Tag line : Inspired by a true story.

For many years, a fifth Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie had been in the works, but nothing had become of it. Eventually, distributors New Line Cinema announced they were actually going to produce a remake, much to the disdain of fans of the original. But how well would it fair?

Set in 1973, the plot this time has a group of teenage friends travelling through the Texas countryside on their way to a Lynard Skynard concert, when they come across a dazed young girl staggering across the road. Stopping to help her out, they drive her to a nearby gas station to call for help. But upon doing so she immediately becomes erratic, pulls out a gun and then, much to everyone's horror, shoots herself.

Phoning the local Sheriff to report what's happened, they are even more surprised when he asks them to drive out and meet him at a deserted mill nearby. With nothing to do but wait for his arrival, a group of them decide to wander off and look around the area, but when one of them fails to return the rest decide to go off looking....

This is where their already troubled day rapidly nosedives, as they are confronted with a cannibalistic family of redneck farmers, headed up by their eldest son Leatherface, who (as in the original film) wears a mask made of human flesh and likes carving up his victims with a chainsaw. Quickly making mincemeat of the hapless teens, the survivors find themselves running for their lives and to make matters worse it looks increasingly like they're not going to make that Lynard Skynard concert....

Like most remakes, this isn't as good as the original. But I was pleasantly surprised at how good it actually was. There's some nice twists in the plot to distance itself from the original, and it was good to see plenty of on-screen killings this time, unlike the original where it was mostly implied (not that implied killings are a bad thing of course).

Chainsaw fans should definitely get a "buzz" out of it.

Overall Marks : 6/10.

Other Information.

• Alternate tag lines, "What you know about fear... doesn't even come close", "You want scary? THIS is scary!".

• Gunnar Hansen, Leatheface from the original TCM,  was asked to play the trucker at the end of the film, but declined.

• Actor John Laroquette, who did the intro narration for the original, returned to reprise his role in this film.

• Andrew Brynarski got the role of Leatheface after hearing about the remake and personally asking producer Michael Bay for the role.

• The chainsaw Leatherface used in the film, a Huskvana 369, wasn't actually made back in 1973.

• The filmmakers had alter two scenes  to avoid getting an NC17 rating in the US, the first being the death of the hitchhiker which originally had more gore splattering around the van. The second being the death of Morgan, which had a more bloodier shot of him being chainsawed between the legs. These are included as extras on the DVD.

• The films original intro and ending had an elderly Erin telling her story to a reporter. However they decided this was too downbeat and so was changed.

• Erica Leerson, who played Pepper, previously starred in "Blair Witch 2 : Book of Shadows". She got the job owing to her ability to scream so convincingly during screen tests, which were so realistic had other people in the building calling the police thinking someone was being attacked.

• R. Lee Emry, who plays the Sherrif, is probably best known for his military roles. The most famous of which being the Drill Sgt from "Full Metal Jacket".

• The house used in the film was an actual abandoned house the film makers came across in Austin, Texas.

• The scenes in the house basement was actually filmed in an abandoned cotton mill in Martinville Texas. Similarly, the Crawford mill was another abandoned cotton factory, located in the nearby town of Walberg.

Cast & Crew.

Buy the UK DVD.

Buy the UK DVD.

Buy the US DVD.

Notes on affiliate sites.
 

Other films in the series.

Reviews A-Z.

Reviews index. Home. Menu.