The film was released in the United States on October 17, 2003, received mostly negative reviews from critics, and grossed $107 million at the box office on a budget of $9.5 million. A prequel was released in 2006, titled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the first film to be produced by Platinum Dunes, who would go on to produce remakes of several other 20th-century horror films.
Plot
On August 18, 1973, five young adults – Erin Hardesty, her boyfriend Kemper, Erin’s brother Morgan, and hitchhikers, Andy and Pepper – are traveling to a concert after visiting Mexico to purchase marijuana. While driving through Texas, they pick up a traumatized hitchhiker walking in the middle of the road. They try to talk with her, who speaks incoherently about "a bad man", before she pulls out a revolver and shoots herself in the mouth.
The group goes to a nearby gas station to contact the police, where a woman, Luda Mae, tells them to meet Sheriff Hoyt at the mill. Instead, they find Jedidiah, a young boy who says Hoyt is at home getting drunk. Erin and Kemper go through the woods to find his house, leaving Morgan, Andy, and Pepper at the mill with Jedidiah. They come across a plantation house, and Erin is allowed inside by Monty, an amputee, to call for help. Kemper goes inside to look for Erin, and is hit in the head with a sledgehammer by Thomas "Leatherface" Hewitt, who drags him into the basement. There, he butchers Kemper and finds the ring the latter intended to propose to Erin with.
Meanwhile, Hoyt arrives at the mill and disposes of the hitchhiker's body. After Erin discovers that Kemper is missing, she and Andy return to Monty's house. There, Erin distracts Monty, while Andy searches for Kemper. After realizing that Andy is inside, Monty summons Leatherface who attacks Andy with a chainsaw. Andy tells Erin to save herself and she escapes into the woods, while Leatherface catches up to Andy and saws off his left leg. After carrying Andy to the basement, Leatherface impales him on a meat hook and tortures him further by rubbing salt in his leg stump. Erin returns to the mill, but before she and the others can leave, Hoyt arrives. After finding marijuana on the dashboard, Hoyt orders Erin and Pepper to get out of the van, gives Morgan the gun he took from the hitchhiker, and tells him to reenact how she killed herself. Morgan attempts to shoot Hoyt, but the gun is unloaded. Hoyt handcuffs Morgan and drives him back to the house, giving him a beating along the way.
Back at the house, Andy awakens after passing out from the pain and, in desperation, he tries to lift himself off the meat hook. However, Leatherface has booby trapped the chains holding it up causing Andy to impale himself further. Erin and Pepper are tracked down by Leatherface, now wearing Kemper's face as a mask. While attempting to run, Pepper is killed by Leatherface. Erin runs and hides in a nearby trailer belonging to the Tea Lady, a fat middle-aged woman, and Henrietta, a younger woman who gives her tea that has been drugged. Erin discovers that they have kidnapped the hitchhiker's baby, but passes out before she can escape. Erin wakes up at the house, surrounded by the Hewitt family: Leatherface, his mother Luda Mae, Hoyt, Monty, and Jedidiah. Leatherface was tormented his whole life because of a skin disease that left his face disfigured, and Luda Mae felt that no one cared for her family besides themselves.
In the basement, Erin finds the remains of Leatherface's victims and Andy, still hanging on the meat hook. After trying to help Andy, Erin puts him out of his misery when she cannot lift him off the hook. Afterwards, she finds Morgan handcuffed in a bathtub and wounded. Jedidiah, who disagrees with his family's actions, leads them out of the house and distracts Leatherface while they escape. Erin and Morgan find an abandoned shack in the woods, and barricade themselves inside. Leatherface breaks in and discovers Erin. Morgan attacks Leatherface, who hangs him from a chandelier by his handcuffs and kills him with the chainsaw. Erin escapes into the woods with Leatherface in tow. She finds a slaughterhouse and attacks Leatherface with a meat cleaver, severing his right arm.
Erin runs outside and flags down a trucker, whom she tries to convince to drive away from the house, but he stops to find help at the gas station. Erin sees Luda Mae & Hoyt talk to the trucker while Henrietta watches the baby. As Henrietta walks outside to give Luda Mae her raincoat, Erin sneaks the baby out of the eatery, and places her in the sheriff's car. Erin hot-wires the car and Hoyt tries to stop her, who runs him over repeatedly until he is dead. Leatherface then appears in the road and slashes the car with his chainsaw, but Erin escapes with the baby. Two days later, two officers investigating the house are killed by Leatherface, and the case remains open.
