The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning [Movie Review] {Spoilers}
Eric Schomburg
October 08, 2006
Obviously, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre [1974] has been a cult classic film; however, the sequels have been a travesty to American horror. After 3 bad attempts to present the world with a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel that was deemed worthy of the first movie, all hope was lost and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was then remade. In other words, forget about all the Bubba Sawyer fiasco and focus on this “new’ Leatherface, Thomas Hewitt.
A lot of horror fans were thrilled about the new TCM movie, because it would redeem the franchise just like Batman Begins did to the Batman franchise. With the budget only being 9 million dollars, and garnering 80 million at the box office, and being the number one movie for it’s opening, it was an auspicious sign that Leatherface was back with a vengeance. Of course like any successful movie has to come the sequel, or in this day and age a prequel.
TCM-TB is supposed to be the story of how Thomas Hewitt became Leatherface. While it articulates how he became Leatherface, the movie doesn’t tell an elaborate story of how Thomas’ psyche made him out to be a killing machine, and what the movie does tell the fans already know from the first movie. Yes, he’s ugly. Yes, he has a skin disease. Yes, he’s retarded. Yes, he used to work at a meat factory. The fans already knew this!
The opening credits are pretty much the best part of the movie, obviously besides the killing spree, because it elaborates more on the story; however, after the credits are done Thomas Hewitt is 30 years old, wearing a mask that looks like a ripoff of TNA wrestler Abyss, and working in a meat factory. Somehow the meat factory was closed down, but that doesn’t stop Leatherface from wanting to cut more meat. After being fired, Leatherface does what pretty much every other person does to their boss when they are fired, he kills him.
For some reason a chainsaw was present at the meat factory and like a beautiful love connection, the chainsaw and Leatherface become friends. Think of it as Tom Hanks and Wilson from Cast Away.
After the incident at the meat factory, the Sheriff of Travis County is called in and investigates the murder. Instantly, the Sheriff figures out that it was Thomas Hewitt. The Sheriff goes to the Hewitt residence in which he confronts R. Lee Ermey about this matter; therefore, both he and the Sheriff go to the meat factory to stop Leatherface for his dastardly deed. Of course, the worst thing the Sheriff could do was leave his shotgun in the front seat of the car. Naturally, R. Lee Ermey’s character takes the shotgun (what a coincidence) and kills the Sheriff.
Apparently, Travis County is so rustic and dead that ONLY the Sheriff was the last functionary left, and guess who becomes the new Sheriff in town? You guessed it! R. Lee’s character now becomes Sheriff Hoyt. Didn’t see that one coming, huh?
Sheriff Hoyt has a family meeting and is now the patriarch of the Hewitt family. Hoyt claims that Travis County is a ghost town and with it no food is present and since the meat factory is closed down there is now way to make a living; therefore, they must seek out food by becoming cannibals, the family agrees.
Sheriff Hoyt searches out for the first victims for his feast. Enter Eric [Matt Bomer], Dean [Taylor Handley], Bailey [Diora Baird], and Chrissie [Jordana Brewster]. Eric and Dean are brothers, despite they have no chemistry as brothers, and are on one final trip before they both go to Vietnam. Eric seems to be your typical “I love war” male character that makes you wonder if he’s a Republican or not. Eric is dating the beautiful Chrissie, who doesn’t seemed bothered about Eric going to Vietnam. Wow, can you feel the love? Meanwhile, Dean is having his own agenda with Vietnam, he doesn’t want to go and his girlfriend, Bailey, concurs. Despite Eric and Chrissie are supposed to have the primary love connection, it would be the secondary love connection between Dean and Bailey that had any meaning or chemistry. Go figure.
Dean tries to convince himself in telling Eric he’s not going to Vietnam, he even went so far as to burn his draft card, which obviously Eric smelled in the car. Eric has been in the service before, and is outraged by Dean’s AWOL tactics.
Of course just like the first film the group gets caught up in the clutches of Sheriff Hoyt after a female biker tries to rob them. Eric loses control of his vehicle and sends Chrissie flying out of the car while the rest of the group tumbles over and over again. Eric, Dean, and Bailey are all bloodied and bruised, but for some odd reason Chrissie is okay and doesn’t have a mark on her despite being thrown out of the car. Did the director even try to make this seem real?
