Welcome back to The Saw Is Family. Last time, we took a look at Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. I know the next film in line was supposed to be The Next Generation. But as of right now, I have not been able to find a copy of it. The plan is to try and find a copy soon. Fingers crossed with that. So instead, I thought it'd be time to move on to the Platinum Dunes's first Chainsaw.
2003. Hard to believe that it's almost been 20 years now. It honestly feels like just year to me. I was a freshman in high school. I remember a couple of my classmates had been talking about Texas Chainsaw Massacre one weekend. They were really excited about it. And then I recall hearing their reactions at school on Monday, the film was scary. They said it was really good and scary. This was something that caught my attention. At that point in life, I remember horror films were still on the verge of making a comeback after the late 90s. I had seen the trailers. But I knew my Dad wasn't going to take me to go see it. I didn't have my license yet nor anyone that I would be interested in going to see the film with. So, I had to wait till the film was released on Pay-Per-View. It honestly felt like it was a long wait. Through those few months, I kept hearing from friends that I needed to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It fueled an expectation that I had for the film.
Then the day came when it arrived on Pay-Per-View, my Dad was going to be watching a football game. I asked him if I could get Texas Chainsaw Massacre to watch it. He agreed. That afternoon I watched it. And for the life of me, I couldn't understand what my friends were talking about. This was scary? Maybe in a theater setting with an audience it would have worked differently. But in a living room with the shades drawn, the film just wasn't scary to me. It felt like it was padded with its runtime. The things that were supposed to be scary just weren't working. It was overrated in my opinion and had missed the mark. I found it to be dull and I was unimpressed.
But then something changed, I remember going to our local K-Mart. At that time, we didn't yet have a Wal-Mart in my hometown. So unless one travelled an hour to Port Huron or 40 minutes to Bad Axe or Caro, K-Mart was your stop. On the video shelf among the new DVD releases, there sat the 2 Disc Collectors Edition of Texas Chainsaw Massacre '03 with its red metal plate featuring the artwork of Leatherface holding his chainsaw. When my Dad was ready to go, he found me in the Entertainment section holding the set. I used my allowance to get it. He had asked me "Why I was interested in that? Didn't you watch it before and not like it?". I explained that maybe I was wrong and that I could like it. I don't think he really understood it. But I came home with that set.
I remember a lot of people kept asking me what I wanted to do after high school. 'What's your plans?' was the big question that loomed over me. I kept saying that I wanted to talk about movies. I was extremely interested in how movies were made. The whole process still fascinates me. Whenever I get a chance to check out behind the scenes looks at films or commentaries, I jump at it. It's just so interesting hearing how a film is made and what are the many processes that it goes through. One of the big things that fueled my passion for film-making is that Texas Chainsaw Massacre set. It has a whole hour and sixteen minute documentary on the making of it, as well as three different commentary tracks. I remember that weekend I watched all of those features so many times.
Did the Special Features help change my opinion of the film? Absolutely. It gave me such a better understanding of what they were going for. I understand that some films probably shouldn't need their Special Features to help one understand more about the film. But this was a case that it helped me get more in the mindset of what they were going for. And I grew to have a large appreciation for the film.
It's not trying to be the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There was no way that they could do that. I mean they could, take a look at Psycho 1998. That wouldn't be successful nor would it work. But if they were set on it, they could still do it. But they were trying to tone down the humor that was evident in the original film. This is a film that is a horror movie first and foremost. Gone is the documentary feel of the original. I mean we did get Daniel Pearl back to give this film a distinct look. He did a pretty fantastic job of differentiating it from the original. Marcus Nispel does a solid job with directing the film. Could it have been trimmed a little more? Chances are yes. But for the most part once I understood what they were going for, the film didn't feel like a total slog of a film.
It does a solid job of re-establishing Leatherface as well as establishing the Hewitt Family. And what a family it is. I mean R. Lee Ermey as Sheriff Hoyt is such fantastic casting. Andrew Byrnarski does do a solid job of a menacing Leatherface. But ultimately, he feels a little bit held back. He could have and should have been more. But it's a solid start. Could we have used some more scenes and interactions between Leatherface and the rest of the family? Hell yes. I mean come on, why didn't we get a scene with Momma and Leatherface? That would have been fantastic. The part where I think the film falters is where it ends up. Leatherface is injured and on the run from police? Hoyt is potentially dead? They never do address what happened to the other members of the family. It all feels a little surface level, if that makes sense. If they had time and a chance to delve deeper into the characters after the events of this film, it'd be interesting. I know we get The Beginning and we'll get there.
I do find Leatherface's mask to be creepy. It's a little unsettling to look at. But he makes a Kemper mask and uses it in one scene. Why? Why go to that length to do that for just one scene? I would have appreciated it so much more if he had gone on to use it for the remainder of the film. You could have shown it becoming damaged and a bit more worn down. Instead, the mask gets thrown away after the van scene.
Why is it always wet in this film? That's something that really irked me. Everything is wet. The walls. The floors. The meat factory sequence. The whole amount of rain in that last few moments. Did we really need it to be so wet? I may be ranting, but come on they could have done better.
There were a few things that were deleted that intrigued me. The whole alternate opening and ending of the film - it focuses on an interview with Present Day Erin in an Asylum. That was something that was vastly different. I don't get why they decided to open and close with the police investigating the Hewitt House in Black and White. Trying a little too hard for the documentary feel with that sequence, in my opinion. It clashes with the whole aesthetic of the film. There was a subplot with Erin being pregnant with Kemper's child. Why was this taken out? Because Erin goes through the frickin ringer and is beaten down so much that chances are she'd lose the baby? Honestly, it adds a bit more depth to things.
I get that maybe I'm being a bit too hard on the '03 remake. Is it bad? No, it's not really bad. It's actually pretty good and interesting. I would definitely say that it's one of the better Texas Chainsaw films in this franchise. If you need your Leatherface fix, I'd say give this a watch.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5.
Follow BlazinBlue's Horror Review on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
If you liked this, please leave a comment or recommend this to a friend.
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.