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Development
On December 5, 2001, Creature Corner.com reported that Michael Bay's newly created company Platinum Dunes (which was created in order to produce low-budget films), had set its focus on remaking The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Early announcements on the site indicated that the story would be told in flashback with actress Marilyn Burns, who starred in the original film, reprising her role as an aged Sally Hardesty recounting the events in the film. It was later announced that the filmmakers had already purchased the rights to the original film.
Early in the film's production the original filmmakers Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel would be writing a script for the film, but it was unknown at the time whether or not their script would be used. In June 2002, it was announced that Marcus Nispel would direct the film in his directorial debut.[7] Nispel said that he was initially against the idea of remaking the film, calling it "blasphemy" to his longtime director of photography, Daniel Pearl, who had shot the original film. Pearl, however, encouraged Nispel to join the project, as he wanted to bookend his career with Chainsaw films.[8]
It was later announced that Scott Kosar signed on as the film's screenwriter.[9] As in the original 1974 version, it is loosely inspired by the real-life crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein. Gein's crimes had also inspired novels such as Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs, both of which were later adapted into subsequent films.[10]
Writing
The screenplay was written by Scott Kosar, who went on to write the screenplays for The Machinist[11] and Platinum Dunes' remake of The Amityville Horror.[12] The film was Kosar's first professional job as a screenwriter and later recalled feeling both thrilled and honored at the prospect of writing the screenplay for the remake. Kosar also realized early on that he was dealing with "one of the seminal works of the genre" and one that could not be bettered. When discussing with the film's producers, Kosar felt that the new film shouldn't try to compete with the original film, as he felt that it was made under different circumstances. In earlier drafts Erin, the film's main character, was revealed to be nine months pregnant throughout the film but was removed from later drafts at producer Michael Bay's insistence.[13]
Casting
Jessica Biel, who previously starred in the television series 7th Heaven, was cast as the main character Erin.[7]
Actor Andrew Bryniarski, who starred in Bay's Pearl Harbor and stayed friends with him afterwards, personally met with producer Bay and asked him for the role of Leatherface. Another actor, named Brett Wagner, was cast for the role before Bryniarski, but, on the first day, the actor was hospitalized and fired for lying about his physical abilities. Without an actor for the film's main antagonist, the filmmakers called and asked if Bryniarski still wanted the role, which he accepted. To prepare for the role, Bryniarski ate a diet of brisket and white bread in order to get his weight to nearly 300 pounds. Bryniarski would later reprise his role as Leatherface in the film's prequel.[14]
Filming
Nispel favored shooting the film in California, but Bay suggested Texas, where he had previously shot three times.[15]Principal photography began in Austin in July 2002[16] and lasted 40 days.[15] Nispel intentionally shot the film in a different style, using more traditionally narrative elements, as he did not want to make a shot-for-shot remake replicating the original film's documentary-like style.[17] Cinematographer Pearl explained from an on-set interview: "People ask me, 'Is it going to be as gritty and grainy as the last one I did?' No. I did that. There's no point in making the exact same film with the exact same look."[18]
The remake includes references to the previous film, including John Larroquette, who returns in his role as the film's narrator.[19]
The weather during filming was very hot and humid. Bryniarski, who portrays Leatherface in the film, did all his own stunts and was forced to wear a "fat suit", which increased his near-300 lbs to 420 lbs. The suit also heated up quickly, so the actor had to ensure that he drank a lot of fluids before a shoot. Leatherface's mask was also a problem; the mask was made out of silicone and was difficult for the actor to breathe through. The crew had many prop chainsaws for actor Bryniarski to use, such as chainsaws that put out smoke, and live chainsaws.[14]
There were two soundtrack albums released by Bulletproof Records/La-La Land Records for the film; the first was meant for regular audiences featuring popular metal music and was released on November 4, 2003.[20]
The second was the film's original score as composed by Steve Jablonsky. This was released on October 21, 2003, and has a run time of 50:25.[21]
Trailers and TV spots used a version of This Mortal Coil's cover of "Song to the Siren", which was just recorded for the trailer and was sung by the singer Renee of the band Moneypenny.[22]
Actress Erica Leerhsen at the film's premiere, October 15, 2003
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released in North America on October 17, 2003, in 3,016 theaters.[23] It grossed $10,620,000 on its opening day and concluded its opening weekend with $29.1 million, debuting at number 1 at the U.S. box office.[23] Within 17 days of its release, the film had grossed over $66 million in the US.[24]
