The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

REVIEW
For most horror film devotees, the notion of Michael Bay producing a remake of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is tantamount to sacrilege, the genre movie equivalent of hiring the director of Battlefield Earth to reinterpret Citizen Kane or Persona. Well, this new 2003 take on Texas Chainsaw is the first of several big horror film remakes coming our way over the next few years (next up is Dawn of the Dead Version 2.0), and from the looks of it, maybe this isn’t entirely a bad development. Is this new Chainsaw as terrifying and innovative as Hooper’s original film? No, it’s not (although some even disagree with that: in their review of this film, horror bible Fangoria claimed that the remake is actually scarier than the original classic). But if you can overcome the understandable prejudices associated with approaching this remake, there is much to appreciate here, and indeed 2003’s Chainsaw (which, in all truth, has the feel of a sequel more than a remake) emerges as a genuinely disturbing and gruesome horror film. And while the film seems to only adopt the basic plotline of the original as raw inspiration — five kids in a van stumble across a dilapidated Texas house occupied by a crazed, murderous brood led by the power tool-wielding Leatherface — it derives something else from Hooper’s film, which is a willingness to be as unapologetically unpleasant and confrontational as necessary in its vicious tone. In a time of studio-sanitized horror films, this new Chainsaw emerges like a breath of fresh (albeit more like bilious and blood-drenched) air, admirably willing to create a punishing visceral experience for the viewer, through the much-publicized increased gore level, but also through settings, dialogue, and characterizations that successfully imitate the fetid, claustrophobic feel of the original film. Will this new Texas Chainsaw Massacre stand the test of time? That remains to be seen, but it’s a distinctively grisly piece of work that effectively jangles the audience’s nerves, and it’s certainly recommended for fans of the genre. Oh, and one other thing: recurring appearances of a tank top-clad Jessica Biel would contribute significantly to the advancement of contemporary American cinema. ’Nuf said.