Massacre à la tronçonneuse : Le Commencement

Please don't get me wrong, this is a good horror film. To those looking for gore, it is there any there is plenty of blood shed. I would speculate several scenes have been cut to appease the mpaa. Had this film been release before Hostel, The Hills Have Eyes, or the Saw Franchise, more of the film would have ended up on the cutting room floor. The film is being advertised as it will show up how Tommy Hewitt became Leatherface. Anyone looking for any real discovery to this information will have to look somewhere else. Truthfully the only real incite into the Hewitt family origin is how a homicidal sexual deviant was able to become a Sheriff. Being a prequel, the lack of background information is, to say the least, disappointing.

I don't want to get into specifics, but there are several parts where the film feels as though it being recycled. Some scenes feel as if they were rehashed from other Chainsaw films, needless to say they did not live up. Add to this the typical slasher clichés (don't go upstairs/down to the basement, etc) and it only adds to the predictability.

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.

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.

"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.

How did the characters become who they became? This movie shows us how the Hewitt family began their reign of terror. The question I keep asking is this,,, who's the bigger 'main' monster? Is it Leatherface,, or the psychotic sheriff?!? While LF is definitely a monster,,, I'd say the Sheriff is the mastermind,,, The 'kids' who find themselves in this living nightmare were cast perfectly,,,

Once again,,, if you are squeamish and can't differentiate the movie from reality,,, then this is not for you,,,