Every
now and then a film just seems to catch lightning in a bottle and no matter how
hard you try to replicate its success, it just is not possible. Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film “The Texas Chain Saw
Massacre” is one such film; it captured something within the zeitgeist of its
time which audiences reacted strongly to.
It was the perfect time to tell such a story. However due to the iconic presence of its
main villain Leatherface, “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” has been tried
numerous times to be turned into another successful horror franchise, however
as can be seen be the quality of the subsequent sequels and remakes, it appears
that lightning does indeed only strike once.
However, that has not stopped the producers of this latest installment,
imaginatively titled “Texas Chainsaw” (which by immediately omitting the
“Massacre” from the title brings fears that this new film will be toothless),
at taking their shot at recreating the success of the 1974 film. What makes this new film stand out from the
pack is that it is a direct sequel of the original film, taking place mere
seconds after that film’s ending and Sally escaping from a very angry
Leatherface.
After escaping
the vicious and demented Sawyer family barely with her life, Sally sounds the
alarm about the bloody massacre that has taken place at that family’s
farmhouse. Immediately Sheriff Hooper is
dispatched to the place in question to arrest the man known as
“Leatherface”. Knowing that their only
way out of this mess is to give up the boy, the elder members of the Sawyer
family decide to co-operate with the Sheriff, but before they can send him out
peacefully a lynch mob, led by redneck Burt Hartman, arrives on the Sawyer
property to ensure that the only way this thing ends is with the entire family
dying in flames. A member from the mob
launches a Molotov cocktail through the window of the farmhouse, which begins
an intense gunfight resulting in all of the members of the Sawyer family being killed
either by gunshot wound or burnt to death.
However as the lynch mob goes over the place looking for survivors, one
member, Gavin, finds a young baby girl and decides to steal it for his wife, Arlene,
on account that she is unable to have children.
From here the story jumps ahead to the present with Heather (the baby
all grown up) receiving word that her grandmother had just died. Believing that all of her grandparents were
dead already, she questions her parents who admit to Heather that she was “adopted”. The biggest surprise for Heather, however, is
that the grandmother she never knew had left the girl her house and all she had
to do to get it was go to Texas and sign the papers. Thinking this was the perfect opportunity for
a road trip, Heather gathers up a few friends and heads out to the Lone Star
State. When arriving in Texas, Heather
and her friends are surprised to find that the house that grandma had left for
her was actually a mansion. The group decides
to stay the night but little do the house guests realize that behind a hidden
wall in the kitchen another guest resides in the house. Who is this mysterious guest? I will give you one clue: he has a fetish for
chainsaws.
Wait. So let me get this straight. Throughout all of the events that happened
during “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” there was always a young woman with her
baby living in the farmhouse too? And
where did all those other family members (conveniently) come from? I do not remember them even being mentioned
in the original movie either. And just
what year is this film set? If you are
at all familiar with the original film, you know the events that took place did
so in August 1973. This new film is
meant to start the second after the original finished which means that if
Heather is the age she is presented in the film (which appears to be mid-20’s),
the film should take place somewhere between the years of 1993-1998, however
the modern technology the characters use (the cars and iPhones complete with
“face time”) seem to date the film as happening right now in the present; 2013.
It is
clear that this new “Texas Chainsaw” film has some very obvious (and serious) continuity
flaws with the original film but you can see that the filmmakers here all had
their hearts in the right place. It is
plain to see that they are massive fans of the Tobe Hooper film and want to pay
homage to it by attempting to do a sequel right, but I just wish they had done
so a little more smartly because whatever “Texas Chainsaw” might be, one thing
that it is, is just plain dumb. Despite
the continuity errors, our main characters always seem to make dumb
decisions. I know that this is a horror
film and this kind of thing comes part and parcel with it all, but seriously to
hide yourself from a man chasing you with a chainsaw, the last thing you would
ever do is hop in an open casket in a graveyard and close the lid down. That is just DUMB! However, saying all of that and despite
everything, I still found “Texas Chainsaw” to be a very entertaining
watch. Even though I knew the whole time
that what I was watching was not at all great, I still couldn’t help but be
entertained by it all. Being a huge fan
of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” I just had to let go of all of the
aforementioned continuity errors (which I am sure not all fans will be able to
do) and just enjoy it for what it was.
