When I was young, one of my all time favorite things to do was watch horror movies. I remember getting the VHS tape of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, when I was around 10, and it quickly became a favorite. Cut ahead to today, I am 32 years old, and it is still one of my top three movies, as it is a near perfect classic in my eyes.
I’ve stood by as they made six other movies (two direct sequels, a semi-remake, a remake and a prequel), and honestly, I’ve loved all of them (with exception to the semi-remake The Next Generation). So I was very excited when they decided to semi-reboot the franchise again (this movie is a direct sequel to the original, asking us to forget all other sequels, reboots and remakes). Did they do justice? Let’s explore a bit.
Texas Chainsaw 3D is what you would expect, a quick cash in on a known franchise, while adding unnecessary 3D effects. That is not necessarily a bad thing, however. The acting itself is a little rough, with the beautiful Alexandra Daddario and Dan Yeager really the only actors I could stand in this movie. It picks up directly after the events of the original movie, with a really nice montage showing what happened. Then the towns people attack, kill, and burn down the Sawyer house, with a baby being stolen (Daddario), and Leatherface (Yeager) himself going missing. Fast forward a bit, and we see Heather Miller finding out not only was she adopted, but deciding to go on an impromptu road trip with her cheating boyfriend (Trey Songz) and friends. She is urged to open a letter by the lawyer of the estate she just inherited, but does not, and this is when the killing begins.
Leatherface is what you would expect, and Yeager does a great job with him. The mask is very nice, and the storyline, with strong focus on Family, is pretty good as well. But like I said, the acting, not so good. What saved this film for me was the kills. While they are pretty standard kills, they are well done, and we get to see Leatherface cut someone in half with his chainsaw, which I LOVED, because why wouldn’t he? He has a chainsaw for Christ’s sake! Scenes like the chase through the graveyard give you that great old-school Texas Chainsaw feel, while others, like the chase through the carnival, were, in my opinion, amazingly done, and I loved the fact that this Leatherface be damned about witnesses. If he wants something, He moves forward.
I don’t want to ruin the ending for those that have not seen it yet, but Heather finally gets the “family is more important than anything” message behind the movie, and I loved the way they pulled it together. This movie gets a lot of hate, and in the world of modern day horror ‘fans,’ this is to be expected.
It would get ranked higher for me, if it was not for the terrible acting done by most of the “fresh and unknown faces” cast. I give it 3.5 hammers to the face out of 5.