The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

[baumer]

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[baumer]

Proof that modern horror remakes can be great, 12 April 2005

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Films like this scare me. Not so much in terms of the horror aspect of it, although this is a good entry in that genre, but more in the sense that there have been a myriad of horror remakes lately and some of the icons of the genre like Dawn of the Dead, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are being remade. This leads to the question, if they can remake films like these, then what is to stop them from doing remakes of Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street? I have already heard that The Hills Have Eyes is in the works and I think I heard something about the Toolbox Murders on the way. Interesting that this will give today's youth a chance to see these films but not so good news for those of us that are purists at heart and like to see the classics left alone.

Having said all of that, I have to say that Marcus Nipsel's neo Texas Chainsaw Massacre is just brilliant. It pays homage to, and never strays far from what made the original so revered, but it obviously makes a mark for itself with its original style. All of the elements of the original are here as well.

Jessica Biel and Eric Balfour are the two young lovers in the movie traveling with friends to a Lynnrd Skynnrd concert. They are in the back roads of Texas and come across a destitute and indigent looking young girl wandering aimlessly along the road. They pick her up and after telling the kids that they are all going to die, she pulls a gun out of her dress and blows her brains out. This all happens in the first ten minutes of the film and it sets the tone and the pace for what is to come.

The kids are a little cocky and give off that aura of invincibility and sanctimony. When they have to call the police at the local variety store, they are impolite and short with the employees. Their world, until this day, was a closed circle and nothing could really get to them. But today that is all about to change. Today, things will done to them that seemed inhuman only a few short hours ago.

The true strength of this film is that all of the evil characters are true abominations. They are cruel, unabashed incarnations of Mephastopheles. There is nothing redeeming about any of them. To some, this might take away credibility from the screenplay, but to me, it enhances. Leatherface and his family exist to be evil. They exist to provide terror to those unfortunate enough to get caught in their nasty web. These kids are victims of circumstance.

There will be inevitable comparisons between this and the original, and that is fair, but although the two movies share a name and a background, both stand on their own as separate works of art. Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the ten best horror films ever made. It is an exercise in the macabre and it tests your mettle. While Marcus Nipsel's is a brilliant film, it does stand on it's own and it has managed to carve a niche in todays modern horror landscape. This movie is tense and it is a psychological exercise in sanity. While the original was a benchmark in psychological warfare, this one tries to go one step further. If you can remember some surreal moments like the meat hook scene, this one tries to take it a step further. I truly believe that this film can stand on its own, and while it is certainly not better than the original, it is a very fine entry into the genre and deserves to have the name Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

9/10

Edited September 4, 2012 by Expendable baumer

[Hiccup]

Utterly frightening, makes you squeamish, and psychologically shocked after. A beautiful tribute to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Baumer basically sums up the rest of my thoughtsA+

[cheesypoofs]

This is the 2nd horror movie that I watched all of the way through, the first was the original Halloween. I was 12 years old when I first watched this, and it scared the hell out of me, but I loved it. After watching both Halloween and this, I really started getting into horror. This is the best horror remake out there, hands down.

[ddddeeee]

Ok way to spend 90 minutes. Not even remotely scary and really, really ugly, but as fair as routine slashers go you could do a lot worse. C/C-

[baumer]

Wow. I cant believe u like a piece of shit (imo) like Halloween 2 and not this one dddeee.

[ddddeeee]

Wow. I cant believe u like a piece of shit (imo) like Halloween 2 and not this one dddeee.

I'll defend Halloween II until the day I die.

[Hiccup]

Wow. I cant believe u like a piece of shit (imo) like Halloween 2 and not this one dddeee.

Halloween 2 makes me barf.

[ddddeeee]

I can't believe you call clamour over an ugly, uninspired greastest hits compilation like this yet hate a movie that at least attempts to do something different. Different strokes for different blokes.

[75Live]

Definitely one of the better horror remakes, if not the best. That may not be saying much, but it is still good. While I don't have it as high as some others on here, it is still pretty good.B maybe B+

[baumer]

Watched the 75 minute making of documentary last night on the SE DVD. This is the kind of behind the scenes stuff I love. Interviews with Brad Fuller, Bay, all the cast including Ermey, Daniel Pearl, the DP on the original and this one Scott Kosar, the writer, plus a slew of crew members. It takes you inside the shoot, the casting and inside the business of selling the film. This film made it's money back before one shot was in the can, one word on the script or one person had been cast. Bay, Fuller and the rest created a ridiculously scary teaser trailer that was an all black screen with a woman sounding lost and maybe trapped in a closet. She hears footsteps and then 5 seconds of silence. Then you hear the saw, the buzz and more screaming. They pitched this to distributors and sold it in one shot. There are so many interviews and so much detail is given to us to show how some of the more complicated shots were done, especially the one at the beginning where the girl blows her brains out.This is one of the best behind the scenes pieces I have ever seen and worth the price of the DVD.

[Ozymandias]

10/1010 for Jessica Biel's body.

[The Stingray]

I'm with Ozy. The only good thing about this is Jessica Biel and her skimpy outfit.
 

[Maxmoser3]

Not a bad remake. I really liked this one especially the look of Leatherface, the style of what the original film had, and R. Lee Ermey is pretty damn creepy as the sherif. Grade:B+