The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

By far the scariest part of this low-budget, sweaty, backwoods horror film is how sick it makes you feel. The slow shots of dirty bones, long talks about slaughtering animals, and those same discussions of cruelty acted out upon the unfortunate travelers by leatherface and his family. All of it detailed enough to turn a stomach. Its bewildering that a group of people would commit so thoroughly to bringing this horrific tale to life. A film with no purpose beyond bringing evil to life in its different forms. The cast must have gone through hell in that hot and humid, old house and those dark fields. Yet, every aspect of this filmmaking is incredible and is still being imitated today just in lesser quality. You can't create this level of simple, honest horror anymore. We’ll forever have this sickening gem but that is all this franchise amounts to in quality. The future entries abandoned atmosphere for more pointless gore.

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