Directed by Jonathan Liebesman
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Marcus Nispel’s remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was completely unworthy of its title, a mindless teen slasher flick made for the sole purpose of cashing in on a classic horror name. Sure, it looked nice, but for all its faux grittiness the experience felt as generic and manufactured as any dumbed down Hollywood movie. The fact that it won any sort of acceptance still boggles the mind.
If you disagree with the above statement, then director Jonathan Liebesman is about to take you to school. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is the real deal – the very film the remake aspired and failed to be. Not only is it the best installment in the Chainsaw canon since Tobe Hooper’s original, it’s also the most brutal film to ever emerge from a studio. No hyperbole. No bullshit.
What makes this so much better than the previous film? For one, The Beginning doesn’t look or feel like a slasher movie. Gone are most of the frustrating horror clichés as well as the stereotypes that made up the victim roster. Remember scream queen Jessica Biel, whose celeb status, moralist attitude, and glistening bod made her the sole survivor? Well, you won’t find a single person like that here. Instead the characters are believable and sympathetic, which makes their predicament all the more gut-wrenching. The remake also lacked the sense of the Hewitts as a family unit along with their vicious cannibalism, both of which have been rectified here. Working from a story by splatterpunk icon David J. Schow, screenwriter Sheldon Turner hits all the right notes, infusing well written dialogue with the unrepentant cruelty and black humor so prevalent in Hooper’s classic. By writing his characters as war veterans, Turner also injects a level of subtext and social commentary not commonly found in today’s horror films.
Admittedly, the fact that this is a prequel carries one inevitable flaw: We already know the outcome going into the film. But Liebesman still manages to keep you on edge and, at the very least, avoids the rampant predictability of the previous film. This material is brutal beyond belief, and it’s enough to make even the most jaded horror fan beg for mercy. In fact, the torture, gore, and sadism are more than enough to pop the question: If this is the R-rated version, what in God’s name was left out?
Dark, savage, and nihilistic, this is the kind of ride that leaves you shaken and emotionally drained; and the fact that something like this escaped through the studio system is a bit of a movie miracle. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is not only the biggest surprise of 2006, it may very well be the best horror film of the year.
4 out of 5
And for another point of view in full-color comic style, don’t miss
Rick Tremble’s take on the film in Motion Picture Purgatory!