Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

Directed by: Marcus Nispel
Written by: Scott Kosar based on the screenplay by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel
Starring: Jessica Biel, R. Lee Ermey, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, Andrew Bryniarksi, David Dorfman

This being the remake of the 1974 film about teenagers getting killed in nasty ways by psychotic, chainsaw wielding rednecks down in Texas.

Not that a remake was really necessary, but it seems that when it comes to horror pics they have to remake everything every thirty years (see The Invasion, Halloween, The Wicker Man, Black Christmas, The Hills Have Eyes et cetera). I do not question this fact, I merely observe.

Anyway, unlike some other remakes, this one actually does try to change some stuff a little bit, try to make it it's own movie, give it it's own look, that sort of thing.

Whether or not it succeeds as a film is debatable, but it at least isn't an exact copy of the original film. The one difference that stood out to me for whatever reason is that most of the torture/violence seems to be inflicted on the men rather than the women (go figure). Not necessarily a good thing, but I dunno, it kinda grabbed me.

They don't give too much explanation for the cannibal family (they save all that crap for the prequel), which is nice and there are a couple of freaky scenes. R. Lee Ermey is unbelievably fucking creepy, although, as I have mentioned before, I don't really find deformities etc all that frightening. Like chainsaw guy, there. He has no nose. That isn't scary, it's sad (sort of the same way I feel about Voldemort in them Harry Potter movies).

The acting was a couple notches better than that in the original (this had actors who actually did other stuff), but it just looked so slick and expensive. It didn't have all the gritty, semi-amateur, low-budget goodness.

So although it's not a great movie or a great remake, it's so very much better than the sequels to the original film (it doesn't really have to try hard to do that, it just has to be somewhat coherent), making it an okay entry in the series.

Which means I'm actually done with this series. I've seen ALL of them. Sadly, I actually feel like I've accomplished something. And I've had the song 'Chain Saw' in my head for over a week now. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre/took my baby away from me..."

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