The film opened in various other countries in the following months (including a Halloween release in the United Kingdom)[25] and grossed $26.5 million, while the North American gross stands at $80.6 million, bringing the worldwide gross to $107 million.[5] The film's budget was $9.5 million, making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise even when adjusted for inflation. Adjusted for inflation as of 2018 the film would have grossed over $162 million.[5]
Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shows an approval rating of 37% based on 159 reviews; the average rating is 4.9/10. The site's critic's consensus states: "An unnecessary remake that's more gory and less scary than the original."[26]Metacritic, another review aggregator, calculates an average score of 38, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[28]
Manohla Dargis of the Los Angeles Times praised the polish of Pearl's cinematography (in contrast to his grittier work in the original), though noted: "The remake moves faster and sounds louder, but comes off as callous rather than creepy."[29] Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune gave it three out of four stars and called it "an effectively scary slasher film" despite its absurd premise.[30] William Thomas of Empire rated it three stars out of five and wrote: "You'll have to overcome resentment towards this unnecessary remake before you can be properly terrorised but, on its own terms, it plays well."[31]Roger Ebert gave the film a rare zero stars out of four, calling it "A contemptible film: Vile, ugly and brutal. There is not a shred of reason to see it. Those who defend it will have to dance through mental hoops of their own devising, defining its meanness and despair as 'style' or 'vision' or 'a commentary on our world'."[32]Variety gave the film an unfavorable review, writing that the film was an "initially promising, but quickly disappointing retread of a hugely influential horror classic".[33]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film two stars out of four, writing: "Director Marcus Nispel, acclaimed for his ads and music videos, has a sharp eye and the good sense to hire Daniel Pearl, who shot the first Chainsaw. But all the bad-rehash mojo from Friday the 13th to The Blair Witch Project has infected Scott Kosar's script. Hooper went for primitive, Nispel goes for slick. Hooper went easy on the gore, Nispel pours it on" and called the film "soulless".[34] Dave Kehr from The New York Times gave the film an unfavorable review, noting: "Rather than exhilaration, this bilious film offers only entrapment and despair," further commenting that the film was about as much fun as sitting in on an autopsy.[35]Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1.5 stars out of four, complimenting the film's intensity but criticized the lack of likable characters and the lack of humor which was present in the original, stating, "Once it kicks into gear, it's brutally unrelenting toward its unappealing characters and the audience."[36]
On SBS' The Movie Show, Australian critic Margaret Pomeranz said this was the first film she has walked out of (giving it half an hour) and declined it a rating while fellow host David Statton rated it one star.[37] "I was in a cinema and there was about 10 single men sitting around, and I just thought, I don't have to see this", she says. "So yes, I did walk out. I choose to embrace movies, but there is a lot of average movies out there. You just have to try and look at the good things in them. Certain genres are not to my taste — prison dramas, man's cruelty to other men or women … I used to embrace violence in cinema in a lot of ways, but I'm reacting against that."[38]
The BBC's Jamie Russell gave the film some praise, referring to it as "a gory, stylish, and occasionally scary push-button factory of shocks and shrieks remarkably better than anyone had the right to expect." but goes on to lament, "if the filmmakers could churn out something this decent, why didn't they shoot an original script, or even a sequel to Hooper's 1974 classic instead of a remake?"[25]The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw awarded the film two stars out of five, referring to it as a "bullish revival" of the original, adding: "The movie finds tastily grotesque Diane Arbus locals to freak out our poor heroes and heroines. Everything is as unsubtle as you like, and let's face it, unsubtlety is the order of the day."[39]
Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD March 30, 2004, through New Line Home Entertainment.[40] Special features include seven TV spots, a soundtrack promo and trailers and a music video for Suffocate by Motograter. A two-disc Platinum Series Edition was also released that same day, containing a collectible metal plaque cover, three filmmaker commentaries with producer Michael Bay, director Marcus Nispel and others, crime city photo cards, deleted scenes, an alternate opening and ending, Chainsaw Redux: In-Depth documentary, Gein: The Ghoul of Planifield documentary, cast screen tests, art gallery, seven TV spots and trailers, heavy metal song Suffocate by "Motograter" Music Video, a soundtrack promo and DVD-ROM content, including script-to-screen
A UMD version of the film was released on October 4, 2005.[41] and on Blu-ray on September 29, 2009.[42]
A prequel to the film, titled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, was released on October 6, 2006. The film takes place four years before the events of the remake.
