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| About Review |
Reviewer
RumbleWolf4
Review Date
18th April, 2004
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| Movie Credits |
Director
Marcus Nispel
Cast
Jessica Biel
Jonathan Tucker
Erica Leerhsen
Andrew Bryniarski
Eric Balfour
Screenplay
Scott Kosar
Tagline
"Inspired by a true story."
Country
USA
Classification
R
Year
2003
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| Movie Stills |
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| Errors |
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| DVD Cover Art |
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| DVD Information |
Format
NTSC
Region Coding
1
Aspect Ratio
1.85:1
16x9 Enhanced
Yes
Running Time
89 minutes
Year Released
2004
Packaging
Custom Case
Extra Features
3 Audio Commentaries
4 Documentaries
Alternate Opening
Alternate Ending
Deleted Scenes
Screen Tests
Art Galleries
TV Spots
Music Video
Teaser Trailer
Theatrical Trailer
And more...
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Plot
Basically what you have here, is more of a re-imagining of the cult classic original as opposed to a direct re-make. Those familiar with the Tobe Hooper film from 1974 will find small resemblances. We start off with five young friends cruising through backwoods Texas on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, a pinata full of pot accompanying them in their van. Along the way, they encounter a disturbed individual walking along the highway and decide to give her a ride. After some bad occurences, the group finds themselves slowly spiraling down into a pit of despair and brutal sadism. They eventually encounter the infamous killer Leatherface and his equally insane family. As they try desperately to escape the clutches of the evil clan, the five friends realize that there may be no escape from the madness and evil that plagues Travis County, Texas.
The Movie
So this film is a bittersweet experience. What it lacks in tension and suspense it more than makes up for in gore, good performances and intensely brutal sadism. The movie takes about 35 minutes of build up to ramp up but once all hell breaks loose, it simply does not let up. What follows is an incredibly unrelenting and demented hour.
Unlike the original, this film does not shy away from gore as we get plenty of red stuff including the coolest shooting sequence I've ever seen. The acting isn't bad either! Ms. Biel really earns your respect as a potential scream queen and she does scream a lot! She mainly takes the role that Marilyn Burns had in hte original and does incredible with it. Eric Balfour makes you feel for his character concerning an unexpected turn of events. Bryniarski is intimidating as the killer Leatherface although he tends to dispense the "Disturbing" factor in exchange for looking cool. R. Lee Ermey truly takes the cake in this film. His performance as a twisted and sadistic sheriff truly creeped me out and made me respect him more as an actor, but made him the villian I hated to love!
Indeed this movie is twisted and that may be its one downfall as the weak-hearted simply will not be able to handle this. The meathook and salt scene speaks for the films brutalitiy! Final Word: A great and disturbing film. Not scary, but definetly intense but a there is a limited audience. The intensity and sadism could keep all but hardcore gorehounds and horror fans far away.
The DVD
Much like the movie, the platinum series Dvd from New Line Pictures is simply incredible. We get a really cool 2 and a half hours of extras here.
Disc 1: We get three feature length commentaires here based on Production, Technical and Story aspects of the story. Here's a general breakdown of who's commentating: Marcus nispel (Director), Michael Bay (Producer), Daniel Peral (Director of photography), Ted Field (executive producer), Brad Fuller (Executive producer), Jessica Biel (Cast Memer), Eric Balfour (Cast), Johnathan Tucker (Cast), Mike Vogel (Cast), Erica Leerhsen (Cast), Andrew Bryniarski (Cast) and several more!
Disc 2: Here's the real Meat 'N' Potatoes. So we get a collection of deleted scenes including alternate openings and endings and two death scenes that were toned down t avoid an NC-17 rating! They can be viewed seperate or as a documentary with Director Commentary. Also we get"Chainsaw Redux" which is a 75 min (!) making of documentary. Oh and a 20 min feature biography on Ed Gein, the real life serial killer who inspired the film! We also get to see screen tests for three differnt actors, 2 art galleries, 7 Tv Spots, the trailer, the teaser trailer and a music video bt Motorgrater. For US$30 we get all this and a metallic faceplate cover and 8 crime scene photos! Very highly recommended!
Note* There is also a US$20 basic DVd on the market. Its features are the trailer, 7 TV spots and Motergrater video. I suggest the platinum edition.
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