One would think that a Michael Bay produced Chainsaw film would be awful, but thankfully, we were wrong and the remake turned out to be pretty great, with only a few faults. Let’s read on for the rest of the review…
Short nitty-gritty plot description from IMDb is as follows: A group of friends passing through are stalked and hunted down by a deformed killer with a chainsaw in order to sustain his poor family who can only afford to eat what they kill.
This one is definitely the highest budgeted film in the entire series and it shows in the production values and acting. The story takes beats from the original, but also incorporates several of it’s own ideas, with none of them being awful. The new crazy family is interesting, with the highlights being Leatherface, played by Andrew Bryniarski and Sheriff Hoyt, played by R. Lee Ermey. Bryniarski does a great job as a wild and crazy beast of a man and one that would have you shitting your pants if you saw him coming at you with a chainsaw. I also really enjoyed R. Lee Ermey’s role in the film. There are times when you’ll be laughing at some the lines he speaks and other times you’ll be on edge, as it he is quite the demented individual. As for the rest of the cast, Jessica Biel does a pretty good job in her white tank top, that always seems to be getting wet (wise choice filmmakers, wise choice).
A big complaint I have with the film is how stupid these people are. They make every dumb decision you can possibly think of and there are several times where they could’ve got away or even fought back. One time in particular, our frightened and wet t-shirted heroine has a chance to pick up a running chainsaw and save the day. What does she do though? Jump up and start punching him with her scrawny little arms. This movie tries it’s hardest to cheer for the bad guys and you know what, you will be doing just that come the end. Speaking of the end, I thought it was a great way to close it out. The last still with the voice over, will send chills down your back.
The cinematography is really beautiful looking, with the muted colours helping capture the 70’s look they were going for. The music incorporates new themes with old and they manage to create something new and original.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake is surprisingly well done. They took the existing ideas from the original and decided to mostly go their own way with the story. A few beats here and there will seem similar, but the overall product is unique enough. It might not have the same gritty and realistic look of the original, but it certainly creates a nice scare and brings a fairly powerful and imposing Leatherface.
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