I will
admit that I was not a huge fan of the opening part of the film set in 1973
(?). The use of footage from the
original film actually really rubbed me the wrong way and as soon as the new
stuff started you could immediately see a drop in quality. However the filmmakers were able to perform
miracles by getting a couple of the original cast members to cameo at the start
of the film. Gunner Hansen (the original
“Leatherface”) shows up briefly as one of the elder Sawyer family members and
amazingly John Dugan reprises his role of “Grandpa”. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” alumni Bill
Moseley fills in for Jim Siedow (who has since passed on) playing the role of
Drayton Sawyer as well. As great as this
casting is, all are dead within minutes which almost makes you wonder what was
the point, especially for poor old “Grandpa” who didn’t even garner a close-up
in the entire scene. Another thing about
this opening scene is that it is very reminiscent of the opening of Rob
Zombie’s “The Devil’s Rejects” and compared to the scene in that film, it
really didn’t fare well at all.
Once the
film cuts to the present, I again was frustrated with the film when it appeared
like it was going to be just another rehash of the first. Again we see a group of friends hop in a van
and head to Texas unaware of what was waiting there for them. However surprisingly I really didn’t mind
being in the company of these characters.
Sure, you know that they are just going to be fodder for Leatherface,
but for once, they were not at all annoying.
I thought the group had a real good chemistry together and there were
some nice dramatic arcs being laid out that would have been interesting to
follow if it wasn’t for their lives being cut short. This actually impressed me a lot because
normally characters in these kinds of films are like cardboard cutouts and here
they were presented with actually having real lives. The “cheating” subplot worked best for me
because you always assumed that it would have some significance later down the
road but it had no relevance at all to this story, it was just a part of these
characters lives that, sadly, has now ended.
Right up
until two thirds through the film we follow very familiar turf in regards to
the story progression, however during the final third of the film, a
significant twist (which I will not reveal) is thrown our way which kind-of
makes the whole thing worth it. While,
again, it is pretty dumb (if you really think about it), at least the
filmmakers are attempting something different here rather than churn out the
same movie time and time again. What
this twist also does is change directions as to where any type of sequel may
go. It would now be very hard to return
to the same ol’ same ol’ in subsequent films, which in my opinion, is a great
thing.
In
regards to the filmmaking behind “Texas Chainsaw”, it is a bit of a mixed
bag. While for the most part John Luessenhop’s
direction is rather pedestrian and predictable, he does have a great knack for
creating suspense. Surprisingly there
were a number of scenes where I was on the edge of my seat. Being a fan of the original film, Luessenhop
obviously understands that that film worked due to its suspense rather than
gore (despite its reputation, the original film is surprisingly almost
bloodless), and he follows through with this approach here. When Leatherface attacks it is quick and
brutal, but that is it, it does not dwell on any elongated torture of the
victims. That said, due to today’s
standards “Texas Chainsaw” is a much bloodier film than its predecessor and the
gore effects by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger are all handled beautifully (as
usual). The visual style of the film, on
the other hand, is another thing.
Unfortunately, “Texas Chainsaw” is not a great looking film at all, and
it particularly comes off as cheap looking.
This may have to do with being shot on digital video (a by-product of
the 3D process unfortunately) but it really does not look any better than a
number of direct-to-video films. Acting
wise, there is little to recommend, although I did think lead actress,
Alexandra Daddario, had a nice screen presence and there is another nice cameo
right at the end of the film by Marilyn Burns (who played Sally in the
original). The production design by
William A. Elliot is the highlight of the film though because he does an
amazing job of recreating the original farmhouse. Even his design of the mansion is great
because it echoes the farmhouse in so many ways so it gives you a feeling that
you know the place.
Overall,
“Texas Chainsaw” is the ultimate guilty pleasure. For all of its faults, it still manages to be
very entertaining. While there is no
doubt that the filmmakers are huge fans of Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw
Massacre” the constant referencing to that film also happens to be this new
film’s biggest weakness. By constantly
reminding audiences of the original film and even including footage of that
film, the filmmakers have inadvertently alerted them to just how inferior
“Texas Chainsaw” is compared to the masterpiece that is the original. Due to the film’s very lackluster script, it
comes across as very dumb, but as I keep mentioning, it is surprisingly very
entertaining and thanks to a late twist, even a little surprising. It certainly isn’t the worst film in the
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise (that honour still belongs to “The Return
Of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” from 1994).
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