pretty stellar new 4K release of this horror gem that’s worthy of the film’s legacy. For any dedicated fans of the film that are fully 4K capable, this new release is definitely recommended!

The Steelbook edition of this new 4K Ultra HD release of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (which is the version I was sent for review) features a great and refreshingly simple white design with the original artwork on the front and a plain white back that looks quite appealing, even showcasing a bit of a glossy look to the saw on the front. The interior of the case includes both discs and artwork of the family at their deranged dinner. The release also comes with a foldout double-sided poster inside showcasing the original artwork on one side and new artwork on the reverse. You can check out a beauty shot image of the Steelbook itself with the discs as well as another of the Steelbook with the poster art on both sides showcased behind it at the bottom of this review for a better idea of what to expect. The release is also available in a standard non-steelbook edition for those who might prefer not to go the Steelbook route.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, with the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio, from a director-approved 4K restoration. The video presentation looks pretty great, especially when taking into account the grainy, grimy and rough look of this film in general. The new presentation delivers a more thoroughly detailed presentation that captures scenery, vehicle and building interiors and exteriors, along with character specifics all looking more sharp and better defined than ever before, while still retaining ample amounts of grain, video noise and other artifacts that have become synonymous with the film and its presentation. The Dolby Vision addition also complements the presentation quite nicely at times throughout and provides deeper, richer blacks complemented by brighter, more vivid and accurate colors in many moments. Overall, this is a very nice new Ultra High Definition video presentation that should please fans that have been anticipating the arrival of this one in 4K over the years.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a new Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack, along with a few other audio options including DTS-HD MA 7.1, 2.0 stereo and 1.0 mono soundtracks, although this review focuses on the new Dolby Atmos audio presentation (or at least its Dolby TrueHD 7.1 fallback). Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation presented with the Dolby Atmos track selected. This multichannel soundtrack sounds magnificent as a whole and provides a clean, crisp and at time surprisingly immersive audio presentation throughout. It takes advantage of all seven available channels numerous times along the way in order to send some music, action and scare effects, along with more throughout the various speakers at every fitting opportunity, while always making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously remain clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a great Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that complements the film nicely and should not disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Dark Sky’s 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ is absolutely jam-packed with bonus content both new and old, the majority of which can be found on the included Blu-ray bonus disc which is dedicated to supplements. All of the extras have been broken down by disc below.

The actual 4K UHD disc itself includes the option of viewing the film with 4 different Audio Commentary tracks. The first is an ‘Audio Commentary with actors Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Allen Danziger and Art Director Robert A. Burns’, while the second is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Tobe Hooper, Cinematographer Daniel Pearl and Actor Gunnar Hansen’; the third is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Tobe Hooper’ and the fourth is an ‘Audio Commentary with Editor J. Larry Carroll, Cinematographer Daniel Pearl and Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou’.

The Blu-ray bonus disc dedicated to extras is where the majority of the bonus material can be located and that disc includes multiple documentaries, retrospectives, Featurettes, additional footage and other fun videos including the new Feature-Length Documentary ‘The Legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (running approximately 83 minutes in length), along with ‘The Cinefamily Presents Friedkin/Hooper: A Conversation About The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Between William Friedkin and Tobe Hooper’ (running approximately 54 minutes), ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth’ (approximately 73 minutes), ‘Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw’ (72 minutes), ‘A Tour of the TCSM House with Gunnar Hansen’ (8 minutes), ‘Off the Hook with Teri McMinn’ (17 minutes), ‘The Business of Chain Saw: An Interview with Production Manager Ron Bozman’ (16 minutes), ‘Granpaw’s Tales: An Interview with John Dugan’ (16 minutes), ‘Cutting Chain Saw: An Interview with Editor J. Larry Carroll’ (11 minutes) and ‘Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: TCSM’ (20 minutes). Also included are some ‘Deleted Scenes and Outtakes’ from the film (approximately 25 minutes), a ‘Blooper Reel’ (2 minutes), plus ‘Outtakes From The Shocking Truth’ (8 minutes) in addition to a ‘Dr. W.E. Barnes Presents “Making Grandpa” Still Gallery’, and another general ‘Still Gallery’. ‘3 Trailers’ (approximately 1-2 minutes each) for the movie in addition to ‘3 Television Spots’ and ‘2 Radio Spots’ (approximately 30 seconds apiece) are also included.

*Please note: The above images were provided by Dark Sky Films and are not reflective of the actual 4K Ultra HD release or its quality. A standard Blu-ray copy of the film was not included in the release that could be used for screenshots therefore the above publicity stills were utilized. They are all the property of MPI/Dark Sky and any other respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 9/10

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The Original Horror Masterpiece ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ Arrives Home on 4K Ultra HD & 4K Ultra HD Steelbook February 28, 2023 from Dark Sky Films

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