The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

[Scott]

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) - Just watched it on DVD and I think for a  remake it is very good on its own. It's really disturbing, creepy, and just plain sick. I guess since the fellow had a chainsaw and a leather face they had to call it TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. The film didn't have the famous dinner scene, but their version of the family is close with some odd characters. For the new generation who never saw the original I think they got a remake that is equal and possible better in some ways, but it's hard to tell having known the general idea before hand.

[Mr. Hockstatter]

I loved that movie.  I have to admit I've never seen any of the original movies.  So I went into this thing half expecting some cheesy slasher.  But it just blew my mind.  When the main character passes out in the middle of the movie just because she's so freaked out by everything that's happened, it was totally believable.  R. Lee Ermey really pushed it over the top.  He was such an absolute ass hole, and so utterly believable.  

I say I loved it, but I don't feel like watching it again any time soon.  Too intense.

[Scott]

I couldn't find words for it. Harsh, brutal, and just extremely creepy and nasty. Both films had very sick families.

[Mofo Rising]

I can't agree with that assessment.

You could argue that what made the oringal TCM was it's transgressive quality.  This was what made 70's cinema so fascinating.  TCM was crossing a lot of lines, and it had a dirty, demented quality that hadn't been seen (at least in popular movies).

I think that's what's missing in the new version.  The original was profoundly screwed up.  Just far beyond driven from picking the hitchhiker up to the bloody end.  I don't get that from the new version.  Sure it's dirty and demented, but we're used to that now.

I also don't agree with the changes.  Not because I'm some damn purist, I just thought they were unnecessary.  Why are the kids now drug dealers?  Too prove they got what they deserved, or to make them "cooler"?  Also, the family didn't seem as for-no-reason psychotic as they could have.  I love R. Lee Ermey, but he's much over the top compared to the original fellow, who was screwed up, but weak.  Maybe it's just me, but I find that much worse than an overt psychotic.

I think the only thing I miss from the new version is that feeling that the film is actually off the reels.  That this film is something you shouldn't be watching.  The new film understood the dirty, gritty feeling of a horror movie, but I always felt safe watching it.  This was all expected when I bought the ticket at the door.  Maybe it's a function of time.  Can we ever go back to a more innocent cinema and expect to be shocked?  (I would say yes, if you consider Japanese films.  Those people are shocking, and if you don't agree, look at all the remakes we Americans are making.)

One thing I will agree with on the new TCM is the casting of Jessica Biel.  She may not be a great actor, but I will always agree to watching her on a big screen.

[Mr_Vindictive]

My wife and I drove 2 hrs to see this at a theater right before Halloween of last year.  It was sold out, but luckily we go two tickets that someone gave up.  I felt the film was decent, but not as good as I had hoped.  We saw it with a s**tty crowd who wanted to make fun of the film and talk rather than WATCH THE FRIGGIN FILM!  Sure, we all love to make fun of films, but not at a regular theater.  Save that for home, or film conventions.

Anyway, I liked it a little.  It wasn't great, but I did feel that it was better than the original.  I've seen the original numerous times and it just doesn't do anything for me.  It seems I can't watch it without using the fast forward button.  Maybe I'll eventually watch it on DVD but for now I'm holding on to my opinion of the original being awful.

[Ash]

I enjoyed it immensly !

I've seen both versions of this film and the more recent one was a worthy remake.
It was similar, yet different and that's what I liked.

[Anonymous User]

Jessica Biel's ass deserves an Oscar for TCM.

[dean]

I really didn't think the remake was particularly special.  It was ok, I liked the creepy family bits, but overall, nothing too special.  I mean, come on, what was with the 'let's turn on the sprinklers just to get Jessica's top wet scene'?

Maybe I'm just desensitized... it was ok, but I thought it could go alot further.

[bear in mind, I had seen 'Wrong Turn' before I saw TCM remake, and thought that Wrong Turn was incredibly funny]

[blkrider]

I didn't hate the movie as much as some people did...which was funny because I was really p**sed off when I first heard about this remake.  I thought it was okay, but not really necessary.  I think I was just relieved that it wasn't totally awful.  

I do like the cinematography and set design, and the acting is pretty good in places.  Still, nothing beats the creepy feel of the original.

[I luv dolma]

Both original and the remake left me wanting more. Letherface kicks ass, he's up there with Jason and Freddy.

[Scott]

Oh, I forgot to mention the different ending in this new version is like the ending to the film THE HOUSE OF WHIPCORD when the truck driver picks her up. Anyone see THE HOUSE OF WHIPCORD? Excellent film !

[JohnL]

>I mean, come on, what was with the 'let's turn on the sprinklers just to get
>Jessica's top wet scene'?

And what was with her white T-shirt not turning even the slightest bit see-through when it got wet? :)

[Neville]

I think the point with making some of the kids drug dealers was to play with their sense of guilt later (when they discuss about the corpse or they deal with the cop played by Ermey) , and I think it was a good idea.

Overall I think I really liked the remake. It is demented, sick and darkly humorous, plus acting, pacing and even plot, which often feels too disjointed in these films were very good. My only conplain , apart from Jessica Biel not showing her breasts (these new horror films always fall short in the nudity department) is that the final chase was a bit too long, and that I still prefer the original ending. Still, I appreciated that they had thought of something different for the people who had seen the original.

And what the hell happenned to Roger Ebert with this one? He sounded like if he had puked his dinner or something during the prejection.

[blkrider]

Actually I was disappointed in that...he made it seem like it was going to be really foul and I was expecting something a lot more offensive, because I hadn't seen him get that disgusted by a horror film since the 70s and 80s.  I guess he's just getting old.

[D-Man]

Oh, Roger Ebert is an uptight, foreign film worshiping jerk who hates anything having to do with the horror/slasher genre.  Anything with even a little bloodshed and boobs for entertainment is going to offend him, so of course he'd be outraged by the TCM remake.   

Critics in general suck anyway (The mainstream ones, not the kind of people here  ) because thanks to them, movies can't just be fun to watch.  They have to be all serious and up their own asses for these people to like them, which is why we keep seeing the same old boring films with political messages year after year. 

Anyway...the TCM remake was a pretty decent work.  The original will always have a disturbing atmosphere about it, but I admired how the remake upped the ante with the gore.  The only thing that disappointed me was how you still didn't get a good bloody shot of Leatherface tearing somebody up with that chainsaw.  Sure, you saw a couple of limbs hacked off with the thing, but other times it was the same off-camera killings as in the original when he brought it down on the body. Damn it, I wanna see him just rip somebody to shreds with that thing on camera, nice and messy.  Is it really THAT hard for FX artists to pull off these days? 

As for Jessica Biel...gotta love the random excuses for a wet shirt in films like this...first she gets caught in those sprinklers, she goes outside...and all of a sudden it's raining!  Of course!  I could not stop laughing when that happened.  It's just so cheap and obvious, but still...boobs is boobs.