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User:Paleface Jack/The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

< User:Paleface Jack
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Directed byMarcus Nispel
Screenplay byScott Kosar
Based onThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre
by Kim Henkel
and Tobe Hooper
Produced byMichael Bay
Mike Fleiss
StarringJessica Biel
Jonathan Tucker
Erica Leerhsen
Mike Vogel
Eric Balfour
R. Lee Ermey
Andrew Bryniarski
Narrated byJohn Larroquette
CinematographyDaniel Pearl
Edited byGlen Scantlebury
Music bySteve Jablonsky
Production
companies
Next Entertainment
Platinum Dunes
Radar Pictures
Distributed byNew Line Cinema (United States)
Focus Features
Release date
  • October 17, 2003 (2003-10-17) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9.5 million[1][2]
Box office$107.9 million[1][3]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel (in his feature directorial debut), written by Scott Kosar, and starring Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, and R. Lee Ermey. Its plot follows a group of young adults traveling through rural Texas who encounter Leatherface and his murderous family. It is a remake of Tobe Hooper's 1974 film of the same name, and the fifth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. Several crew members of the original film were involved with the project: Hooper and writer Kim Henkel served as co-producers, Daniel Pearl returned as cinematographer, and John Larroquette reprised his voice narration for the opening intertitles.

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 edit

On August 18, 1973, five young adults – Erin, her boyfriend Kemper, and their friends Morgan, 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. After trying to comfort her, who speaks incoherently about "a bad man", she pulls out a revolver and shoots herself.

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 killed with a sledgehammer by Leatherface, a large man wearing a mask made of human flesh. Leatherface then drags Kemper's body into the basement where he begins to butcher his corpse, in the process, discovering an engagement ring intended for Erin.

Meanwhile, Hoyt arrives at the mill and disposes of the hitchhiker's body, wrapping her in cellophane and putting her in his trunk. When Erin returns she finds that Kemper is missing, she and Andy return to the house in search of Kemper. There, Erin distracts Monty, while Andy searches for Kemper. After realizing that Andy is inside, Monty summons Leatherface who chases after them with a chainsaw. Erin escapes to the woods, while Leatherface catches up to Andy and cuts off the latter's left leg. After carrying Andy to the basement, the man impales him on a meat hook. Erin returns to the mill, but before she and the others can leave, Hoyt arrives. Finding marijuana on the dashboard, Hoyt orders Erin and Pepper to get out of the van. Hoyt then 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 arrests Morgan and drives him back to the house, giving him a beating along the way.

With the keys taken by Hoyt, Erin manages to hot-wire the van, but the two are then attacked by Leatherface. While attempting to run, Pepper is killed by Leatherface, who reveals that he is now wearing Kemper's face. Erin runs and hides in a nearby trailer belonging to the Tea Lady, an obese 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. Luda Mae tells Erin that Leatherface was tormented his whole life, because of a skin disease that left his face disfigured, and she felt no one cared for her family besides themselves.

Erin is taken into the basement, where she finds the remains of Leatherface's victims and Andy. After several unsuccessful attempts to help him off the meat hook, Erin reluctantly puts him out of his misery. She later finds a debilitated Morgan handcuffed in a bathtub. Jedidiah, who disagrees with his family's actions, leads them out of the house and distracts Leatherface while they escape. Finding a depitulated shack in the woods, they barricade themselves inside. Leatherface breaks in and discovers Erin, but Morgan attacks him, causing him to drop his chainsaw. During the fight, Leatherface manages to hang Morgan from a chandelier by his handcuffs and kills him with the chainsaw. Erin escapes into the woods with Leatherface still in pursuit. She flees into an abandoned slaughterhouse and manages to attack 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 on 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, as a voice-over states that the case still remains open.

