History NightmareFuel / TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974

* Leatherface suddenly appearing in front of Kirk and then striking him in the head [[DropTheHammer with a mallet]]. What makes this even worse is that after being struck, he spasms on the floor, only to be finally silenced when struck again.

** It's worth noting that this scene was ranked as the 5th scariest movie moment of all time in Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments, and ''#1'' on /Shudder's 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time.

* The entire [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3odOfyPz8L8 ominous/atmospheric ambiance soundtrack]] is this. Apparently, the trivia page on Website/IMDb describes it perfectly well. "The soundtrack contains the sounds an animal would hear inside a slaughterhouse." Let that sink in...

** It's worth noting that this scene was ranked as the 5th scariest movie moment of all time in Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
*** It also became ''#1'' on Shudder's 101 Scariest Horror Movies Moments of All Time.
** The sheer suddenness of Leatherface's appearance, let alone his first kill, accentuates the horror of the scene. The house is made out to look fairly ominous, but otherwise normal, and there's no music. [[JumpScare Then suddenly Leatherface]], and there's still no musical sting. He just jumps out from around the corner, and hits Kirk over the head. Kirk spasms for a few seconds before Leatherface hits him again and drags him away. It manages to invoke the feel of NothingIsScarier despite something horrible actually happening onscreen.

** The fact that he kidnapped Sally and kept hurting her on the way to the house.
* The Grandfather. Up until this point we thought, like the grandmother, that the grandfather was dead and his corpse was merely put on display. Then we see him sucking the blood from Sally's finger.
** The fun fact of that scene is that Marilyn Burns actually got her finger cut. The reason for that was because one of the prop knives that has the plastic hose and fake blood in it wasn't working properly. So, Creator/GunnarHansen cuts her finger on purpose just to get through to the next sequence, the infamous "Dinner Scene".

* The unsympathetic nature of the family. When Sally is captured, she begs that she will do anything just to stay alive. But the family ignores her wishes which showcases just how sadistic they are.

* Even the way the film plainly ends comes across as this. We have nothing but ten minutes of pure horror, going from Sally attempting to escape ''twice'', to being kidnapped, to the dinner scene, to her ''third'' attempt to escape (which finally succeeds), and then the last shot of Leatherface [[VillainousBreakdown waving around his chainsaw in a tantrum]]...before the film [[SmashToBlack abruptly cuts to black]]. It goes from raw terror [[MoodWhiplash straight to]] [[NothingIsScarier absolute nothingness]].

*** It also ''#1'' on Shudder's 101 Scariest Horror Movies Moments of All Time.

* The finale with Sally fleeing from Leatherface and Hitchhiker. Specifically horrifying about this sequence is when the Hitchhiker is ''run over by a truck'' (which we see completely on-screen) and Sally falling into hysterics upon escaping, giving a pretty strong implication that she will never be mentally well again after all this. The ultimate BittersweetEnding.

* Even the way the film plainly ends comes across as this. We have nothing but ten minutes of pure horror, going from Sally attempting to escape ''twice'', to being kidnapped, to the Dinner Scene, to her ''third'' attempt to escape which finally succeeds. And then the last shot is Leatherface's VillainousBreakdown waving around his chainsaw in a tantrum...and then SmashToBlack. It goes from raw terror to NothingIsScarier in extreme MoodWhiplash, especially because it perfectly mixes BittersweetEnding with NoEnding.
** Beyond that, Sally is LaughingMad as she rides away in the back of the pickup - odds are she'll ''never'' be fully okay again after that harrowing experience.

* Leatherface suddenly appearing in front of Kirk and then striking him in the head [[DropTheHammer with a mallet]]. What makes this even worse is that after being struck he spasms on the floor, only to be finally silenced when struck again.
** The pig squealing-like noises Leatherface makes in this scene is also insanely disturbing.
** It's worth noting that this scene was ranked as the 5th scariest movie moment of all time in Creator/{{Bravo}}'s 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

* Even the way the film plainly ends comes across as this. We have nothing but ten minutes of pure horror, going from Sally attempting to escape ''twice'', to being kidnapped, to the Dinner Scene, to her ''third'' attempt to escape which finally succeeds. And then the last shot is Leatherface waving around his chainsaw in a tantrum...and then SmashToBlack. It goes from raw terror to NothingIsScarier in extreme MoodWhiplash, especially because it perfectly mixes BittersweetEnding with NoEnding.

* On the DVDCommentary, Gunnar Hansen reveals that during one take of chasing Sally, he slipped on the wet grass and the still-running chainsaw went flying into the air, coming down blade-first just mere ''inches'' from his head.

* Leatherface: A crazed chainsaw-wielding maniac that holds absolutely no empathy for anyone and often lets his victims die slowly and painfully. Very painfully. Oh, and he wears masks made out of human flesh.

** It's worth noting that this scene was ranked as the 5th scariest movie moment of all time in Creator/{{Bravo}}'s Series/OneHundredScariestMovieMoments.

** The sheer suddenness of Leatherface's appearance, let alone his first kill, accentuates the horror of the scene. The house is made out to look fairly ominous, but otherwise normal, and there's no music. [[JumpScare Then suddenly, Leatherface]], there's still no musical sting. He just jumps out from around the corner, hits Kirk over the head. Kirk spasms for a few seconds before Leatherface hits him again and drags him away. It manages to invoke the feel of NothingIsScarier despite something horrible actually happening onscreen.