Brutal and divinely paced. Hard to imagine a horror movie this compact being made today. There is shockingly little blood here compared to its imitators (and remakes), but the imagery is so pointed, so unnerving in its unadornment that just seeing a hammer or a bit of rope is spine chilling. The kills are relentless and brief in a way that caught me off guard everytime. After so many horror movies it somehow feels scarier when there is no buildup, no space given to the possibility of escape. Just blunt steel and a freezer door.
So interested to read some interpretations of the themes here. The central metaphor of the meat industry is effective if straightforward, but I'm curious if there's been writing on the family being an inverse of the dehumanizing ableism directed at Franklin. The scene where Sally is tied up and the family is just laughing at her distress is so horrific, it seems easy to read as an allegory for othering people as a means of dismissing the pain we inflict (the family themselves having a lot of vaguely autistic coded traits makes this reading super messy, but hoping some smart film scholars have unpacked it more than I can 15 minutes post-watch). Love Leatherface dancing with their chainsaw at the end, just having a great time in the sunset.
Never felt better to be a vegan. No gas station barbeque for me.
Content warnings: ableism, blood, kidnapping, murder, cannibalism, animal abuse