While The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The Beginning could have been an interesting at look how one of horror’s icons came to be, it is sadly just a “paint by numbers” slasher gore fest which follows the same old formula. Still, Leatherface fans will have plenty to enjoy as the film’s gore is cranked up from pretty much start to finish.
The film is a slick horror romp that matches what we saw in 2003, but still comes across as a thin comparison to the Tobe Hopper classic that launched the franchise.
For the prequel, directing duties fell to Jonathan Liebesman (the man who brought us Darkness Falls) with writing chores given to Sheldon Turner (who handled the screenplay and past work includes The Longest Yard remake) and David J. Schow (who wrote the story and past credits include Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III).
Leatherface is born
The cast has a few faces from the 2003 remake (including R. Lee Ermey returning as Charlie Hewitt, Jr./Sheriff Hoyt and Andrew Bryniarski as Thomas Hewitt/Leatherface) and a whole new group of young victims (Jordana Brewster, Taylor Handley, Diora Baird, Matthew Bomer, and Lee Tergesen).
Although the film claims to be a “prequel” and tell how Leatherface was born, it is pretty much just a remake of the remake. We get to see how the Hewitt clan became the happy family of cannibals we all know and love (the town dried up when the slaughter house was shut down so they decided to eat the people who traveled the lonely Texas highways). We also get to see how Leatherface was born (he literally dropped out of his mother’s womb on the floor of the slaughter house, grew up a retard with a face condition, and found a fondness for slaughtering stuff).
Once this little “beginning” story is established in the first ten minutes, the movie settles into the same old chainsaw formula. Chrissie (Brewster) and Bailey (Baird) are traveling across Texas with their boyfriends Dean (Handley) and Eric (Bomer) as the two men are getting ready to go to Vietnam. Eric has already completed one tour, but is going back since his brother was drafted. He doesn’t know that his brother actually doesn’t want to go and plans on running to Mexico.
While they are making their trip, the Hewitt family is going about with some plans of their own. Seems Thomas doesn’t like the fact that he is being fired because the slaughter house is closing, and gets even more upset when his boss calls him a big retard. This leads ole Tommy to kill his boss and take a souvenir from work – a big ass chainsaw. As he is walking home, he runs into the real sheriff along with Charlie. Charlie kills the sheriff, and takes his job. He also comes up with the plan to start eating the wayward travelers (it seems Charlie is the brains of the family).
It doesn’t take long for our two stories to intersect and for the killing and torturing to take over what little story was actually in the movie. Once our two happy couples are captured by Sheriff Hoyt, the movie pretty much goes into full “copycat” mode of the 2003 remake. Brewster basically fills in for the Jessica Biel, and the film quickly becomes the standard fight for survival plot. Since this is a prequel, it does manage to keep a bit of suspense concerning the ending, but even that is somewhat predictable by the time it rolls around.
In a film like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you aren’t really looking for a great plot. The audience just has to accept that there are going to be plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, and that some of the story is going to seem a bit retarded (sorry Thomas Hewitt this includes what they did to you). This is the kind of movie that focuses on the gore and body count. On that level, it delivers.
The film has plenty of gore, but very little story
If you want a horror film that goes above and beyond when it comes to the blood being sprayed on the screen, you will find it here. It takes about 45 minutes for Leatherface to truly become the skin wearing, chainsaw swinging killer we all love, but look out when he does. Once that chainsaw is cranked on, the body limbs go flying, and people start dying.
Liebesman and company also do a good job in having the film match the same tone and color schemes of the 2003 remake – which will no doubt please the fans of that film. This helps keep the prequel feeling like part of the franchise, but it is still a long way from the grainy documentary feel of the 1974 original. Instead, we get a slick horror film that matches what we saw in 2003, but still comes across as a thin comparison to the Tobe Hopper classic that launched the franchise and made Leatherface a household name among horror fans.
The unrated DVD (which is only about five minutes longer) comes with some standard special features including commentary with the director and producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller; deleted/extended scenes (some add a bit to the story, others are throw away); and a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie (which has the standard interviews with the cast and how the project made its way from script to screen).
While The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning may not live up to what some horror fans were hoping for, it does deliver the same kind of style, gore, and story of the 2003 remake. For the most part, the film is simply following the same formula that was established in 1974 and does very little to really add anything new to the franchise. The background story of the Hewitt clan and the birth of Leatherface is somewhat interesting, but ends up taking away some of the terror of the character.
Leatherface and his family are more comical than scary
Instead of being scary, Leatherface and his family come across as comical and inbred. Still, the movie has plenty to offer fans simply looking for a fun horror movie filled with gore, a few quick jumps (Leatherface does love to swing that chainsaw out of nowhere), and a couple of laughs. If that is your kind of horror movie, the prequel is worth taking the time to watch. Personally, I will stick to the 1974 original film.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Beginning (Unrated Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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