Due to the film's financial success, it influenced a plethora of horror movie franchises to remake their original films across the span of the 2000s and 2010s. Notable examples include House of Wax, The Wicker Man, The Omen, Halloween,My Bloody Valentine 3D, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Child's Play. These were met with mixed to negative reviews and have been heavily criticized by audiences and critics alike for being unnecessary additions to their franchises.[45]
Notes
↑ International sales were originally going to be handled by Good Machine;[2] however Focus Features took over after Good Machine was merged with it.
Related Research Articles
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen. The plot follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. The film was marketed as being based on true events to attract a wider audience and to act as a subtle commentary on the era's political climate. Although the character of Leatherface and minor story details were inspired by the crimes of murderer Ed Gein, its plot is largely fictional.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a 1986 American black comedy slasher film co-composed and directed by Tobe Hooper, and written by L. M. Kit Carson. It is the sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and the second installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The film stars Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Bill Moseley, and Jim Siedow. The plot follows Vanita "Stretch" Brock, a radio host who is victimized and abducted by Leatherface and his cannibalistic family; meanwhile, Lt. Boude "Lefty" Enright, the uncle of Sally and Franklin Hardesty—both prior victims of the family—hunts them down.
Marilyn Burns was an American actress. She was known for playing Sally Hardesty in Tobe Hooper's horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), which established her as a scream queen and a catalyst of the final girl trope. She was involved in two more films of its resulting franchise: a cameo in The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995) and a supporting role in Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013). In 2009, she was inducted into the Horror Hall of Fame at the Phoenix Film Festival.
Marcus Nispel is a German film director and producer, best known for several high-profile American remakes such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well as an extensive career in television commercials and music videos.
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is a 1990 American slasher film directed by Jeff Burr and written by David J. Schow. It is the sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), and the third installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The film stars Kate Hodge, William Butler, Ken Foree, Tom Hudson, Viggo Mortensen, Joe Unger, and R.A. Mihailoff. The film follows Leatherface and his cannibalistic family stalking a motorist couple in the backroads of Texas.
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 1995 American slasher black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Kim Henkel. It is the fourth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The film stars Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Jacks. The plot follows four teenagers who encounter Leatherface and his murderous family in backwoods Texas on the night of their prom. It features cameo appearances from Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, and John Dugan, all stars of the original film.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is a 2006 American slasher film and a prequel to the 2003 film. The sixth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, it was written by Sheldon Turner from a story by Turner and David J. Schow, directed by Jonathan Liebesman and co-produced by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. The film's story takes place four years before its predecessor. It stars Jordana Brewster, Diora Baird, Taylor Handley, Matt Bomer and R. Lee Ermey.
Andrew Bryniarski is an American actor and former bodybuilder, best known for portraying Leatherface in the remake of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Zangief in Street Fighter, and Steve Lattimer in The Program.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an American horror franchise created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. It consists of nine films, comics, a novel, and two video game adaptations. The franchise focuses on the cannibalistic spree killer Leatherface and his family, who terrorize unsuspecting visitors to their territories in the desolate Texas countryside, typically killing and subsequently cooking them.
Scott Kosar is an American screenwriter whose films include The Machinist, the 2003 remake of the classic horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror. In June 2006, he was presented with the Distinguished Achievement in Screenwriting Award by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Kosar was appointed the Hunter/Zakin screenwriting chair at UCLA for 2009–2010.
Sally Hardesty is a fictional character in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. She made her first appearance in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) as a young woman investigating her grandfather's grave after local grave robberies—crossing paths with Leatherface and his cannibalistic family in the process. In this film and later in The Next Generation (1995), she was portrayed by Marilyn Burns. Olwen Fouéré was cast in the sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022). The character, renamed Erin Hardesty and played by Jessica Biel, also appeared in a remake of the original film in 2003.
The popularity of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film-series and of its main character, Leatherface, led to the publication of several comic books based on the franchise. In 1991, Northstar Comics released a miniseries titled Leatherface — a loose adaptation of Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III — that ran for four issues. In 1995, Topps Comics released Jason Vs. Leatherface, a three-issue miniseries that had Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th fame moving in with Leatherface and his cannibalistic family.
Jeffrey Cameron Burr was an American film director, writer, and producer known for his work in horror sequels, such as Stepfather II, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Puppet Master 4 and 5, and Pumpkinhead II.
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Texas Chainsaw 3D is a 2013 American 3D slasher film directed by John Luessenhop, with a screenplay by Adam Marcus, Debra Sullivan and Kirsten Elms.
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↑ Hand, Stephen; Shannon, Damian; Swift, Mark J. (2003). Freddy vs. Jason (New Line Cinema): Stephen Hand: 9781844160594: Amazon.com: Books. Black Flame. ISBN1844160599.
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