The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Hey, didn't I just watch this?

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 12, 2023

Released barely a month after MPI's recent 4K edition, British label Second Sight -- well-known among region-free enthusiasts for their fantastic A/V presentations and deluxe Limited Editions -- has unleashed their own treatment of Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It's available in separate 4K and Blu-ray (Region B) editions... but collectors may want to go all-in with this Limited Edition combo pack, which tucks a few packaging exclusives inside a rather imposing rigid slipcase that's among the heftiest I've seen for a single film.

For a synopsis of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, please read Martin Liebman's review of MPI's 2008 Ultimate Edition Blu-ray. This is a clear genre benchmark that falls slightly short of a full 5/5 rating, in my opinion, but it's downright impossible not to acknowledge the film's craftsmanship, effectiveness, and of course its lasting influence.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced from Second Sight's included remastered Blu-ray edition.

Second Sight has remained elusive about the "additional restoration work" done for this new 2160p, HDR-enhanced transfer, other than the fact that it likely uses the same master as MPI's recent 4K edition as its solid base. But it's abundantly clear that said "additional work" yields fairly substantial results in most major departments, many of which can easily be spotted if your setup supports Dolby Vision. Second Sight's surgical precision with the HDR layer wrings maximum mid-range detail and color saturation out of the film's 16mm roots, replacing white blooming and black crush with details never before seen on home video. Colors are likewise more faithfully rendered, and a few subtle tone shifts have also been carefully corrected; one obvious example can be seen right before poor Franklin rolls down that grassy hill. Overall image details and textures are also given a nice boost thanks to Second Sight's reliably great disc encoding, which does an outstanding job of preserving its filmic texture where lesser studios (MPI included) might have rendered the grain as more of a chunky, noisy mess. It also looks as if some of the more flagrant damage has been cleaned up, yet a few unobtrusive nicks, scratches, and other marks can still easily be picked out along the way.

Of course, I say all this with the knowledge that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's built-in grindhouse aesthetic means that even a "bad" presentation gets the job done -- and of course, there are those who might actually prefer a more grimy appearance. But the level of accuracy achieved here makes Second Sight's exclusive 4K presentation the de facto definitive presentation of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as it clearly surpasses all previous home video editions and likely even original theatrical showings. It's quite simply that good, which makes either this Limited Edition combo pack or Second Sight's separate standard 4K release worth owning for long-time fans of the film.

As for the Blu-ray presentation, these disc-captured screenshots -- the first ten of which approximately match those from its MPI counterpart -- reveal the obvious improvements achieved in regular high definition. The picture is certainly a bit brighter but not unnaturally so, again with much better mid-range values, the same additional cleanup and color corrections done for the 4K transfer described above, and of course rock-solid disc encoding. While the obvious benefits of HDR10+/Dolby Vision are certainly missed at times -- as well as the native 4K resolution, of course -- it's still a fairly solid runner-up for those who haven't moved on to 4K yet. If you've no plans to do so in the near future and don't care about packaging goodies, Second Sight's separate Blu-ray-only edition is an affordable alternative.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Second Sight's default audio track is an original theatrical LPCM 1.0 Mono mix that sounds essentially the same as the 2.0 split-channel mono track on MPI's recent 4K edition. Similarly, the alternate Dolby Atmos remix and its folded down lossless 7.1 counterpart are also identical to the MPI disc. Both are excellent efforts. There's no stereo option this time around, but I doubt anyone's going to miss that when both ends of the spectrum are covered so well here.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature and most applicable extras.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This three-disc set ships in an wide, rigid slipcase featuring classic UK VHS artwork; the discs get their own hubs in a red and back fold-out Digipak case. Two other Limited Edition-exclusive printed extras are also tucked inside.

• NEW! Hardback Book (190 pages) - This hefty companion book includes 15 new essays by ​​ Heather Buckley, Tim Coleman, Martyn Conterio, Miranda Corcoran, Heather Drain, Lee Gambin, Caden Mark Gardner, Lindsay Hallam, Cerise Howard, Kimberly Lindbergs, Annie Rose Malamet, Maitland McDonagh, Neil Mitchell, Jerome Reuter and Robert Skvarla, with illustrations by Adam Stothard. Cast and production credits are included, as well as a few Second Sight acknowledgements, but sadly no details are given about the 4K restoration.

