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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By : Jonathan Liebesman
Jordana Brewster (The Fast and the Furious)
Taylor Handley (Jack Frost)
Diora Baird (Accepted)
R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket)
Supplied By : New Line Cinema
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Jan. 3, 2007
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| PLOT The year is 1969. On one last fling before leaving to serve in the Vietnam War, two brothers, Dean and Eric, embark on a road trip across Texas with their girlfriends, Chrissie and Bailey. After their jeep crashes on a deserted highway, the sadistic Sheriff Hoyt mysteriously arrives on the scene. Chrissie hides in the nearby brush as she helplessly watches the sheriff abduct her three friends. Taking them to his secluded house of horrors, Hoyt introduces his new captives to the deranged Hewitt family and their gruesome son, Thomas/Leatherface, who has a ravenous appetite for chainsaws and torture. Chrissie becomes an eyewitness to the gory carnage inflicted by Leatherface upon her friends and quickly realizes that she is their only hope of survival. |
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| THE REVIEW In THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE : THE BEGINNING, the story follows the events that happened Prior to what occurred to Erin and friends in the previous remake. It also gives an insight to the viewer of just how the Hewitt family came to be as we know them, what makes them the vicious killers that they are. This time it's trouble for a new group of individuals. Chrissie and Bailey along with their Boyfriends, brothers Eric and Dean are headed to Austin in order for the brothers to enlist in the Marines and then to be shipped off to Vietnam.... despite with Dean being secretly reluctant. Their trip proves not to be so easy as on their way they are confronted roadside by a gang of bikers, and before they know it they hit livestock crossing the road, causing the group's jeep to violently crash along with the bikers following behind. The injured group is approached by one female biker armed with shotgun in tow, but be for you know it, shows up a trigger happy Hoyt whom had just killed the Sheriff prior that day and assumed his identity. Sheriff Hoyt blows away the biker via shotgun blast and soon he abducts the jeeps occupants and transports them to the legendary farm house for a night's "dinner" and torture...and they're the Hewitt's main course for the evening. It is up to Chrissy, the only survivor of the group, whom hid off in the roadside brush to try and find help for her fallen friends, but when she herself is captured, the film leaves us wondering just who will survive if any one? First thing's first, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE series of films just may very well be my favorite horror series, I have now seen and own all six entries. When 2003's remake came about I among many other die-hard fans were opposed to the idea, but speaking for myself, I really enjoyed it and it didn't really tarnish the power of the original, so long time fans still have it to enjoy the same as they always had. Well despite my liking of the remake, a lot of things were invented to make it more original, but in turn almost all of them left explained. So before going into to this I had always wondered how all of this will be explained, but the filmmakers with this prequel have done a fairly decent job of introducing us to the beginning of it all. I believe the film starts off on the right note with the explanation of the star, 'Leatherface's' origin. We are told Thomas Hewitt AKA Leatherface was born under extreme conditions, in which is mother, a factory worker dies during childbirth, the baby born deformed is thrown in the dumpster and eventually picked out of the dumpster by Luda Mae the Mother in the Hewitt family and taken in be the Hewitt's as their own. Given the name Thomas, the boy grows up, disfigured face and all into a life of torment by peers and the people around. In adulthood Thomas would work in the local slaughterhouse, but when the slaughterhouse goes out of business and they town goes seemingly desolate Thomas doesn't want to quit his day job...thus comes his first murder - his boss by way of his now iconic chainsaw. Sheriff Hoyt, once named Charlie later kills the Sheriff of the town, the only law really available, and takes one his uniform as well as his name. The good ole Sheriff is still the same Hoyt we knew from the remake, only this time he is a lot more crass, and funny, yes indeed - he still proves to be the most entertaining character next to Leatherface himself. I was sort of disappointed in the development of Monty though, as not much more is known about him after this than we had known before...other than how his legs became to be amputated....but I won't spoil that. Other than that, my only complaint is that, yes the film does take awhile to pick up the pace, as the first 10 or so minutes kind of drag a little. But with that said, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE : THE BEGINNING happens to be a gore-fest and a hell of a suspenseful ride once it does pick up the pace, I was floored by the amount of gore packed in this Unrated cut of the film.....THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE : THE BEGINNING is definitely the goriest CHAINSAW film out of all 6! I really have no complaints at all as for the acting. The villains are on top of their games especially Sheriff Hoyt, whom is again, witty, funny, sarcastic and downright nasty. Besides a villain that is openly sadistic, the worst kind always seems to be one that is seemingly sweet and quiet, but deep down are cold-hearted, and Marietta Marich is dead on as the head of the Hewitt family, mother Luda Mae Hewitt. Andrew Bryniarski, returns as the cold blooded Leatherface, this time, he is often clad in a butcher's mask, before later getting his very first skin mask. This time around Leatherface fans expecting to see a lot of him, will find that he isn't used as prominently as in the remake, this time the focus seems to be on Hoyt and his influence on his family to kill for food. The victims, for the two lead women the filmmakers has chosen two beautiful women in in Jordana Brewster and the lovely and voluptuous Diora Baird. Joining the ladies are Taylor Handley and Matt Bomer, as brothers, Handley being the more fresh faced and naive one, whereas Bomer, the more pride-ridden and experienced. Their performances rather convincing, I was impressed to see the two's demeanors's change towards the end as Dean(Handley) takes charge. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE : THE BEGINNING, for the most part is a great companion to the remake as we do learn a lot more about the interesting characters introduced to us in the remake, and I thoroughly enjoyed the action-packed film given to us, as well as the explanations for the previous lose ends, writer Sheldon Turner has formulated. But a question one is left with is, how did the young Jedidiah come about....whom had to have been 9 to 10 years old in the remake. | ||||
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| GORE
METER 8/10 I have to give this an 8, this film is at times, just brutal to watch. Shotgun blasts and multiple variations of torture, as well as chainsaw attacks......this time we see Leatherface using the chainsaw to the full extent, with no remorse in sight... |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 6/10 Great score, much like the remake, it has not been changed too much....it gives the film a dark and gloomy feel |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Overall, I enjoyed THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE : THE BEGINNING and was happy with the answers it introduced. With me seeing this, even though I did enjoy the film I can't say that I enjoyed it at the level I expected to....but greatly pleased to say the least, definitely the best prequel i've seen to date...highly recommended! This DVD will be available on January 16, 2007 |
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