It’s been a long road getting through all the Texas Chainsaw films, but finally, after a busy weekend of cramming in 3 movies and starting to go slightly insane, we finish with the prequel to the remake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. A film that tries to further explore the legend of Leatherface. Read on to see if it’s worth telling…
Short nitty-gritty plot description from IMDb is as follows: On one last road trip before they’re sent to serve in Vietnam, two brothers and their girlfriends get into an accident that calls their local sheriff to the scene. Thus begins a terrifying experience where the teens are taken to a secluded house of horrors, where a young, would-be killer is being nurtured.
I know this movie is not well liked, as the problem with prequels is you already know what’s going to happen with the characters, so the tension is removed. Still, the acting is just as good as the remake (yes dumb character choices and all) and the story does provide enough new branches that it doesn’t seem like deja vu. You also get some more gory scenes from Leatherface, as this movie is the goriest of the bunch, which honestly, is really what you’re watching this for when your talking about the six movie in a series with the words chainsaw massacre in the title. Fans of R. Lee Ermey (Sheriff Hoyt) will be pleased to know he steals most of the thunder with a great performance, with a character that is expanded on.
One thing I didn’t like with the movie was the ending. I feel like they could’ve tried harder to connect the two movies together. I listened to some of the commentary and they talk about why they couldn’t do that; the movie takes place roughly 4 years before the remake, which wouldn’t of worked for them. I say, so what, jump the film ahead a little bit and end the movie with a nice connection. Still, that’s not to say the ending we’re given is awful, it just isn’t as cool as it could’ve been.
With that, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning brings us to the end of the road for Chainsaw films, for now. It was entertaining and extremely gory film, with a great scene involving Leatherface getting his infamous face mask. I say, if you like gore and Leatherface, you can’t go wrong picking this one up.
Rating:
