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Movies / On DVD / The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

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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.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

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

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Inevitably, given a bigger budget, it lacks the cheap, raw quality of the earlier film that, along with George Romero's outfit in Pennsylvania, showed you could make profitable exploitation shockers on an independent basis far from Hollywood.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
04/16/08
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

You’ll have to overcome resentment towards this unnecessary remake before you can be properly terrorised but, on its own terms, it plays well.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The best one can say is that his version is not slavishly in thrall to Hooper's: boring, fright-free and pointless, maybe, but not craven.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's horrible and explicitly violent, but never authentically scary.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/15/04
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's a simple philosophy behind a movie like this: Add more squishing, add more screaming, and it'll be better. Or at least it'll make more money.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
12/14/03
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

It's a gory, stylish, and occasionally scary push-button factory of shocks and shrieks remarkably better than anyone had the right to expect.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/28/03
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Basically, if you like gory, scary slasher-flicks, then this delivers in spades.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/22/03
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

By the time it comes back to its bracketing device of police crime scene footage, Niespel, Bay and Kosar's movie has very much wasted its promising start and descended into a pointless exercise.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/14/03
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mostly this is just another lame monster-in-the-backwoods movie that makes us flinch because of the sheer gruesomeness of what's on screen

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/11/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

Even a paint-by-numbers slasher is a novelty in this decade.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
06/28/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

An initially promising, but quickly disappointing retread of Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel's hugely influential horror classic.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/16/08
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

'Inspired by a true story' presumably adds to the sordid thrills; maybe we should look forward to entertainments about Nazis torturing children.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
04/16/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

Just needlessly ugly and unpleasant, not to mention Hollywoodized down to its muddy shoes.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/03/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Here's a slice of advice: Go to the video store and rent the original.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
10/03/06
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
01/09/06
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The biggest question for me is 'Why?'

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
Film Threat

It adheres to the Hollywood formula for horror remakes: Twice the gore, half the scares.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
06/26/05
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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all

Latest News for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

January 31, 2008: Platinum Dunes, New Line Announce Plans for New Nightmare on Elm Street
In a move that should surprise no one, New Line has announced a partnership with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes banner to reboot the Nightmare on Elm Street series. More...

November 14, 2007: Marcus Nispel to Direct Friday the 13th Reboot?
You can't keep a good man down. Nor, apparently, can you keep an undead, hockey mask-wearing lunatic off the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Marcus... More...

May 09, 2007: Jessica Biel: "Street Fighter"?
Remember that pretty rotten Jean Claude Van Damme movie that was based on a video game called "Street Fighter"? Well, you can bet the producers of the new version wish... More...

January 18, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: "Hitcher" Aims to Terrorize Moviegoers
After a busy MLK frame which concluded with the Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood lets the dust settle this weekend as only one new film enters wide release - the horror remake... More...

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