The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – Ultimate Midnight Edition in 4K

Texas, summer of 1973. In a damnably isolated rural area, a group of young people visits a cemetery to check on a grave after several burials and corpses have been profaned. What should be a simple inspection soon turns into a nightmare. After an encounter with a psychopathic hitchhiker, the youths end up near the home of a family of psychopaths, where a gigantic figure lurks, its face hidden by a mask of human skin and a chainsaw in its hands.

With The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper created in 1974 one of the great turning points in American horror cinema. Made outside the major studio circuits, an indie work that brought to the screen a marginal America at the extreme fringes of society, transforming an on-the-road journey into a descent into a primordial nightmare. Behind the violence and apparent madness of the story, one can also glimpse the reflection of an era marked by Vietnam, the crisis of collective certainties, and the progressive crumbling of the reassuring image of the so-called American Dream.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - The "Ultimate" Video and Audio

The film returns in 4K Ultra HD in Plaion Pictures' Midnight Gold series, after having already been released in 4K by the previous Midnight Classics. As with the 50th anniversary release, the new master is accompanied by HDR-10 and Dolby Vision, starting from the original 16mm footage. This was by no means a simple intervention, considering the technical limitations of the source material, which aims to restore greater depth to the images without erasing their roughness. The grain remains an integral part of the film's look, while the management of highlights and color rendition gain further dynamism.

The UHD disc is, as usual, encoded HEVC on a dual-layer BD-66, video format 1.85:1 (3840x2160/23.97 fps). A new Ultra HD pass that therefore focuses more on the quality of the restoration and image management than on an artificial transformation of material that, in its imperfection, retains Hooper's visual power. Equally valid, but no less technically sound for those who do not yet have an UHD digital chain, is the 2K/SDR counterpart on BD-50 (1920x1080/23.97p), AVC/MPEG-4 encoding.

The audio compartment also offers a wide choice of listening options. Remembering that the film's original track was monophonic, we find the original Italian dubbing in two versions: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 with ATMOS (11 objects, 16 bit) and DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (24 bit). Obviously, we are not in the presence of a film born to exploit a modern multichannel system, but the interventions allow for maximizing the sound component without distorting the original experience. A new Italian dubbing is instead presented in lossy DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1 (24 bit), and a DTS 2.0 (24 bit). No less important is the last track in original Dolby TrueHD 7.1 with ATMOS (15 objects).

Six Discs to Delve into the History of Leatherface

The extras section is one of the strengths of this “Ultimate Edition.” The dual-layer BD-50 re-proposes a large part of the content already published on the Blu-ray for the 40th anniversary: starting with the three audio commentaries: one by director Tobe Hooper, one with Hooper along with Gunnar Hansen and cinematographer Daniel Pearl, and one with David Gregory, Marilyn Burns, Paul Partain, Allen Danziger, and Robert Burns. The fourth commentary is with Daniel Pearl, Larry Carroll, and Ted Nicolaou, all subtitled.

And again: documentary (73′) “Shocking Truth” on the making and reflections related to the sequel; 17′ minutes of meeting with actress Teri McMinn; 73′ minutes for “Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories Of The Saw” documentary on the generational impact of the film and the horror genre. The editing (11′); interview with producer Ron Bozman (16′); tour of the original house where the film was shot, with Gunnar Hansen; TV special on locations (20′); actor John Dugan recalls his work in the film (16′). 40′ minutes of deleted scenes separated into 25′ + 15′; trailers, TV and radio spots. Bloopers and photo gallery. There is an alternative ending, which in fact adds the closing text card in Italian compared to the USA edition, before the credits. Italian subtitles and a booklet with textual insights from Nocturno.

...and Jaw-Dropping Insights

The real novelties are represented by two documentaries. Chain Reactions, directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, dedicated to the legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Presented at Venice Classics in 2024, it traces the footprints left by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre fifty years after its release. Stephen King, Takashi Miike, Karyn Kusama, Patton Oswalt, and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas recount their relationship with Tobe Hooper's film through personal memories, suggestions, and archive images.

A journey into the influence exerted by a film capable of forever transforming horror. The BD-50 includes the director's audio commentary (unsubtitled) and the trailer. The corresponding bonus Blu-ray is particularly interesting for collectors: it contains The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 16mm Overscan Print version, a transfer from an Australian VHS (K-Tel publisher, complete with trailers for other films at the beginning) from 1984 and its trailer. Super 8 print from 1978 (rather “shrimpy,” editor's note) distributed by Iver Film Services. All in original without subtitles.

The sixth disc is instead dedicated to Dinner with Leatherface, a documentary focusing on Gunnar Hansen, the original Leatherface. Directed by Michael Kallio, it shifts attention from the Leatherface mask to the man who wore it: the late Gunnar Hansen. Through the memories of friends, colleagues, directors, and actors, the documentary reconstructs the intelligent, creative, and reserved personality of the performer, contrasting it with the brutal icon of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

An affectionate portrait that also highlights his activities outside of Tobe Hooper's film. In addition to the film, there are Gunnar Hansen's Tales - a further 20-minute contribution dedicated to the actor that completes the portrait of the man behind the mask. Finally, an intervention by Kallio dedicated to the actor and a contribution by Jeff Burr on Hansen. Subtitles everywhere.