It's doubtful that the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre will attain the cult status of the original, but as remakes go, this is a solid piece of work.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:54
Rotten:97
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: An unnecessary remake that's more gory and less scary than the original.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong horror violence/gore, language and drug content
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Oct 17, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $80,148,261
Synopsis: On August 20th, 1973, police were dispatched to the remote farmhouse of Thomas Hewitt, the former head-skinner at a local slaughterhouse in Travis County, Texas. What they found within the confines... On August 20th, 1973, police were dispatched to the remote farmhouse of Thomas Hewitt, the former head-skinner at a local slaughterhouse in Travis County, Texas. What they found within the confines of the cryptic residence was the butchered remains of 33 human victims, a chilling discovery that shocked and horrified a nation in what many still refer to as the most notorious mass murder case of all time. Wearing the grotesque flesh masks of his victims and brandishing a chainsaw, the killer, known as “Leatherface,” would gain infamy when sensational headlines were splashed across newspapers throughout the state of Texas: “House of Terror Stuns Nation – Massacre in Texas.” Local authorities would eventually gun down a man wearing a leathery mask and declare they had their killer, which abruptly closed the case; however, in the years that followed, many close to the grisly murder case would come forward to level accusations that police had botched the investigation and knowingly killed the wrong man. Now, for the first time, the only known survivor of the killing spree has broken the silence and come forward to tell the real story of what happened on a deserted rural Texas highway when a group of five young kids inadvertently found themselves besieged by a chainsaw-wielding madman, one who would leave a trail of blood and terror that would forever become known as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” New Line Cinema presents The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a terrifying journey into a heart of unimaginable darkness as five young adults are stranded in a rural Texas town, only to find themselves fighting for their lives against Leatherface and his bizarre clan. Inspired by the 1974 classic film of the same name, the new film stars Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel and Eric Balfour. Co-starring are screen veteran R. Lee Ermey, Lauren German, David Dorfman, Andrew Bryniarski, Terrence Evans, Heather Kafka and Marietta Marich. Marcus Nispel, the mastermind behind many of the most powerful images and story-telling themes in contemporary music videos and commercials, makes his feature film directorial debut. New Line Cinema presents in association with Michael Bay and Radar Pictures a Platinum Dunes/Next Entertainment Production. The film is produced by Michael Bay and Mike Fleiss. The executive producers are Ted Field, Jeffrey Allard, Guy Stodel, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller. The screenplay is by Scott Kosar (based on a screenplay by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper). The creative behind-the-scenes team is led by cinematographer Daniel Pearl (who also served as director of photography on the original 1974 release), production designer Greg Blair, costume designer Bobbie Mannix, special effects make up artist Scott Stoddard, special effects coordinator Rocky Gehr, editor Glen Scantlebury and composer Steve Jablonsky. New Line Cinema will release The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (rated “R” by the M.P.A.A. for “strong horror violence/gore, language and drug content”) in theaters nationwide on October 17th, 2003. [More]
Starring: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Eric Balfour, Erica Leerhsen
Starring: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Eric Balfour, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Lauren German, R. Lee Ermey
Director: Marcus Nispel
Director: Marcus Nispel
Screenwriter: Scott Kosar
Producer: Michael Bay, Mike Fleiss, Andrew Form
Studio: New Line Cinema
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Reviews for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Everything that made the original Chainsaw a classic is ground into the dirt in this new version.
While it's far from bad, it also falls far short of the icy frissons produced by the original.
Basically, if you like gory, scary slasher-flicks, then this delivers in spades.
Extremely effective, but because we still have the original it has no reason to exist...
Most resembles not Tobe Hooper's 1974 masterpiece, but James Cameron's 1986 masterpiece, Aliens.
An overproduced, video-director remake, slick and grue-marinated and loud as a sonic boom.
All in all, Massacre is proud to be nothing more than it intends to be, namely a straightforward, non-moralizing and unrepentant horror flick.
All of those outraged holier-than-thou reviews ("Revolting!" "A waste of time!") that wrongly came out about the original in 1974 could be correctly applied to this new version.
Has the confidence and capability to wriggle under your skin and freak you out for 98 minutes, if not torment your dreams in the dark of night.
... a curious form of cinematic matricide worthy of kabuki drama is being committed here — the offspring is rising up to disembowel its celluloid parent, visiting cruel punishment on Tobe Hooper for the unforeseeable sins that have sprung from the genre h
The first remake of the classic horror thriller that matches the intensity of the original.
Too many production values get in the way here. Shock-horror movies shouldn’t have sizable budgets and familiar faces in the cast.
... people who don’t like scary movies are really going to hate this one.
As for Nispel’s polished but run-of-the-mill hedonistic remake of Chainsaw, this blood-stained offering is about as fun and adventurous as counting roadkill along a dark country pathway.
This updated version strikes a glaringly inferior note from beginning to end...However, judging it on its own merits exposes it to be a pretty good, stylishly crafted slasher flick.
The new movie isn't bad -- not bad at all -- it's just not very Texas Chainsaw Massacre-ish.
Weakens, dilutes, disinfects and otherwise undermines the legacy of Tobe Hooper's 1974 original.
You realize how hard this is on me, to have to tell you what a superb job director Marcus Nispel has done re-creating, yet also revising, 1974's grisly, gristly, protein-centric masterpiece.
So utterly unimaginative it doesn't even count as hommage; it's just a smudgy copy of a still chilling original.
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