In the 2000s, the horror landscape was much different than it is today. It was a simpler time, one filled to the brim with slashers, monster movies, and even the start of the “Torture Porn” phenomenon of the era with films like Saw and Hostel.
The 2000s were also the decade of the remake. I say that because many remakes were being pumped out during this decade. Dawn of the Dead, Friday The 13th, The Amityville Horror, House of Wax, and The Ring are a few examples.
But today, I will be talking about a movie that I feel is one of the better remakes from that time. That film is The Texas Chainsaw Remake, and today I’m going to explain why I think it’s one of the better remakes out there despite not being nearly as good as the original film from 1974.
The Things It Does Right
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake does more right than you initially would think. It still has an excellent sense of atmosphere, despite being filmed with fancy modern cameras at the time. It moves along at a steady pace and manages to keep your attention throughout most of the 98-minute runtime.
I also like the dreary, grey color palette that director Marcus Nispel (who would go on to direct the Friday The 13th remake in 2009) and director of cinematography Daniel Pearl (who was the director of cinematography on the original) chose to go for here. They went for a dimmer color palette, with a brownish/grayish overtone to everything that doesn’t make a lot of sense at first but comes into its own later in the film.
The family in this film, the Hewitt Family here instead of the Sawyer family from the original movie, is great and has some standout performances among some of its members. The most standout performance came from the great R. Lee Ermey, who played Sheriff Hoyt in the film. His character is fantastic and is equally funny, serious, and creepy, and he can swap between those different tones on the fly without any hesitation whatsoever.
Another standout performance in this film is that of Leatherface, or Thomas Hewitt, as he’s known in the movie. Andrew Bryniarski does a great job here as Leatherface. He’s big and bulky and can sprint once he gets going, which adds to his creepiness. One thing that I commonly hear about Leatherface in this film is that he doesn’t feel like Leatherface does in the original film, but I think that’s a good thing in this case. It gives this remake a sense of originality that most remakes don’t have. There are remakes out there, such as the Psycho remake, that are a straight shot-for-shot remake with a new scene or two thrown in there to make it “new enough,” so I commend The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake for not doing that.
Also, I like that some of the most famous shots from the original film were redone here, such as when one of the girls is walking up to the Sawyer Family's house, for example. Things like that give the film some familiarity to it while at the same time being new and fresh.
Where It Misses The Mark
This film may get a lot of things right for a remake, but there are things that it misses the mark on. For instance, the characters we’re supposed to be invested in and root for are all frustrating in different ways, and it just makes me not want to root for them at all.
For instance, our final girl Erin, played by Jessica Biel, is a little bit of a hard ass in the beginning when it comes to her friends smoking weed, and it irritated the living hell out of me. There’s one character you can’t understand AT ALL because he speaks in a low tone and slurs his words, not to mention that he’s one of those “know-it-all” types who will interject at any chance he can get to correct you on something. Eric Balfour’s character Kemper is almost non-existent in the film, and even when he finally does speak, he’s very one-note and forgettable.
The only one of these characters that are tolerable is Pepper, and even then, you can tell that she will get it from the opening scene. Erin does redeem herself throughout the movie, and by the end, you’re rooting for her, but you aren’t at the beginning, that’s for sure.
Also, the film does drag a little in certain spots, like when the group is waiting for the sheriff. This director made the same mistake with the core characters in the Friday the 13th remake, which kept that film from being great.
Closing Statements
This film is still fun to watch, and I recommend it if you’re in the mood for a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. It still isn’t near the original's quality, but I can see where people would surely enjoy it.
What’re your thoughts on this film?? Be sure to let me know in the comments below! Thank you so much for reading this issue, and I’ll see you in the next one.
