|
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
I was really excited when I first heard about the
possibility of a real prequel telling the story of where
Leatherface and his family came from. Then, the ads
started to run and everyone in the film looked just as they did
in the previous remake. My expectations dropped massively
going into this film....
So, to start with there is a prequel story in
this movie. It lasts about ten minutes or so. We see
Leatherface's birth, then a montage of images progresses the
story up to just a few years before the first Massacre film.
From there on, outside of just a few revelations this is just
another Texas Chainsaw film. We do see the first time
Leatherface ever becomes Leatherface and we learn how the family
became accustomed to eating human flesh. To say the least
I'm disappointed that the prequel story is handled so
haphazardly but the question remains: is there still something
good in this film?
Putting the failure of a prequel aside there was
some potential for excellent social commentary in the film, some
modern and some of the 70's era in which the film is set.
In the opening minutes of the film we learn that the small town
where the family lives is dying, or well dead. The family,
especially Hoyt (R. Lee Ermy) who decides to take over the
position as town Sheriff. At a family meeting they decide
that they won't be leaving, and that they will do whatever they
must to survive. At the same time two brothers and their
girlfriends are taking one last trip together before the
brothers head off to war in Vietnam. One of the brothers
is going back for a second time and the other has been drafted
for the first time. So there are two excellent
opportunities for social commentary At a dinner
scene early on Hoyt has this great line, I'll paraphrase: "They
might not remember what say here today, but they'll definitely
remember what we do." I was all set for an epic statement,
on war and on the death of small town's across the country.
But it all just fizzles into a formulaic slasher flick all to
quickly.
Now, with all of that said the question still
remains: did I enjoy the film? Well, on a visceral
gorefest sort of way the answer is yes. The gore is
surprisingly extreme and the moments of disturbing situations
outnumber the standard scares we've come to expect in Hollywood
horror films. Speaking of kills, this film features the
weakest chainsaw kills in any of these movies. The gore
comes post chase, and even after postmortem. Also, Hoyt
tends to monopolize the film to a great extent. He's good
fun, but we really needed more Leatherface and less creepy drill
Sergeant cop redneck. Stylistically the film is toned down
from the previous film, which is a good thing. The movie
doesn't spend so much time trying to look like a 70's film and
ending up looking like a music video. The night scenes in
the last act of the film are quite gorgeous though.
Speaking of the last act, the climax of the film is excellent.
It plays into some imagery started with the original film from
the 70's. It sets Leatherface up as an iconic figure and
even just through body language it builds a sense of sadness.
The film is gory fun, but like the previous one
it doesn't live up to the film upon which this new franchise is
based. This film had so much potential for underlying
commentary but it was all pushed aside for simplistic horror
standards. Too bad, it coulda' been something great, much
as the original film was.
6/10
-Stephen Lackey |
[includes/adzheader.htm]
