The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) - Limited Collector's Edition

After last weeks review of Dawn of the Dead I’d seemed to have gained a new found optimism in the horror-remake; expecting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to live up to the high standard Dawn of the Dead had set. Strangely, I was neither disappointed nor surprised; as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an entertaining teen-slasher. However it doesn’t contain the intelligent or dramatic edge the majority of high-quality horror films hold dear.

Our three teens looking for trouble!

We begin with a group of five, in a van, on their way to a rock concert in Mexico - August '73. Along their way they almost run down a young, dirty girl standing in the middle of the road. Concerned for the girls safety, Erin (Jessica Biel) and Pepper (Erica Leerhsen) bring her back to the van and plan on taking her to the nearest hospital.

Now inside the van, this young girl begins muttering and cursing. Insistent they’re going the wrong way, she tries to veer the Kemper (Eric Balfour), the driver, off course – but he won’t budge. As a final straw, she pulls out a gun, sticks it in her mouth and pulls the trigger. Scared stiff and angry about an extremely bloody van, Kemper stops in at the local gas station to call the Sheriff.

After listening to a very odd phone call between the station owner and the Sheriff, the five head off to a secluded mill awaiting the Sheriff’s arrival. Being the impatient teenagers they are, Kemper and Erin go in search of a telephone. After walking through some very ominous looking forest they emerge at a giant farm house. A small, wheelchair-bound old man allows Erin to use the phone – leaving Kemper outside to keep out the impending carnivorous masses (which are soon to surface!).

And there the bloodlust begins. Soon the evil (no wait… not evil, the misunderstood) Tom Hewitt (aka. Leatherface) shows up wielding a chainsaw and ready for some action! After the high-pitched terror emerges the Sheriff arrives, acting equally as strange as our Leatherface. With limbs flying left and right, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre proves to be a very bloody experience indeed.

While this film is marketed as a horror, it should be more accurately labeled a blatant comedy. The level of cheese within The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is spot on, there’s nothing over the top… yet there’s just the right amount of mozzarella you’d come to expect from a film of this flavour. The fine acting is definitely this films strong point (particularly R. Lee Ermey’s performance as the Sheriff), as it drives a weak script, survives sloppy editing and pulls through a very average direction from newcomer Marcus Nispel. The original score is very weak, providing a very mundane and un-original ‘horror’ backing. I would have liked to see something new and refreshing done in the music department (perhaps a contemporary score from the Nine Inch Nails?), but it didn’t deliver.

On a much more positive note, the cinematography provided from Daniel Pearl (who also did the cinematography for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is great. We watch, stunned, as our damsel in distress runs through a beautifully framed misty forest setting. Great stuff!

"Grrr!" cries Leatherface

As far as I can tell this film stays quite faithful to the original. Tobe Hooper (director/co-writer of original) is a co-producer, so that is to be expected. However, Leatherface’s family doesn’t really seem to feature much in this film, which seriously took away from the ‘creepy’ vibe the original set. I didn’t think Hooper’s original was brilliant, and due to the fine performances seen in Nispel’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre I’d have to label it better than the original.

I think producers can learn a valuable lesson from simply sitting back and watching the good, the bad and the damn awful the ‘remake’ field has to offer. Films that try to stay as close to the original as possible (within the bounds of their publishers) will usually fail (like Nispel’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). However the films that take an original concept and bring it into the 21st century will often be a success, like Synder’s Dawn of the Dead. I’d like to see the next wave of American remakes be high quality spin-off’s, not direct adaptations.

The cover of the DVD states that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is presented in 4:3 letterboxed 2.35:1 widescreen (claiming this is the films original aspect ratio). This is not the case, as it is actually presented in 16:9 enhanced 1.85:1 widescreen. Do not be fooled!

I found the video transfer quite underwhelming. Black levels were occasionally perfect, but in dark scenes (that contained very little light at all) they appeared brown or grey. This often became distracting, and meant the dark, looming atmosphere was frequently broken.

Strung up and all alone.

There was some very minor grain that appeared throughout a number of lighter scenes; however this never became a distraction. Colours appeared quite dulled ut this deliberate washed feel gave an authenticity to the film that otherwise wouldn’t have been achieved.

Detail level was generally good. The image appeared soft at times, but at other times was very sharp and crisp. Overall it is an adequate and decent transfer. The messy black levels concern me, as some will find it distracting in times of great darkness!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre comes packed with three different soundtrack choices – DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and a Dolby Digital 2.0. There is very little difference between the DTS 5.1 and Dolby 5.1 tracks. The DTS is perhaps a little louder, and uses the sub-woofer to more effect, but on a whole there’s virtually no difference between the two. Those without DTS decoders will sleep easy!

Dialogue was always very clear. Even the distorted mumblings of a few of the characters were quite easily heard. All dialogue remained anchored to the centre channel, and very occasionally moved between the front right and left.

There was little use of the rear channels throughout the majority of the film. Only during fast-paced, chainsaw-heavy chase scenes did the surrounds come to life. Unfortunately ambient sounds were kept to the front channels, as was all dialogue.

Leatherface is surprisingly agile for a bulky man with a chainsaw!

Sub use was quite good. Low sections of the score were accompanied by some low-frequency effects, as were a number of sound effects active throughout the film. This was the only serious difference between DTS and Dolby tracks, as the DTS track had a stronger sub presence.

As a whole, I was fairly disappointed with the soundtrack provided as I was expecting a lot more surround use - not just in the fast-paced action scenes.

A whopping three commentaries from the production crew, the technical crew and the story crew are on offer on disc one of this two disc set. These three commentaries are chopped together from other sources (mainly the three documentaries on disc two). This results in three very dry commentaries that become quite boring very quickly. Unfortunately there are no subtitles for the commentaries, only the film.

Disc two presents the bulk of the extra features. To begin with there are three Texas Chainsaw inspired documentaries. The first, ‘Chainsaw Redux – Making of a Massacre’ (76:07), is a run down of how director Marcus Nispel and producer Michael Bay adapted the ’74 classic. Footage from the original Tobe Hooper film and the Nispel remake are sliced between interviews with the cast and crew. Quite interesting, but a tad too long. The second, ‘Ed Gein: The Ghoul of Plainfield’ (24:13), is an ‘authentic’ look at the reclusive serial killer Ed Gien. A few different experts in the field give their views on the actions of this serious nutcase, and how this serial killer has impacted cinema ever since the 50s. The third, ‘Severed Parts’ (16:39), is an in-depth look at the screenplay and how it was crafted. Nispel comments on how the characters were crafted and how the film was edited to cater for their development. All three documentaries are 16:9 enhanced, but unfortunately don’t have English subtitles.

A very unwelcoming Sheriff.

An alternate opening and ending of a very old looking Erin in a mental asylum are also available. Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour and Erica Leerhsen have their casting auditions available to watch in 16:9 enhanced widescreen. The standard photo and art galleries are presented for viewing. A theatrical trailer, 8 TV Spots and an anonymous Texas Chainsaw inspired music video are also on offer in 4:3 letterboxed widescreen.

There are quite a range of useless extra features here, but the three documentaries offer some interesting insight into the production of the film.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is very cheesy, and in parts very, very funny. But more importantly it’s entertaining, and will sustain its audience from start to finish. It’s the perfect title to rent on a quiet, rainy Saturday night where you can bust out the popcorn, switch your brain off and be amused.

Huge fans of the film will be disappointed with this release. The new DTS soundtrack doesn’t live up to expectations and it seems the video transfer hasn’t changed at all. The wide plethora of extras is really this releases only strongpoint. Die-hard fans of the film will find the three documentaries in particular very interesting.