Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 vs 2003 Which Has The Higher Body Count

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 vs. 2003: Which Has The Higher Body Count?

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has a reputation for violence and brutality, but which version of Leatherface really has the higher body count?

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Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 vs 2003 Which Has The Higher Body Count

Tobe Hooper’s famous introduction to slasher movies, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre introduced audiences to Leatherface in 1974 and inspired several sequels and a reboot in 2003, but which movie has the higher body count? Much of the killing in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is done by Leatherface, a skin-suit wearing, chainsaw-wielding villain based loosely on the crimes of real-life killer Ed Gein.

While the original 1974 version received complaints over its violence, the 2003 remake amped up the carnage even more in order to cater to 21st century audiences hungry for gore. With more extreme kills and a more straight-forward slasher plot, the reviews for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) was largely positive as well, though fans of the classic felt it lost much of what made the original unique.

Both the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the 2003 remake were considered highly shocking and violent movies at the times they were released, with the original actually being banned in several countries and many theaters due to complaints about the violence and content. However, when comparing the two movies directly, which actually has the higher body count?

Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre gained a reputation as one of the best and most influential horror movies of all time, being credited with originating many of the elements of the slasher genre as it exists today. When it was made, it was the first to incorporate many of what are now considered slasher movie tropes.

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In 2003, when Marcus Nispel set out to direct the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, the 21st century was ushering in a resurgence of the exploitation film and slasher sub-genre with classics like Scream, Final Destination, and American Psycho being released in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The ultimate examples of this pivot would come slightly later with James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s Saw in 2004 and Eli Roth’s Hostel in 2005. Despite gaining a reputation for being extremely violent and gruesome, Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic is actually relatively bloodless, with a kill count of only five. Hooper was able to build such a palpable sense of terror throughout the movie, and used violence and gore sparingly, only when it would produce the greatest effect.

In contrast, the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre amped up the violence, blood, and gore. It nearly doubled the kill count of Hooper’s original movie, and depicted eight total deaths. While the increased gore is a large part of the reason why a lot of fans prefer this remake to the original, it did largely change the overall tone and story of the film.

The 2003 remake makes much more use of the titular chainsaw, delivering four of the movie’s eight deaths via Leatherface’s signature weapon, while the original only includes one actual chainsaw kill. The 1974 movie takes a lot of the more gruesome deaths and violence off-screen, so they’re only implied to the audience, while the 2003 film leaves very little to the imagination in terms of bodily harm for the victims.

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Whether the change from the late Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Nispel’s remake is good or bad is really a matter of personal opinion. For audiences who prefer a slow-burn, highly cinematic horror movie that delivers terror through mood rather than on-screen violence, the 1974 movie will be the obvious preference. Alternatively, audiences who prefer a faster-paced, more brutal movie with horror delivered through a variety of storytelling methods will favor the remake.

While the horror community remains divided on which is the superior Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, it’s clear that the movies have left a huge impact on cinema and horror culture. Leatherface has joined the likes of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers as one of the most memorable slasher movie villains, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre will keep its ultra-violent reputation regardless of which version is watched.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/texas-chainsaw-massacre-1975-2003-movie-comparison-body-count/

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