Five friends (including Jessica Biel and Eric Balfour) embark on a road trip through Texas and pick up a disoriented teenage girl who performs an extreme act to avoid being taken to the nearby town for help. The group searches for the elusive Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey, Full Metal Jacket) to deal with the aftermath of their Good Samaritan deed, but things go murderously wrong when Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski) and his chainsaw surprise them. The teenagers appear to be on the menu for the local cannibals. The remake features the return of John Larroquette as the narrator, and Daniel Pearl, the director of photography from Tobe Hooper’s original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
After being born on the killing floor, Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski) works in a slaughterhouse for years. The non-talkative employee wears a leather mask to cover a birth defect. When the plant shuts down, Leatherface refuses to accept his unemployed fate and carves up his supervisor. A group of teenagers driving through the area (including Jordana Brewster and Matt Boomer) get into a wreck and quickly learn that the local Sheriff has an unorthodox method for law enforcement. He lets Leatherface act as judge, jury, and butcher. Will the teenagers be their first out-of-town victims?
What We Thought:
I’m of the belief that most classic horror movies don’t need to be remade. Very few remakes are watchable and most are just unnecessary. One of the few decent remakes is the Michael Bay produced The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which hits 4K this week along with its prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
Released in 2003, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake from director Marcus Nispel was a hit at the box office and was the first film produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. It doesn’t have the gritty, independent film vibe of Tobe Hooper’s beloved original, but as far as remakes go, it’s solid. It has the gore and violence you want and the story works without completely updating it for a newer generation unlike the Child’s Play remake. The cast is good with Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour, Jonathan Tucker, R. Lee Ermey, and Andrew Bryniarski as Leatherface. I hadn’t seen it in a couple of years and it’s the remake most horror film remakes wish they could be.
Released in 2006, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is a prequel to the remake with Andrew Bryniarski returning as Leatherface and Ermey also returning. It’s not as good as the straight up remake, but it’s a decent follow up that makes for a good double feature. This cast includes Jordana Brewster, Matt Bomer, Diora Baird and Taylor Handley. Set before the remake, it provides a bit of a backstory to the town and how Thomas Hewitt became Leatherface. It also delves into Ermey’s sheriff character from the first film as well. It did ok at the box office, but wasn’t the monster (pun intended) the remake was. I probably hadn’t seen it since it first came out almost 20 years ago and honestly forgot Bomer was one of the leading men in it. It has a good amount of gore and violence as well and I’m glad I watched them back to back on Friday night.
The new 4K releases for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning are a great addition to your horror collection and will definitely put you in the Spooky Season mood. As a whole The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is the one horror franchise I’ve seen the least amount of times in my life so I liked that these came my way. Tobe Hooper’s original is still the best of the bunch and these do lack that realistic flair his movie had, but for movies in a multi-film franchise, these are good to watch. I’m hoping the next two films Texas Chainsaw 3D and Leatherface get 4K releases that come my way as well.
Bonus Features:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre:
Brand new audio commentaries; archival audio commentaries; new interviews; a making-of documentary; an in-depth look at Ed Gein, who inspired the character of Leatherface; scenes excised from the final edit; deleted scenes, including an alternate opening and ending; screen tests for Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour, and Erica Leerhsen; a behind-the-scenes featurette; cast and crew interviews; theatrical trailers; TV spots; concept art galleries; a double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Aaron Lea, and an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Gingold.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning:
New audio commentaries; an archival audio commentary; new interviews with actor Lew Temple, special effects makeup artist Jake Garber, special effects makeup technician Kevin Wasner, and director of photography Lukas Ettlin; an archival making-of documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew members; deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary from director Jonathan Liebesman and producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller; the theatrical trailer; a double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Aaron Lea; and an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Gingold.
The Nerds Templar 