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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

List Price: $19.96
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great!
Review: This was not only a great new version of the original "TCM" film, but it was also just a great film by itself. I forgot that I was watching a re-make while I viewed this film. Many things were changed in it, such as the hitch-hiker in the opening scene and the family of the killer. I never though I'd say this, but I think this movie was better than the original. The acting and effects were much better, as were the horror techniques and character developement. I highly reccomend this to anyone who liked the original, or any fan of horror films. Also, this special edition dvd is great, I bought it. It contains and alternate ending and beginning, deleted scenes, trailers, a documentary on the real murderer, and more.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The texas chainsaw Massacre Remake
Review: If you like Gorey movies you will love this.
It is gorey and Non stop Scary I reccomend this one over the original any day.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Leave what lies beneath alone
Review: I am going to be quite frank here...the original is still setting trends in Hollywood, providing they have vancant lots where blood gets splattered all around the set. This movie surprisingly, in it's original form...used a more Alfred Hitchcock approach...the horror in broad daylight. Ok, to give a nod to this version is to say that it have a dark underbelly...because basically it's that side of humanity that seems to run amok. This version here just runs on pure terror but runs out of steam, is it that we are so jaded to this, we accept it? I hope not.

Well worth a view...but Ihink Tobe Hooper created something that made audiences gasp 30 years ago...this time we close our eyes...what was the point???

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: NOT ALL THAT SCARY
Review: I know it's a bit of blasphemy, but I have to admit to never being all that big a fan of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To me it was quite overrated compared to other low-budget horror flicks such as Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, and Evil Dead.

The movie still takes place in the mid 1970's although with a bigger budger (not that you could tell much though) 5 friends are driving through Texas on the way to a concert when they encounter a woman wandering in the road. They pick her up and she promptly blows her brains out.

They stop in entirely the wrong town to get help and of course encounter the family from hell and leatherface who adds the youngsters to his collection of bones, noses, eyes, skin, etc.

Jessica Biel plays of course the lone survivor of the nuthouse and look for Mail Call's R. Lee Ermey in the role of the no-good sheriff.

Bottom line is that the movie simply isn't that scary. Leather face kills without much suspense or surprise. The rest of the family are two dimensional characters all of which you have seen many times in other movies. There's the domineering matriarch, the sons who do her bidding, the crazy daughters, etc...

As usual the young people are played with the utmost stupidity but even more than usual. Sorry...Most people simply would not stick around for this kind of abuse...

In deleted scenes commentary, the director indicates much was cut out because it was too graphic. Sorry. Not even close. This IS supposed to be an R movie. We have seen much worse than this in any Friday the 13th movie.

The two disc set does have some nice extras including the deleted scenes, documentaries, gallaries, screen tests, and a nice documentary on Ed Gein. The extras make this a bit more worth the money but at around $30 is still a bit overpriced in my opinion as you can buy many "collectors editions" with as much if not more material for $20.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Run of the Mill Massacre
Review: First of all: this is NOT a true story. "Based On" is about as stretched as you can get. It makes for a nice ad campaign, but too many people have no idea what they're talking about.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and PSYCHO are both based on the same case: Ed Gein, a mild-mannered maniac in Wisconsin who dug up bodies and made skin suits out of them. He also did some creative things with body parts and his furniture. They found an old woman hung upside down and draining into a bucket in his barn (while he was having dinner with a family down the road!). Not in Texas, no superhot girls like Jessica Beil bouncing around in terror, no conspiracy of backroad inbreds.

I always liked the original. Something about the low-budget look gave it a gruesome authenticity. The claustrophobic madness of that goofy family in the original also really works.

This new version doesn't expand on anything from the original and, although slickly produced, it could have been any of the forgettable "sequels" that have come out over the years. CHAINSAW basically becomes just another slasher flick. I did like that they got John LaRoquette to do the lead-in narration--as he did in the original, but that's about it. R. Lee Ermey's always fun.
I thought having Jessica Beil dispatch one of her friends since he'd been relieved of a limb was a weird choice (I would've like that character better if he'd wanted to use his final breaths fighting back against the hillbilly cannibals), even as I kept getting hit over the head with a Meat Is Murder subtext. At least the movie didn't end with "One Tin Soldier" or some lame anti-meat folk song.

