On their way the group picks up a hitchhiker who seems to be visibly sick from the heat and possibly crazy. However, the hitchhiker goes on to torment and violently threaten the group, so they leave him on the side of the road. Once the group finally reaches the house, Kirk and Pam go and search for an old childhood swimming hole. When they reach the location, they find that its dried up but, hearing the sound of a nearby generator, the two go to a nearby farmhouse to see who is around. Kirk goes inside where he encounters Leatherface and becomes the villains first victim by way of a sledgehammer. Pam goes in to see what is taking Kirk so long and she too is killed by Leatherface by being hung onto a meathook.

Night soon approaches and the remaining friends begin to worry about Pam and Kirk. Jerry goes out searching for them and is killed by Leatherface as he goes on the hunt for prey. He eventually finds Sally and Franklin and springs upon them, repeatedly drives his chainsaw through Franklin's body. At this sight, Sally immediately flees by running through the forest towards the house. She first hides in here but, after realizing that it in fact belongs to Leatherface, she again flees into the night with Leatherface on her chase.

Sally eventually makes it to a gas station where she pleas for help. Instead, the owner attacks her with a broom, puts a sack over her head and forces her into a truck. It turns out that the gas station owner, known as Old Man, is in fact Leatherface's older brother. Old Man takes her back to the house where the hitchhiker, also part of the family, is arriving at the same time.

In the morning, Sally manages to escape and is chased through the countryside by the knife-wielding hitchhiker and the chainsaw wielding Leatherface. Just as the hitchhiker reaches her and begins to stab her,...

Sally jumps into the truck while Leatherface attacks the vehicle with his weapon of choice. The driver throws a wrench at Leatherface, knocking him down and causing him to cut his own leg. The driver then flees, leaving Sally on the road. Just as Leatherface is about to get Sally, a pickup truck passes by and she is able to jump in the back. The film closes with a classic scene of Leatherface waving his saw above his head in frustration while standing in the middle of the road.
Clearly, there are hints of Marxists theory found in the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In it there are two sets of people, the Texas family, which represents the lower class or Marx's proletariat, and the group of friends, which represents the ruling class or Marx's bourgeoisies. More so, the film portrays a conflict occurring between the haves and the have nots, just as Marx claims is the common course of human history. Further, although at first the proletariat is successful at "burying" the bourgeoisies, in the end the bourgeoisies is successful.

In the film, as in Marx's writings, the reason the bourgeoisies is successful is because they are the owners of the technology, or means of production. In the film, this is symbolized by Sally being saved by an automobile, which also kills a member of the lower class family. In other words, the lower class is left with their simple tools of a saw and a knife, which in the end is no match to the high technology of the ruling class. Thus, the lower class is left in the same position, frustrated with their inability to alter their positions in life.

Bibliography

Hooper, Tobe. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 1974.

Marx, Carl. Communist Manifesto. New York: Signet Classics, 1998.

Marx, Carl. Das Kapital. New York: Signet Classics, 1999.