September 26, 2006
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
A remake of a remake that lacks any of even the remakes dark charms
Starring: R. Lee Ermey, Jordana Brewster
Rating: 3/10
Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman
Runtime: 100 minutes
Starring: R. Lee Ermey, Jordana Brewster
Rating: 3/10
Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman
Runtime: 100 minutes
Released in 2003, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake was one of a handful of successful attempts to recreate and update a classic horror film (see also Dawn of the Dead and The Hills Have Eyes). Despite everything working against it (i.e. Michael Bay produced it) the remake was stylish and scary while maintaining the original's astonishing sense of depravity. The prequel to the 2003 remake attempts to take everything that made that film successful and improve upon it. The only problem is that the people involved in making Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning don't seem to know what those things were.
The prequel attempts to explain the events that led to the creation of Texas' First Family of Cannibalism but, in truth, the filmmakers decided to do a shot for shot remake of the 2003 film with additional one-liners for R. Lee Ermery to utter and less scares for the audience to experience. The film opens on the same lonely stretch of highway that the previous film did and ends in the exact same slaughterhouse that was the stage for the last film's denouement. In between, though, the writers have added more characters (keep an eye out for the worst "bad-ass" bikers since Pee-Wee's Big Adventure), more gore, and less reason for audiences to stick around for the credits.
With the exception of a wonderfully nihilistic ending, this film should force the executives at Platinum Dunes to put more thought in who will sit in the director's chair the next time around. I mean, honestly, isn't it mind blowing that someone actually said "What's that guy that made Darkness Falls doing these days?"
The prequel attempts to explain the events that led to the creation of Texas' First Family of Cannibalism but, in truth, the filmmakers decided to do a shot for shot remake of the 2003 film with additional one-liners for R. Lee Ermery to utter and less scares for the audience to experience. The film opens on the same lonely stretch of highway that the previous film did and ends in the exact same slaughterhouse that was the stage for the last film's denouement. In between, though, the writers have added more characters (keep an eye out for the worst "bad-ass" bikers since Pee-Wee's Big Adventure), more gore, and less reason for audiences to stick around for the credits.
With the exception of a wonderfully nihilistic ending, this film should force the executives at Platinum Dunes to put more thought in who will sit in the director's chair the next time around. I mean, honestly, isn't it mind blowing that someone actually said "What's that guy that made Darkness Falls doing these days?"