Masacre en Texas: el inicio

Prequel to the 2003 "Texas Chainsaw..." giving us the origin of Leatherface and his twisted family. That's all done within the first 20 minutes...then it's just a virtual redo on the original with four likable 20-somethings being captured and tortured by Leatherface and his family. Considering it's basically a remake of the 2003 film, it works remarkably well.

It takes place in 1969 and has two brothers (Taylor Handley and Matthew Bomer) going to enlist (after being drafted). Along are their two girlfriends (Jordana Brewster and Diora Baird). But they're stopped by crazy Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey) who is Leatherface's uncle...and the "fun" begins.

Very grim and graphic with no humor and shot in muted color...just as the 2003 one. The gore is strong and disgusting (this got trimmed to get an R rating) and I can't say I liked it...but it did it's job. It scared me. I was cringing in my seat a few times and jumped more than once.

Another plus is ALL the acting is good. Brewster, Handley, Baird and Bomer are all good-looking and likable--when the violence starts you really are horrified at seeing such great characters being tortured. Ermey is on hand giving another terrifying performance as Hoyt. His character is so twisted, violent and sick that when he got a taste of his own medicine my quiet audience broke out in applause. Also there's good old Leatherface and his chainsaw chasing everybody.

In some ways I applaud a grim, graphic R rated horror film that pulls no punches--I HATE the watered down PG-13 crap we usually get. But unlike some (like "Scream") this is pretty unrelenting and wears you down. But it scared me and that's exactly what it's supposed to do. An 8.

Impresively taking "Texas Chainsaw" back to its roots, horror fans and cinema-goers alike should definitely give this prequel to the daring 2003 remake a chance. Although the remake in 2003 was excellent and had a tighter, more involving plot than this film, it breaks a barrier because rather than directly approaching the style of the remake and trying to live up to its success, this equally grisly thriller ignores all of the gloss, cinematography, pacing and story that it was inspired from. Instead, it goes back to the film style which made the nightmare in 1974, a more direct homage to the in your face horror that started it all.

This story is in 1963, right before the events of the 2003 film which took place in the early seventies. Jordana Brewster plays Chrissie, who is on a fun road-trip across Texas with her friends, Eric, Dean, and Bailey, played well off of each other by Matthew Bomer, Taylor Handley and Diora Baird.

Shortly after the terrifying, recognizable psycho Leatherface commits his first murders, a cross story involving an encounter with some nasty bikers throws the doomed teenagers flipping across the road in a surprisingly brutal accident.

After Sheriff Hoyt arrives (R. Lee Ermy in another chilling performance), to take control of the scene, the nightmare begins for Chrissie's friends as she watches them get taken away in his police car, unknowingly headed for the house which would become a place of torment and nightmares for years to ensue.

Appropriately gory and no-holds barred, Jonathan Liebesman creates a tight, slick and sadistic thriller in the eyes of Chrissie as she endlessly attempts to rescue her friends from a demented madman's clutches. This is a highly worthy and satisfying entry in the horror series that will make an indelible mark on your imagination, if not already done by the seemingly endless spew of remakes and graphic horror films.

The movie is very good...if you're into this kind of thing. It's nice to see a franchise splatter film that is intense and gory without being cheesy. Many of the current crop of splatter films are played intentionally cheesy for humor. Which is fine, but they shouldn't ALL be like that. This movie has some humor in it, but it's a darker humor, and not meant to be cheesy or campy.

Everything that comes to mind when you hear the words "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is in this movie. No wussing-out in this one! Murder, torture, cannibalism, insanity and a touch of the surreal. Oh yeah, and a chainsaw. No punches are pulled, so this flick is not for the squeamish.

Tonally it wasn't as surreal as the original, but it had a better (read: creepier) tone than the 2003 remake. Plenty of blood and guts. R. Lee Ermey plays a major character instead of a bit-player like in the 2003 remake, and the film benefits from this.

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" is actually a rather enjoyable addition to this particular slasher franchise. Especially when taking into consideration the abysmal "Leatherface" movie that came afterwards.

The storyline in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" is actually interesting and proved to be so from the very beginning and up to the end. So writers Sheldon Turner and David J. Schow did manage to churn out a wholesome script and storyline here for this 2006 slasher. And today in 2022 was actually my second time to sit down and watch this particular movie in the ""The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise.

Something that you might could have asked for here, was a more deviation from the usual routine that the franchise tends to apply for every single movie. But hey, there is something to be said for familiarity, eh?

They had a good cast ensemble put together for the movie. And while I am mostly unfamiliar with the majority of the cast ensemble for the movie, I will say that they put on good performances and carried the movie quite well. It was especially nice to see the likes of R. Lee Ermey in a movie such as this, and he was actually doing a spectacular job in bringing the Uncle Charlie Hewitt character to life.

For a seasoned horror fan and gorehound as myself then "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" actually did prove enjoyable, as there was enough gore and mayhem to satisfy my craving for the macabre. So that was a thumbs up for the movie.

Visually then "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" is good. There are lots of nice effects, which come of as being realistic and somewhat bloody and gory. Again, something that counted well in favor of the movie.

My rating of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I've been a Texas chainsaw fanatic since i saw the original (when i was about 8) and all the sequels obviously tried hard (except the one with Bridget Jones in which was an utter waste of time) but ultimately failed to be worthy of following up such a classic. the remake was OK, it looked great and had some quality violence but didn't really hit the spot.

but when i had finished watching this one (a prequel to a remake?) I've got to say i was very impressed, of course it had problems. the odd character didn't seem to have much of a purpose other than to die horribly and scared teenage girls still have that tendency to walk towards the screams of pain rather than leg it, but the grimness and violence of it all was pretty much relentless. there was no crap attempts at humour (other than the 'sherrif' but thats laughing at how out of order he is) and once it gets going it doesn't stop until the abrupt ending.

it looks great, the violence is above and beyond what you expect to see at a cinema (i don't know all the cuts made to the us version but the UK version seems to be about 8mins longer) and it felt like i was watching something that deserved to have 'texas chainsaw massacre' in the title.

if you like horror and gore films you should have a great time, go see.