• NEW! Collector's Art Cards (6) - Also tucked inside are six monochrome red portraits by illustrator Adam Stothard featuring Sally, Leatherface, "Grandpa", the hitchhiker, the old man, and a close-up of Sally's eye.

The on-disc extras are identical on both formats; they're squeezed onto the 4K disc along with the movie, and spread out on both Blu-rays -- Disc 1 gets the commentaries and a few odds and ends, and everything else is on Disc 2. These extras largely mirror those found on MPI's recent 4K and earlier Blu-ray editions, with a few exceptions.

• NEW! Audio Commentary #1 - Four audio commentaries not enough for you? Enjoy this brand-new track with filmmaker/author Amanda Reyes and podcaster Bill Ackerman, who apparently recorded their joint session in the actual TCSM house (now a restaurant!). It's a fairly fast-moving, informative, and historically-minded "tag team" track, filled with trivia and very few dead spots or moments where the on-screen action is described. You'll have to really sit up for this one -- it's candid for sure, but not one you can just listen to in the background. Whoever runs the restaurant might want to check on their smoke detector, though: the battery is low.

• Audio Commentary #2 - A solo track featuring director writer-producer-director Tobe Hooper.

• Audio Commentary #3 - The first of several larger group chats, this one with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, editor J. Larry Carroll, and sound recordist Ted Nicolaou.

• Audio Commentary #4 - This enjoyable roundtable chat features Tobe Hooper, this time flanked by actor Gunnar Hansen and cinematographer Daniel Pearl.

• Audio Commentary #5 - Another vintage group track with art director Robert A. Burns and actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, and Paul A. Partain.

• NEW-ISH! The Legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (82:45) - Debuting on MPI's recent 4K edition and written/directed by Phillip Escott, this full-length documentary -- which yes, is just about as long as the film itself -- offers a broad retrospective of TCSM from several different vantage points including a few international contributors. Featured participants include film critic Heather Wixson, producer Fede Alvarez, filmmaker Jamie Blanks, History of Horror producer Ben Raphael Sher, producer Jed Shepherd, Fangoria editor-in-chief Phil Nobile Jr., film critic Meagan Navarro, TCSM remake director Marcus Nispel, Leatherface co-directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris, and others. It's an entertaining piece, though given the wealth of extras already on this release and earlier discs, some of the stories won't exactly be new.

• NEW! Behind the Mask (8:40) - Another new bonus feature produced by Second Sight, this short piece features Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of "Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces", who offers her thoughts and observations about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and looks exactly like she sounds.

• "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre": The Shocking Truth (72:49)

• Outtakes from "The Shocking Truth" (7:41)

• Cutting "Chain Saw": An Interview with Editor J. Larry Carroll (10:47)

• Granpaw's Tales: An Interview with John Dugan (15:48)

• Horror's Hallowed Grounds: TCSM (20:08)

• Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw (71:42)

• Off the Hook with Teri McMinn (17:02)

• The Business of "Chain Saw": An Interview with Production Manager Ron Bozman (16:25)

• House Tour with Actor Gunnar Hansen (8:03)

• NEW-ISH! Interviews - Two vintage DVD-era interviews recorded for Blue Underground in 2002 that feature writer-director-producer Tobe Hooper and co-writer Kim Henkel speaking candidly about the film. As far as I know, these haven't been included on any recent Blu-ray or 4K release so it's good to have 'em back.

• Tobe Hooper (13:46)
• Kim Henkel (8:25)

• Deleted Scenes & Outtakes (25:23)

• Trailers, TV, and Radio Spots (5:58)

• Stills Gallery (50 photos)

A few vintage odds and ends are curiously absent, including "Friedkin/Hooper: A Conversation about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (first included on MPI's limited "Black Maria Edition" Blu-ray set, and again on their recent 4K edition), a blooper reel and the short featurette "Dr. W.E. Barnes Presents: Making Grandpa" (likewise on the earlier MPI releases), as well as a second set of silent deleted scenes which still remains exclusive to MPI's 2014 Blu-ray.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Well-represented on home video in a variety of formats, Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre seems to have approached "definitive" territory with Second Sight's outstanding new 4K/Blu-ray Limited Edition combo pack. Featuring a terrific A/V presentation that surpasses MPI's own recent 4K edition for a variety of reasons, not to mention plenty of great extras and sturdy collector-grade packaging, this one's an absolute no-brainer for the film's biggest fans. Highly Recommended indeed, and already on the short list of 2023's best.