THE ORIGINAL TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE FINALLY GETS A DECENT DVD EDITION!

On September 26th, the genre classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and Hooper's follow-up, EATEN ALIVE, will both see new 16x9 special editions. Pioneer's previous special edition release of MASSACRE, which was marred by an improper, non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer and compression artifacts from cramming the film and its supplements on a single layer DVD, was released all the way back in 1998. EATEN ALIVE has probably fared worse, since Elite's release of the film in 2001, also non-anamorphic, was sorely lacking extras.

Talks of a special edition for TEXAS CHAIN SAW have been long coming, ever since Don May announced that he was supervising a new HD transfer of the film a few years ago. It had been pretty quiet since then, but finally all the release details and artwork for the two films have been revealed. Here is what we're looking at:

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE gets a newly upgraded 16x9 transfer, a new Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, all the old DVD supplements as well as several unique to this release. It comes on two discs and in a classy steel box. Retail is $29.98, and it looks to be worth every penny. Here’s the full list:

• Remastered 16x9 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen
• Newly created Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
• Dolby Surround 2.0 soundtrack
• Remastered mono soundtrack
• New Commentary with actors Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Allen Danzinger, and art director (the late) Robert A. Burns
• Audio commentary with director Tobe Hooper, cinematographer Daniel Pearl, and actor Gunnar Hansen
• “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth” feature-length documentary
• “Flesh Wounds: A Tour of the TCM house with Leatherface” featurette
• Deleted scenes
• Outtakes
• Blooper reel
• Outtakes from David Gregory’s “The Shocking Truth” documentary
• Theatrical trailers
• TV spots
• Radio spots
• Still gallery

A long overlooked film in Hooper’s canon, EATEN ALIVE, will come skinned and dressed with a multitude of new extras. Although only a single disc release, you can bet it will be packed in typical Dark Sky fashion. Cheaper than CHAIN SAW, this one will run you $19.98. Here’s the rundown:

• 16x9 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer
• Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack
• Audio commentary with producer/co-writer Mardi Rustam, actors Roberta Collins,
William Finley and Kyle Richards, and make-up artist Craig Reardon
• "My Name is Buck" Robert Englund featurette
• "The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball" featurette
• Theatrical trailers
• Still gallery