The Ghoulish Plot: A group of 70’s era teens are on a road trip and pick up a hitchhiker who turns out to be crazy. Then they stop at a gas station with no gas, so they find their way to a house that seems to be abandoned. As they start to explore they find out they’re not alone and not only is there a large, silent murderer wielding a chainsaw, but an entire crazy hillbilly family out for blood.

Of all the interpretations of Ed Gein’s insanity, this one remains the most disturbing (at least in my opinion). It’s also very of its time in the mid-70s: nobody is to be trusted, everybody is out for themselves, gas is in short supply and, as always, never ever stop anywhere in rural Texas.

If you’re at all into horror movies and you’ve somehow never seen this, it’s an unabashed classic that isn’t necessarily for every year at Halloween…but when you haven’t seen it in a few years, holy SHIT does it hit hard. It’s just gruesome and greasy and foreboding and threatening in all the ways Rob Zombie tries to make every one of his movies and never quite nails it.

The Scariest Part of the Movie: early on, the villain Leatherface comes out of nowhere, grabs one of the teens and does something so horrific in the span of a few seconds that fully brings you up to speed on what the stakes are. It’s a super-effective and scary moment that sets the tone for the rest of the flick.

Spookiness Factor: bloodthirsty rednecks in rural Texas? High spookiness factor. Yikes.

Rating: 9 out of 10 full-size Snickers