The female biker holds a sawed off shotgun to Eric and the group in attempts to rob them; however, she would be interrupted by the Sheriff coming. Without any questions asked, Sheriff Hoyt takes a shotgun and shoots the female biker. Immediately, the group of teens are scared to death, but Sheriff Hoyt tries to convince them they are in good hands with him. Hoyt discovers the burnt draft card and is instantly pissed off about it. Hoyt demands who Dean is, but Eric claims that he’s Dean to sacrifice himself for his brother.
Hoyt takes Bailey, Dean, and Eric to the Hewitt house and immediately Eric is confused and stunned, he knows something is wrong with this Sheriff. One of the scenes in this film that puzzles me is, Eric says he was going to kill the Sheriff. Okay, then why didn’t he? Eric had a military background, didn’t they train him to kill people? Why didn’t he? Another dumbass mistake made by the writer and director.
Hoyt finally has his “livestock” ready to be cooked, and devoured. Hoyt has some fun with Eric as he wraps some saran-wrap around Eric’s head smothering him. Finally, Dean confesses that he in fact is the real Dean. Hoyt gives Eric some air, and actually apologizes for smothering him with the saran-wrap. At least he’s a polite madman.
Hoyt punishes Dean by having him do ten push-up’s, and in R. Lee fashion ten push-up’s is hard to do, especially when Hoyt beats Dean senseless with a metal pipe while doing the push-up’s. Dean does the ten push-up’s, but is so beaten up that he can’t get up on his own.
Meanwhile, Chrissie is looking for help, and she finds it in a male biker, who was with the now deceased female biker. Chrissie tells him that she was taken to the Hewitt house, she shows him the way as they both go to the house to confront the family.
The male biker enters the house and shoots Uncle Monty in the right leg, and confronts Sheriff Hoyt; however, the male biker’s terrorism wouldn’t last as Leatherface would chainsaw his arm, but for some reason it doesn’t cut off. The male biker was the first victim of Leatherface’s chainsaw massacre and what a kill it was, you would just have to see it to believe it. After Leatherface sinks his metallic teeth in to some blood and bone, Leatherface is no longer shy about using the chainsaw.
Meanwhile, Chrissie covertly enters the house and goes downstairs to see her boyfriend, Eric, skinned. After deducing the fact that these two have NO CHEMISTRY whatsoever, Leatherface comes downstairs as Chrissie quickly hides underneath the table that Eric was tied to.
Leatherface had apparently lost patience with Eric, or he saw how fun it is to use a chainsaw, and guts Eric with the chainsaw. I have to admit, that was one of the coolest kills I’ve seen since Jason Goes to Hell’s “split” kill in the tent. Obviously, there is supposed to be sympathy given to Chrissie, but like I said, there was no chemistry between Eric and Chrissie, so I didn’t give her sympathy.
Leatherface continues with Eric as he cuts his face off and thus the birth of Leatherface is here, so the mask of Leatherface is Eric’s face. Did anyone get that? Okay, good.
Chrissie is shaken up by the death of her boyfriend, but she quickly gets over it and tries to leave the house, until she hears the scream of Bailey. Oh, okay, Chrissie will go save Bailey, but when it comes to her boyfriend Eric, she doesn’t care if Eric went to Vietnam, she didn’t care about Leatherface sawing his guts, and she was quick to get over Eric’s death. Wow. Can you feel the love?
Mama Hewitt is consoling the falling Uncle Monty which gives Hoyt another “brilliant” idea. He tells Mama Hewitt that Leatherface needs to amputate Uncle Monty’s leg. Leatherface cuts off the right leg, but because the chainsaw was too big and Leatherface is too dumb, he nipped the other leg, so Hoyt figures might as well cut off the other leg, and Leatherface does. Wow, that explains how he lost his legs in the first film. Guess what, another let down. You’re telling me that because he got shot in the leg that it needed to be cut off? Who wrote this crap?
For those thinking that the Hewitt family was crazy, wrong again. Mama Hewitt actually questions Hoyt’s decisions in cutting Monty’s legs off, being a cannibal, and killing people. Ugh. I thought they were crazy hillbillies from Texas? Guess not.
