Action and horror movies almost always have scenes that make you cringe because of the violence involved. Sometimes the violence is pointless and terrifying and other times there is a reason. Well, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and A BETTER TOMORROW are two very different movies to clarify the point being made.
This is the mad man behind all of the killings in the film TCM.
There are quite a few classic horror films that are famous for the gore and the explicit scenes. One of the more classic horror films would be the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. This movie was based off of a true story which makes watching the film even more realistic to watch. This movie came out in 1974 and was based off of the events happening from 1954 to 1957. The movie is about a group of teens who are on a road trip and come across a strange group of individuals soon to realize that this would be their last road trip. They are slowly murdered one by one from a man with a chainsaw. One female fights for her life and makes a daring escape that leads to a success.
This movie was a low budget film estimating at 140,000$ and was a very conventional film- not to mention that this film came out in the 70’s and the teens were huge fans of marijuana. This film was major on the VHS platform noting that TCM came out two years prior. According to Short History of the Movies, “Sony offered the worlds first truly portable VTR for home use and named it the videocassette (Mast and Kawin 381).
TCM is an example of a film that has violence for no reason at all besides the fact that this deranged family are a bunch of lunatics. But what about a film that has a reason to be violent. A meaningful violence? Well A BETTER TOMORROW is a perfect example.
A BETTER TOMORROW is a drama/crime film that is about crime embedded brothers. The main point of the film is for one brother to be reacquainted with his brother. His brother does not want anything to do with him because he left him and his mother with no remorse. This left the brother caring for their mother. He does not want anything do do with who he is because of his gangster past. Towards the end of the film, the brothers are shown in a shootout with their former partner. They took this mans money and he wants it back. They were all shot dead after the abandoned brother forgave his brother for his misdoings.
CLICK HERE <The film was so successful that a remake will be released this year on November 17 in Chinese cinemas!
This film was released on the year of 1986 and was technology related which makes this movie conventional since cell phones and other gadgets were being introduced at this point in time.
This is one of the scenes from A BETTER TOMORROW that correlates to necessary violence. This is one of the brothers killing people because they put his brother in jail for three years. He did not have to get revenge but is sure isn’t random acts of violence like TCM is.
The value contrasts between both films are twisted in their own way but A BETTER TOMORROW had an importance behind the violence, more for moral reasons. Both films are outstanding to watch and even though TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was very intense, always remember that it is only a film.
So: a VERY low-budget American film gets an audience with meaningless violence , and a more conventional, commercial from film Asia sues violence connected to law and order–like an older American western or crime film, where someone ‘cleans up’ the town or city
You could add that both films are about family, about violent families, but one is completely outside the law (TEXAS), and the other is half inside and half outside the law (BETTER).
The social critique angle is interesting. Crime films often have this element where some violence is justifiable, even moral. Violence to defend society is okay.
But in TEXAS, it seems like violence is totally outside society in a lawless place–almost like a western.
So a really interesting pair of films.
I wonder if UNFORGIVEN or even BLAZING SADDLES wouldn’t make a good comparison!
I really like your analysis of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I watched this film too and also talked about its interesting aspects like the amount of gore and violence. I also enjoy your visual resources, they show iconic pictures that give your readers an idea of what you are referring to.
Very cool concept of meaningless verses morally inclined violence. Both can attract audiences for the bloodshed but might be reviewed differently based on taste. These movies would be nice to compare to past and future films to show how they might have been inspired and how they inspire other films.