The Chainsaw- Useful Tool Or Weapon Of Choice.
By Joe DeClara, Sat Dec 10th

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, and others like them, arewhat I like to consider true horror movies, or even terrormovies. They have the ability to really put a fear into someone.At least they're the type that puts a fear into me. Friday the13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, these are ofthe fantastic, not what is real; therefore they have littlescare power. They may be able to get you to jump, if my wifesneaks up on me she'll be able to momentarily frighten me, butshe's not scary. Quick thrills, or quick scares are not horrormovies to be. Horror is beyond such simple tricks, to truly behorrified you have to care, and who cares about a bunch of potsmoking punks taking a summer off to have sex when they shouldbe working to pay for school!

You may be thinking to yourself how the Texas Chainsaw moviesare any different. They're not real either, and you're rightthey aren't technically real. But what they represent is anactual part of society. Tobe Hooper, the creator of the TexasChainsaw, based the main horror figure on a real life person. EdGains. Now Hooper was young when he first learned of Gains andthe image of him became distorted, Hooper based Leatherface (themanic who wears womens faces and skins) on what he picture Gainsto be like. Now of course Gains looked normal, but he was verysimilar to Leatherface. Gains would rob graves for body parts tomake almost anything, furniture, soup bowls, whatever he wanted.He also did some other things that are much worse but I won'tdelve into too much detail on those. These people actually doexist. Murders who haven't been caught, mass murders thathaven't been caught.

Sure the original Friday the 13th was based on a concept thatmight be true, child drowns, mother seeks revenge, sure it'spossible. But what about the next 10 movies? The characters inthese are indestructible, or so it seems, by the end theyhave some kind of plan that will usually work. In the TexasChainsaw however, most don't even get a chance to fight,the family knows they are regular people who can be damaged justlike anyone else. It is realistic.

Fear to me only exists if I think it is possible that what I'mafraid of might exist. I don't think it's possible that a psychofamily in Texas will kill me, but maybe there's a psycho familyright next door to me, or down the street, or in the next placeI intend to visit. These are practical fears in my mind. Ofcourse I'm not as worried of being murdered as I am of gettinginto a car accident or something much more probable, but whenI'm watching the movie I let myself be drawn into the fear,that's the fun. that don't even stand a chance of beingeven remotely true just don't do it for me. The Ring forexample, yes some good effects but when I got home that night Iwasn't bothered by the TV. However I watched the Blair WitchProject at a cottage and the forest was suddenly frightening,not because I thought a witch might live in it, but because Icould easily get lost in it.

True terror, and maybe you don't want to experience true terror,but if you do, watch the Texas Chainsaw with an open mind, thinkhow you would handle yourself in that situation. The good thingthat comes from horror is that we get to experience anemotion that we really don't want to experience in real life. Idon't want to be in a position that causes real fear, but I wantto get a rough idea of it, and true horror do just that.They give you a taste of the real thing. There are two very goodreasons for wanting to feel what it's like to be afraid, one, itcan be a huge rush adrenaline is the best drug, the movie is themethod, roller coasters accomplish the same feat. The secondreason is that you may have some insight into how you'll reactin a real life situation. Obviously you'll never really knowuntil you are in a bad situation and hopefully most of us won'teven be in such a situation. If you even have a taste though,you may know if you're a fight or flight kind of person.

Understanding why your brain is reacting in any given way willallow

you to make rational decisions in irrational situations.You may want to run but if you know why you want to run you maybe inclined to stay when staying it really the right thing todo. This does not only apply to life or death situations it canapply to almost anything. Have you ever felt bullied by a carsalesman? These are confident people you're dealing with and ifyou're not as confident as they are, you should still be able towalk out without being ripped off. So what am I saying? I guessI'm saying if you want a deal on a car, go shopping after youwatch a good horror flick. Saw II is in the theatres as of thewriting of this article that would be a good example of what Icall a true horror movie. Go show that car dealer who's boss,just don't bring your chainsaw.

About the author:Joe DeClara, is a researcher/writer for Askipedia.com. Aquestion isn't just something that you have answered, it's achance to learn something new, and what is more important thanexpanding our area of knowledge. Come learn with us, all youneed is a question.

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