Several youngsters (including Jessica Biel, famous for that truly awful, preachy show ‘7th Heaven’, and an irritating stoner dude who looks like Matt Stone) venturing to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert in 1973 are terrorised by deranged, repulsive backwoods family, including chainsaw-wielding, possibly cannibalistic ‘Leatherface’.
You know, for a movie that never ever should have been made, this 2003 remake is actually quite good. Even having Michael Bay as producer and being directed by a guy more known for music videos, and even being made in a more conservative (and PG-13 oriented) environment than the first film, this one really does work. However, you need to remove any connection to the original, because although there are similarities, this is not a minimalist, grindhouse horror pic. Instead we have a larger budgeted, slicker film that makes up for a lack of scariness with its impressive atmosphere. Most of this is due to cinematographer Daniel Pearl, the only returnee from the original (aside from narrator John Larroquette, taking a break from stealing scenes on ‘The Practice’), and he goes an entirely different route to the original. This might annoy purists of Tobe Hooper’s film, but c’mon, these people would never be satisfied anyway.
As for me, I respect the original and do indeed find it far more disturbing and effective than the remake, but the remake has its merits, too. For instance, whilst the younger characters in this film are pretty unimpressive, they are in some cases a vast improvement over the characters and acting of the original (Thank God the stoner dude isn’t as nauseating as the wheelchair-bound guy from the original).
R. Lee Ermey steals the show as the surliest and most intimidating redneck sheriff you’re ever likely to see. It’s admittedly just Ermey doing his thing, but what’s not to like about that? The guy who plays the thoroughly revolting wheelchair bound grandpa is also fun. Andrew Bryniarski fares less well in the all-important role of Leatherface. The film tries to humanise the character in a Norman Bates fashion that doesn’t work. Leatherface is just supposed to be a unstoppable cannibalistic force with a chainsaw. Giving him depth betrays what makes Leatherface scary, much like what eventually happened to Michael Myers (Admittedly repetition was a big factor with the decline of the ‘Halloween’ films as well). Sadly, this means that the film is nowhere near as effective in terrorising (or traumatising) the audience. It works as horror, but not the same kind of horror as the original, perhaps.
Oddly enough, for a film apparently not meant to be ‘as violent as the first film’ (chortle, chortle), this remake actually delivers the goods on the gore front, moreso than most horror films lately. Kudos to the show-off but wonderfully nasty hole in the head scene. Pearl’s cinematography and the wonderful sets give the film a lovely gothic feel and atmosphere, which is more in keeping with Hammer than Hooper’s film. Not that I cared, I love this sort of stuff. Less impressive is the structure of the film, aside from the rather perfunctory sequence of events (it’s a simple story anyway, so I won’t mark it down for that), the bookends which attempt a true-crime feel. Unfortunately, they end up like a horribly tacked-on attempt to cash in on the success of ‘The Blair Witch Project’, which this film is otherwise very different from (and probably not as good).
OVERALL SUMMARY
Overall, for a film that shouldn’t have been made, this flick works quite well if you take it as a modern B movie. And any film with R. Lee Ermey and a girl blowing her brains out in the first act, deserves to be seen at least once. Not great, but a lot better and more disturbing than I anticipated.
