THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
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stuartbaket
Producer Michael Bay collaborated with first-time director Marcus Nispel and first-time screenwriter Scott Kosar for this remake. Given the premise of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the film could have been an unrequited gore fest. While there is no shortage of blood in the film, Nispel smartly opted to create fear and discomfort more through mood, atmosphere, and shocking imagery. The scenes of Leatherface fervently at work in his basement slaughterhouse are truly disturbing. Body parts are strewn everywhere. Blood drips from various sharp instruments. Water covers the floor and pools in puddles. One could almost smell the omnipresent stench of torture and death. These moments are just as disturbing as the requisite shocks and surprises one expects from a standard horror film.
Speaking of shocks and surprises, there are plenty in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are some genuinely terrifying moments in this film and a plethora of unsettling moments. Nispel keeps the audience in a continuous state of discomfort. These poor kids have stumbled into a sort of surreal world from which they may never find an escape — a virtual wonderland of horrors. Nispel also constructs some fantastic chase sequences. One takes place in a slaughterhouse with Leatherface chasing his prey relentlessly through a maze of giant slabs of beef dangling from meat hooks. It's disturbing to watch, as it so vividly conveys how this monster views his prey — as nothing more than meat. Moments like these compliment the disturbing tone and mood of the film quite well.
Jessica Biel’s (Ulee’s Gold , 7th Heaven – TV) Erin is the heroine in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Biel delivers a fine performance, convincingly conveying the abject terror her character is experiencing. As the film progresses, the onslaught of horrific experiences clearly takes a toll on Erin, to the point where she is pushed to the brink of insanity. The other performance that is worth mentioning is that of R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket, Saving Silverman) as the reprehensible Sheriff Hoyt. Ermey provides a powerfully disturbing performance as the sheriff of the dystopian town the teenagers stumble into. Ermey combines elements of his past performances as a drill sergeant with a lecherous perversity that works quite well. Any relief the young teens have upon witnessing the arrival of Sheriff Hoyt quickly dissipates once they realize what really makes Hoyt tick.
While I’m not a big fan of remakes, it’s always fascinating to me what a director will do to tweak the original story and at the same time pay homage to the original. Nispel does a good job of maintaining the disturbing sensibilities of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre while adding some interesting content and characterizations that distinguish this version. Some of the original sound effects and the original voice over narrator (John Larroquette) were used again in a respectful homage. Nispel cleverly integrates faux documentary footage (à la The Blair Witch Project) to provide an unsettling feeling of realism to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While the characters in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre were not terribly well developed, Nispel does a good job in this version of establishing and fleshing out, so to speak, the various characters that inhabit the film. It’s a definite improvement on the original.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is definitely not a film for the weak-hearted. It is relentless in its pursuit of shock and horror. Once the film gets rolling, there is little opportunity to catch your breath. As a fan of the horror genre, I was given everything I expected and then some. Nispel’s remake is slicker and more polished than the original, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I could see how loyalists to the original might not be as receptive to this version. Regardless, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a very solid horror film.
3 years, 12 months ago