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Reviews >> Movie Review Index >> Texas Chainsaw Massacre

:: Texas Chainsaw Massacre ::

by William the Bloody

When I heard this was happening, I thought I had died and gone to horror hell. A classic being remade? Why not it worked so well with Psycho (ugh). Why mess with a beautiful, classic piece of film history, haven't they shamed it enough by making it a celebrity Loveboat? Hadn't three lackluster sequels shat enough on Gunner Hanson and Tobe Hooper that we have learned to leave well enough alone? Then I saw the picture in Entertainment weekly of Leatherface. Then I heard R. Lee was in it. Then I vowed to give it a chance. I cannot say it is the best horror movie I have ever seen.

I can tell you all that this is the most sustained feeling of horror I have ever felt watching a movie. I was literally jaw agape, on the edge of my seat for two ten intervals. I jumped from the seat, I looked away from the screen, and then realizing what I was doing, laughed joyously. this movie scared the hell out of me, and it will you too. That little kid inside of you, that boy or girl that used to sneak old Friday or Freddy movies, and hide under the covers when the bad parts came.

If there is any semblance of that kid left in your cynical, seen it all, jaded life, then this movie will make you remember that horror.

The victims, travelers are top notch. Each one is ingratiated, almost immediately, we know who these people are, we can tell them apart. But they are not walking stereotypes. The villains. R Lee is R Lee; he's a walking caricature. He is and always will be Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. A bully-ish authority character who is rude and pushes people around.

Leatherface is a machine. Scary as hell, a bear of a man, with no pity or remorse for the people he puts down. He is Evil Sloth. One draw back: One of the best things about the character was the what's behind the mask mystery. Should have stayed that way. The other baddies are not on screen long enough to really make an impression. You see characters all too briefly, and you wonder where they are, and what they are doing during other parts of the movie. If there is one complaint here it is that there are too many people in the nutball family. You don't really
understand exactly how they all fit into the picture, and that is sort of a problem. One character in particular, a morbidly obese woman, is in one scene, and then vanishes with no explanation.

The movie thunders along, with many horrible scenes of suffering the likes of which I've never seen. Pain and fear prevail.

Very seldom does someone see a horror flick and not blurt out "why don't they Just" or "if only this character were not such a dumbass". This movie has 0 of those moments. They don't think of it and neither do you. You feel the fear of the characters. Visceral. I loved that about this movie.

The ending of the movie has a few similarities to the first one, very close in the happenings. It also has a Blair Witch-esque epilogue which was weak. We didn't need to see more at that point, but they gave it to us anyway, left a slightly sour taste after all the scary crap that just went down.

Great likable heroes, sinister evil bad-guys. Sense of unsettling dread and fear permeating through the whole movie. The most shining endorsement I can give this film is that I liked it more than House of 1000 Corpses. and that horror fans says volumes.

Solid A. Sort-comings are there, but this movie had so much fear and suffering that it more than made up for a few short over sites.
 

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