Cast edit

Production edit

Development edit

In 2001, Michael Bay created Platinum Dunes with producers Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller, to focus on producing low-budget films. The idea behind Platinum Dunes was to produce films under $20 million, with concept development and marketing in mind. For Bay, his main desire was to create a company that could help aspiring directors make films.[4] As the company was considering various film options to produce, the rights to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise became available. On December 5, 2001, it was announced on the website Creature Corner that Bay and his company had acquired rights to the franchise,[5] and were leading the production of the new film.[6]

Writing edit

Casting edit

Jessica Biel

Actresses Katie Holmes, Kirsten Dunst, and Jessica Alba were originally in consideration for the lead role Erin. Jessica Biel, who previously starred in the television series 7th Heaven, was eventually cast in the role.[4]

Johnathan Tucker

Erica Leerhsen

Marietta Marich

R. Lee Ermey

Filming edit

Principle photography began

Production design edit

Music edit

The film score for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was composed by Steve Jablonsky, in his first mainstream role as a composer.[7]

Track listing edit

No.TitleLength
1."Leatherface"02:45
2."He's a Bad Man"04:01
3."Erin and Kemper"01:07
4."Hewitt House"01:09
5."Driving with a Corpse"01:24
6."Kemper Gets Whacked / Jedidiah"01:56
7."Crawford Mill"01:50
8."Interrogation"03:50
9."Andy Loses a Leg"01:41
10."You're So Dead"03:32
11."Hook Me Up"02:40
12."My Boy"03:15
13."Morgan's Wild Ride / Van Attack"04:35
14."Mercy Killing"02:59
15."Prairie House"03:13
16."Final Confrontation"05:25
17."Can't Go Back"03:55
18."Last Goodbye"01:00
Total length:50:17

Analysis and themes edit

Release edit

Marketing edit

Theatrical release edit

Box office edit

Reception edit

Contemporaneous reception edit

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre received mixed to negative reactions from critics and fans upon its initial release. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which has compiled old and contemporary reviews, reports that 37% of 159 critics provided positive reviews for the film, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "An unnecessary remake that's more gory and less scary than the original."[8] On Metacritic, a similar website that aggregates both past and present reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable ".[9]

Gore

lack of scares

performances

story

Critical reassessment edit

Post-release edit

Home media edit

Other media edit

A novelization of the film, written by Stephen Hand was published on March 1, 2004. It was based on one of the film's earlier drafts, containing plot points that were discarded from the film's final draft, including Leatherface's murder of Jedidiah, one of his younger family members who had decided to help Erin escape.[10] In 2005, Avatar Press began publishing a comic books based on the 2003 remake continuity. Leatherface made his official appearance in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Special #1, a one-shot comic, centering on a group of three escaped convicts who rob the Hewitt family General store, bringing them into direct conflict with Leatherface and his family.[11]

Legacy edit

Prequel edit

References edit

Footnotes edit

Notes edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)". Box Office Mojo. October 17, 2003. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  2. ^ Fleming, Michael (October 8, 2009). "Twisted moves to 'Texas'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  3. ^ "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Mania.com. December 5, 2001. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  5. ^ Roche 2014, p. 11.
  6. ^ Harris, Dana (March 3, 2022). "O'seas distribs rev up 'Chainsaw' redo". Variety. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  7. ^ "Selected Projects - Steve Jablonsky". Steve Jablonsky.com. Retrieved February 18, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ n.a. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  9. ^ "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  10. ^ Hand, Stephen (March 1, 2004). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Black Flame. ISBN 978-1-84416-060-0.
  11. ^ Brian Pulido (w), Jacen Burrows (p), Jacen Burrows (i), Andrew Dalhouse
    Greg Waller (col), William Christianson (ed). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Special, vol. 1, no. 1 (April 2005). Avatar Press.

Sources edit

Books edit

Periodicals and media edit

  • David Gregory (Director) (2000). Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (Documentary). United States: Blue Underground.
  • Jeffrey Schwarz (Director) (2004). Chainsaw Redux: Making a Massacre (Documentary). United States: Automat Pictures.

External links edit

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