Cheap The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (New Line Platinum Series) (DVD) (Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Andrew Bryniarski) (Marcus Nispel) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (New Line Platinum Series)

In many ways improves upon the original..
Let me start off by stating that I am a huge fan of the original and initially disliked the idea of it being remade, thinking that it would be another anemic horror film (scream, darkness falls), my initial viewing of this film left me with mixed feelings to say the least not all of which were positive. Upon repeated viewings though I must say that this film has grown on me tremendously.
My explanations for my initial mixed feelings: I think first of all it is wrong to consider this a re-make as too many elements of the original are missing: the invalid brother Franklin, the Edwin Neal psychotic hitchiker, the climactic dinner scene and any mention of cannibalism at all. What we are left with is an unflinching and often brutal horror film that stands alone from its original inspiration.
The plot is simple enough: A van load of marijuana smoking, promiscuous teens on their way to a rock concert veer off into the backroads of Texas and encounter the chainsaw wielding Leatherface and his maniac family. Marcus Nispel has created a gritty, grimy looking winner with enough gore and jolts to please even the most ardent horror film fan.
The cast, for the most part, is very good with Eric Balfour, R.Lee Ermey and Jessica Biel creating the most chemistry. R.Lee Ermey steals the show with his over the top, disturbing portrayal of the insane sheriff which is sure to make viewers cringe. Jessical Biel is a very attractive final girl, and turns in a wonderful performance on par with other legendary final girls like Jamie Lee Curtis and Marilyn Burns.
New Line has thus far delivered the horror DVD of the year with this awesomely packaged and extras filled two disc opus.
The film itself, which features three different commentaries, looks and sounds spectacular. Disc two features extras that are actually both enjoyable and informative. The deleted scenes feature loads of gore excised from the theatrical print of the film, the commentary from Nispel is very revealing.
The lenghty 75 minute Making Of..documentary is enjoyable with interviews and insights from Nispel, the cast and crew, and dedicates its first eight minutes or so to reminiscing about the original groundbreaking Tobe Hooper original.
The Ed Gein documentary provides considerable info about the Wisconsin madman who provided inspiration for not only this film but others like: Psycho, Deranged, The Silence of the Lambs. Shocking, but undeniably fascinating, a documentary worthy of A&E.
The packaging with removable metal plate is a cool idea in theory, but when removed reveals a cardboard facsimile of the metal plate artwork with random glue marks that takes away from the impact of the artwork. The crime scene photos are cool too and will undoubtedly lead more than one purchaser to believe that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre actually happened when in reality it was loosely based on the life and crimes of Wisconsin's Ed Gein.
Overall, a great horror film and a nice DVD package that deserves to be a part of every fan's collection. Let's just hope they don't cheapen this film's impact by making a sequel!!

---

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
I have never seen the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974). I never really got into the whole concept. This review will only be on the new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2003) as a stand-alone film. In short, I feel that this film ranks up with one of the top horror films. It's got everything from scares to awesome atmosphere to great direction to outstanding acting. It's a solid film that maintains its energy through the whole picture and doesn't give you a break.

Erin (Jessica Biel), her boyfriend, Kemper (Eric Balfour), are driving to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert with their three friends: Morgan (Jonathon Tucker), the know-it-all nice guy, and Andy (Mike Vogel), the lover with his new girlfriend, Pepper (Erica Leershen). Along the way, they almost run over a hitchhiker (Laura German) who keeps saying that they're dead and she can't believe what happened. Then she kills herself and that's where it all goes downhill.

The teenagers (scared to death) stop their car at an old warehouse-like place waiting for Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey, in an intense performance). Kemper and Erin decide to go look for help on their own and find a secluded house that belongs to a murderous maniac, who wields a chainsaw and patches peoples' skin together to make a mask (giving him the title name of "Leatherface"). It seems that people of the town are also in on Leatherface's murderous schemes and are part of his extensive family, including the Sheriff. This leaves the teenagers in a nightmare as they try to escape the family and get out of Texas.

Plot - Well, of course, the story isn't original, since this is a re-make. This story has been done times before, but this one succeeds. It's scary, has great characters, intense villains, and awesome atmosphere. It's also believable why the teens are there and in this horrible situation.
Plot - 90

Acting - Most movies these days are campy, but fun (i.e. Freddy Vs. Jason, Cabin Fever). This film is not a fun movie. It's very intense and unsettling. Thankfully, we do not have your usual stereotypical teenagers, who would do the routine thing (watch your friend die and then stand there and wait to be killed). These people run and try to make it out alive. Jessica Biel (Erin) turned in a pretty respectable performance. I could relate to the way she was dealing with everything and she wasn't your average tough-girl chick. She was terrified and she expressed it fully. Kemper (Eric Balfour) was a delight to watch. He was charismatic and touching in actually a few spots. Morgan (Jonathon Tucker) seemed to be a know-it-all in the beginning (see above). As the story progressed, he was a very smart character and Tucker played him perfectly. His scene with R. Lee Ermey is one of the best scenes I have seen in my whole life (terrifying and never gets repetitive while watching it a lot). I didn't find Mike Vogel that convincing in the beginning. He reminded me too much of your "stereotypical teenager" (always looking for girls and love), but later on, he proves to be a very important character and trust me, you will feel sympathy for the guy. Erica Leershen was very convincing. When she was in a sticky situation, she made her character feel real and believable. The real scene-stealer is R. Lee Ermey. The man plays his character to a T and is one of the best villains ever. The way Ermey makes Hoyt talk and act is amazing and always unpredictable.
Acting - 98

Direction - Marcus Nispel (I have never heard of him until this movie) is a genius in the way of making a scary, horror flick. The film moves at a fairly nice pace, but gives us time to delve into our characters and their emotions. He uses lots of filters and back-round lights (the family's house at night, anyone?). He knows how to keep the audience tense and not knowing what is going to happen next.
Direction - 94

Overall - This film has to rank up with one of my favorite horror films. It's got great scares, intense atmosphere, and non-predictable scenarios. The characters are outstanding, the villains are awesome (Leatherface was indeed, very creepy), and everything was just perfect.
Overall - 94

Rated R for intense, graphic violence, some gore, drug content, and language.

---

For a remake, it's not half bad!!
I am a huge fan of the original, and I'm not a fan of remakes in general. With that said, I'm not about to insult anybody by trying to put the original and this 2003 remake in the same category. I do think, however, that this movie is pretty good. What makes it work is that the two movies are very different. There are similarities to be sure, but you don't feel like you're watching a blow-by-blow replay of the 1973 classic. I saw the remake in a theater and expected to spend two hours laughing at a lame attempt to capture the classic's low-key horror. Instead, I found myself wrapped up in the new story because it strayed enough from the original to catch and, more importantly, keep my attention. There are a lot of extras on these two discs, including an interesting plot device that never made its way into the movie. Also, the commentary reveals some interesting facts. Overall, I think anyone who likes scary movies will like this movie. I definitely think people who haven't seen the original will enjoy it because they have no reference to compare it to. However, do yourself a favor and see the original too; you won't be disappointed.