I wanted to like it, but it's just another modern studio horror movie: no discernible artist voice/value, corporate product, etc.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a beautiful massacre
Review: greetings,
I am a fan of horror movies and have had to endure loads of bad movies. This is not the case when it comes to the new chainsaw dvd. I was a fan of the original in all it's independant glory. In the case of the new "re-envisioning" it's less scary than it's predecesor but it is one of, if not the most polished horror movies ever. It just looks great. The subtle dulling of colors makes this film look older. It's something you wouldn't notice if you weren't really paying attention but check out the sky in the long shots and you'll see what I mean. Nispel is one heck of a talented guy. He made a better movie than Freddy vs Jason (which I also like) with a third of the money. Sure this flick is gory and makes you want to turn away but it has a good story and a great cast. If you don't check this movie out for any other reason just watch it for R. Lee Ermey. He's scary, creepy, and his part was basically ad-libbed entirely. The movie is a classic that needs to be owned by anyone claiming to be a horror buff. Roger Ebert gave it the best/worst review of all by saying he had to go outside and see if there was still good in the world. If that alone doesn't say what kind of flick it is nothing will.
The dvd has some neat features and the documentary on the second disc is great. The only thing wrong with the S.E. is the 30 bucks you'll have to blow on it. Unless you are in to the film making processes don't waste your extra money and go with the regular edition. You won't get a faceplate or crime scene photos but you can spend the money you save on KILL BILL vol. 1.
So, to wrap up, Marcus Nispel is great, the movie is awesome, and Leatherface is one bad dude.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Two Thumbs Up! Way Up!
Review: Who doesn't like to see the odd horror film now and again? I particularly like to if they are done right. TCM 2003 has done that! It is so much better than the original, but to be fair, it isn't really a remake. It is quite different from the original, but that is a very good thing! Where the original was extremely slow moving and about 40% scary, the 2003 film creates a totally different atmosphere. It is very eeery from the word go. To top it off, the redneck hillbillies are much more scarier, as are the corrupt police.

I was reluctant at first to see this film because I found the orginal so overhyped and boring - but this film is in a class of its own in the horror genre. Excellent effort by all concerned.

Highly recommended to all horror fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the best horror movies to come out in years
Review: Despite what most fans of the original are saying, this is one of the best horror movies to come out in years and is a good addition to the chainsaw series. The cast is really good for their roles, especially R.Lee Ermey and Andrew Bryniarski makes an awesome Leatherface. Jessica Biel is really good too. As far as the dvd goes this is one of the best dvds for a horror movie ever. It includes a lot of special features and comes in a cool case that folds out and looks like a chainsaw with a metal faceplate. The making of documentary is really informative as are the commentaries, the third one being the best. The deleted/alternate scenes are also really good. If you liked the movie and are a fan of the original you owe it to yourself to see this. At least give it a rent.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What A Nightmare
Review: Great remake that leaves you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.
Leatherface scares the crap out of you in this one (probably one of the scariest villains in movie history!) from weilding that chainsaw to sewing one of his patented masks made of human flesh (as anybody who is familiar with this film already knows).
The dark and gloomy background, makes you feel as though you are part of the nightmare. I found myself anxiously gripping the edge of my couch as Jessica Biel escaped from one Leatherface attack to the next!
The "family" is just as creepy in a backwoods, interbred kind of way, from the "sherriff" to the trailer-trash women with the baby.
The gore is in abundance for those who are into that, but the real horror is the feeling of almost being in that situation and waiting for a hero to save the day, only to never have them show up and end this nightmare!!
Take the major highways and stay away from those litte hick backroads!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Successful Remake of a Horror Classic
Review: Do I enjoy remakes? In a sense "yes" and in a sense "no." Most remkaes fail to live up to thei original. I can think of many examples of remakes not up to par with their predecessors, but I refrain from mentioning that lengthy list here! Regarding this remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and "Did it measure up to the original?", I must say once again...yes and no. Despite the significantly larger budget of the TCM remake it still does not quite reach the level of the first TCM, but it is definitely in the same league. Both the original and the remake must be acknowledged for their fine sets (Although I have to give Hooper accolades for developing an equally intense set with the aforementioned significantly smaller budget!)Both films are gorey, although the orignial alluded more to the gore than the much more graphic remake. Also, both films have an air of tension that remains taught through out the movie, but the remake reaches that level of tension much more quickly than does the original. As for the actors, I was pleasantly surprised by the skill of this new generation of actors in pulling off this remake. At first I was reluctant to consider how stars such as Jessica Biel would pull off acting in a film such as this one, but I was not disppointed. Finally, I cannot call this review complete without speaking of Leatherface and the demented TCM family. Once again the family is portrayed as a group of crazy killers who seem to regard themselves as normal. Special mention should be given to R. Lee Ermey and Andrew Bryniarski (Leatherface.) All in all, I thought this was, for once, a successful remake and I highly recommend it to fans of TCM and the horror genre!


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