1. Perfection. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most Bressonian horror movies ever made, and certainly one of the most Bressonian psychotronic films ever made. By Bressonian I mean that hardly a single shot or edit or even actor's movement seems superfluous. A word that comes up often among fans of the film is "perfect." Viewing the deleted scenes on the new 30th anniversary DVD makes this all the more apparent -- Mr. Hooper and Co. shot a lot of interesting stuff (like Leatherface applying makeup to his dead skin mask, or having a brief early tantrum when Sally runs to the family's gas-station for help), but they weren't afraid to cut anything that wasn't directly crucial to the bare-bones storyline and the film's oppressive mood. The result is a lean 84 minutes that are, well . . . perfect.

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