Movie Weapon: The Chainsaw

EARLY USAGE

Manly Movie Weapon: The Chainsaw. And it didn’t make its debut in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) either. It first appeared as a weapon in Dark of the Sun (1968), possibly the most violent movie released in the 1960’s. That was in a pretty above average fight scene. Most appearances after that duel have been in horror movies rather than straight up combat. An appearance in Wes Craven’s ‘Last House on the Left’ (1972) probably gave Hooper the idea, as he turned it into an icon in Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Hooper’s movie is the first to really relay some form of (serious) danger and terror from an assailant wielding a chainsaw. The other must-see vintage cameo is in Scarface (1983), the bathroom scene is a classic. ‘NOW WE CUT THEE OTHER, EH?!’

RECENT USAGE

Seems like the oul chainsaw isn’t being used as well as it once was these days. You have to go pretty deep into the 00’s to find some better appearances. Let’s just forget Christian Bale in American Psycho, shitty movie adored by MasterCard Marxists. Anyway… Dawn of the Dead (2004) was a surprisingly good remake, just like Night of the Living Dead (1990). ‘Duh sawh’ is rigged up A-Team style to their makeshift personnel carriers. Brief, and maybe even a bit ‘meh’ though. Then came Doom (2005), it draws from a rich history of censorship-baiting 1990’s FPS action, nobody who played the game will forget the saw. And in the scene that pretty much redeems an otherwise mediocre movie (the FPS sequence), the biggest saw ever put on film tears shit up. Pity it was CGI though. The sound alone is fucking class though.

BEST USAGE

The ‘Parents Guide’ on the IMDb for The Running Man (1987) warns that: “A man is sliced between the legs with a chainsaw”. Indeed, because the user was stupid enough to turn it on ‘Mad Dog’ Ben Richards (The Butcher of Bakersfield). Stupid move, don’t you know that ‘that boy’s one mean motherfucker’, after all? He’s more than sliced too, the split in Buzzsaws belt shows he was cut right up to the chest. The actual chainsaw itself is a Homelite 1050 automatic. Now that’s a serious piece of fucking hardware with a 100cc motor, that’s like the size of a small bike or moped engine. The Running Man did an excellent job hyping up its Stalkers. Buzzsaw was my favourite and he was so fearsome that I probably would reconsider putting $200 on Richards. Nice bike too.  Check back soon for more weapons debriefing.