Film Review: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Beginning Starring: R. Lee Emery and Jordana Brewster Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman Okay, before I go into reviewing this film I should let you all know where I stand on the 2003 remake of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. When I first heard they were making it, I wanted to vomit in my mouth. But curiosity got the better of me and I went to see it on opening day. To my surprise it did not turn out to be the big piece of s**t that I was expecting. I really liked some parts. Other parts....not so much. I'll break it down for you.........
Liked: R. Lee Emery Jonathan Tucker All of the intense scenes between Emery and Tucker. The hitchhiker shooting herself in the beginning. The scene where Leatherface turns around and is wearing the face of Jessica Biel's boyfriend. The scene where the guy got his leg sawed off. Leatherface's pop out scene at the end. (I know it's cheesy but it still made me jump.) Hated: Jessica Biel's character. Leatherface's mask. The scene where Leatherface took off his mask. Leatherface's grand entrance with the chainsaw. (And who the f**k said "BRING IT!" back in 1973?) All Of The baby bulls**t! The House.
So I guess I would give it 7 out of 10 Moving on to the prequel I must say that I thought this film was better than the remake. Quite frankly, I enjoyed the hell out of this film! The plot involves two young men on their way to Vietnam. A series of unfortunate events leads to a horrific car accident that helps them to land in the clutches of the evil sheriff played by R. Lee Emery. You can pretty much figure what is going to happen from here, right? This film gives a hilarious and gory history to the members of the Hewitt family which we were introduced to in the first film. The scene that shows how exactly how R. Lee Emery became the sheriff is hands down one of the funniest moments I have seen in a film all year. Oh and can I just tell you that Emery OWNS this f**king film! He gets plenty more screen time in this one and some great dialogue to work with as well. The writing in this film goes above and beyond the call of the average slasher movie screenplay. As does the acting. In addition to Emery you get a fine supporting cast as well. Jordana Brewster is every bit as talented as she is beautiful and her character is much more likable than Biel's whiny character from the remake. In fact all of the teens in this are likable and that's not very common for a film of this genre.
Time to talk about our old friend, Leatherface. The film starts out with his birth and subsequent adoption by the Hewitt family. We then get to see him as young man working at a meat packing company. This is before he starts wearing human skin so he dons a real black leather mask to hide his deformity. It's a s**tty job and Leatherface is treated very poorly by his boss. But don't fret! Leatherface takes care of this a**hole in one of the film's most brutal death scenes.
Speaking of death scenes, this film is chock full of gore. There is a face carving scene that almost made me hurl. Actually.....I kind of want to hurl right now just thinking about it. Gorehounds should get their jollies from this one although something tells me that they are just going to bitch about how it wasn't gory enough. And to them I would like to say please enroll in the service, head over to Iraq and see some real f**king gore so maybe then you'll all stop trying to act like bad asses.
One of the complaints many had about the remake is that the cannibal aspects were missing. They are fully restored in this one.
The pop out scenes are in full force as well and I must admit that I did jump a few times during the course of the film.
How will this one fare at the box office? From the looks of what I saw last night, not well. The 10:00 show was only half full. Not a good sign for an opening night. It will be quite sad if this film tanks because it's much better than the remake.
So to sum up I guess I would have to say that if you hated the remake and found no redeeming value in it then 'The Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning' is not for you. However if you didn't hate the remake chances are you'll end up loving this one.