While Hoyt and his mama have a verbal dispute with each other, Chrissie finds a tied up Bailey and tries to help her, but to no avail due to Hoyt finding Chrissie and knocking her out.
Soon after, the dinner scene would come and anyone who has watched the original 1974 TCM movie would have a tear in their eye for this scene, because nostalgia kicks in. For some odd reason, Leatherface slits Bailey’s throat, blah blah blah, no point to this, let’s move on.
Chrissie escapes the house and runs to the old meat factory. (Where have I seen this before?) Meanwhile, Dean wakes up, beats the hell out of Hoyt to the point that he loses his teeth. WOW! So, THAT’S how he lost his teeth. Another coincidence? I think NOT!
Dean grows some balls and goes after Leatherface who is busy chasing Chrissie with the chainsaw. Soon after, Dean is done in with a chainsaw through the back and is literally picked up and tossed from the chainsaw. God, that was awesome!
Chrissie escapes the meat factory after getting the car keys from the dead meat factory owner that Leatherface killed in the beginning of the movie. She hurries out of the factory and in to the car, and drives away without a hint of Leatherface coming.
Chrissie drives away as all is calm. She sees two cops ahead, but suddenly Leatherface pops out from the backseat and literally saws through the seat and Chrissie’s body killing her.
Yep, that’s right. NO SURVIVORS!
After killing Chrissie, Leatherface simply gets out of the car and walks in to the darkness as John Larroquette would sum up that the Hewitt family are murderers with over 30 kills to their history.
I thought this movie was good on gore and kills, but atrocious on story, character development, and the ending is the WORST ending in horror movie history. First of all, did laws of physics apply in this movie? You’re telling me that Chrissie couldn’t see Leatherface’s fat ass with a big buzzsaw in the backseat of that small car? Damn, she deserved to die for being dumb and not having chemistry with Eric.
This movie was horrible in so many ways. It was insulting to any horror fan, because it didn’t dig deep in Leatherface’s psyche, not to mention for a while I thought this movie was about Sheriff Hoyt and not Leatherface.
The idea of a horror film is to feel for the victims. In the first film, I felt for the characters that were being chased by Leatherface, and anyone can sympathize with Jessica Biel. However, Jordana Brewster is horrible in this film. Simply horrible. She’s cute, and could have became one of those adorable damsel’s in distress, but one of her foibles is the lack of chemistry she had with Matt Bower.
I would rent this movie, watch it one time, feel the atrocity that is this film, take the movie back to Blockbuster or wherever, light some candles, and cry, because this movie was such a let down.
Of course it wasn’t all bad. R. Lee is the yin and the yang of the film. There’s times he produces comedy and makes you laugh, and then he can be a bully and it makes you want to leap at the screen and kill him yourself.
Andrew Bryniarski is once again awesome as Leatherface. Andrew reminds me of Kane Hodder’s Jason, because there are certain elements that only Andrew does with Leatherface that makes Leatherface unique than all the other Leatherfaces. Kudos to both R. Lee and Andrew!
I have a message for anyone who is going to do a prequel, remake, or sequel of a horror film, I’m talking to you Rob Zombie. If you’re going to do a prequel, the idea is to elaborate on the story. The fans want more story, not more gory. We already know what happens, but what we want is an elaboration on HOW this came about. Instead of Sheriff Hoyt hogging up half of the movie, how about showing more of Leatherface. You can have blood and gore, we expect that, but do something that no horror film has ever done, TELL A STORY!!!!
If you’re going to do a remake, the idea is to make it better than the original. I have yet to see this.
If you’re going to do a sequel, the idea is to make the movie better than the predecessors. The only movie that has done that is Freddy vs. Jason. I’m sorry, Halloween 8 sucked. Texas Chainsaw Massacre the Beginning sucked.
I suggest to New Line Cinema that they make a sequel and end Leatherface’s reign, because this movie was such a disappointment that they would have to kill off Leatherface just to do the franchise justice.
Besides, the only reason why New Line did a TCM prequel is because they couldn’t do a TCM movie with Leatherface only having one arm.
Being an avid fan of horror I must say that this movie is only good for the kills. I just wish there was more to Leatherface than the painfully obvious.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning = 6 out of 10
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