Really accomplishedn filmmaking. Considering its budget and aims it's a masterpiece. Very confidently handled. No wonder people thought Tobe Hooper was going to be a superstar.
Everything works. John Larroquette's opening narration, warning what's going on. The slow build up. The family squabble - wheelchair brother. The sense of unease - talking astrology, killing cows, meeting weirdos. The logic - they need petrol, go to a house to find petrol, are warned away. The first death is quick and brutal and just like how cows are killed (the stunned person). The second death is more drawn out but very much like real killing of animals. The third kill adds to it. Then there's the fourth. Then the last act has Marilyn Burns scream and run in terror for something like half an hour. It's brilliantly intense.
All the actors are pretty good. The location is wonderful. It feels hot, instense, lonely. The themes are primeval - heat, survival, screaming, and family: Burns and her brother and the killers, both have believably bickering families. It has wonderful lore. You sense the history, the backstory. The creepy things in the house.
It's just very well done.
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