"Fans of the series should be pleased by a well-executed retelling of their favorite story while newcomers looking for an intelligent "slasher" picture will enjoy the dimensional characters and well-conceived plot."
Let me make one thing very clear: I was NOT a fan of the original. I was not captivated by the psuedo-documentary style and the monumentally slow build to a blood splattered climax. And needless to say I didn't even bother to see the sequels. With that in mind, instead of comparing these two versions, as I'm sure every other reviewer out there will, I'm going to stick to this movie alone and rate it on it's own merits— and believe me there is plenty of ground to cover. This is quite possibly one of the best "slasher" pictures I've encountered.
There plenty of blood, bile, and bodies to give children nightmares for years, but there's also a very unnerving sense that the psychological damage exhibited through three generations of a small town family is quite possibly a legitimate explanation for such extreme psychosis. This film tries very hard to stay true to its "slasher" roots while trying to elevate the genre to the respectable level of a Silence of the Lambs by incorporating more of what makes these characters so insane. Though it doesn't stray into this territory too long (and it shouldn't) it does add dimension and humanity to characters that would otherwise be just another maniac with a chainsaw and his sick, demented family mindlessly cheering him on. What we discover is that our "Leatherface" (named Thomas Hewitt here) is a large, powerful man who's taken advantage of his girth to reek vengeance on those who persecuted him for his malformity as a child. Not original, but better than no explanation at all.
What's really interesting and moves the film into the Hitchock-ian world is the family dynamic. Dysfunction here is an understatement. Though we don't learn as much as we might have liked about WHY the family finds such mayhem and cruelty so satisfying - and not only accepts what Leatherface does, but seems to encourage it - it is still obvious enough that here is where the problem lies. Thomas Hewitt, in any other household, may have grown up to be like Eric Stoltz' character in Mask, a disfigured boy with a heart of gold. Instead, he's prodded and pushed until he's one of the family, and does what any victim of such psychological rape might do - kill. This is made even clearer by the short but poignant use of a small inbred-looking grandson who's chosen to run away, live on his own, rather than be subjected to the mind-manipulations of his family. But if he can't escape, despite his efforts, could he grow up to be just like Leatherface? If ever we got a glimpse into Leatherface's childhood, it's here, and effectively subtle.
As for the rest of the characters, this latest retelling has followed the ever growing trend of strong female leads who can kick their own share of ass and not stand aside to let the men do the dirty work. The amazingly gorgeous Jessica Beil (who looks incredible no matter how much sweat and blood your pour on her) is wonderfully refreshing as a strong and intelligent young woman who realizes that despite the extreme horror of her situation, she needs to keep her wits if she's going to survive. We see a victim here unlike any we've seen before, save maybe for Neve Cambell in the Scream trilogy. Jessica does what she must, and never falls into the clichés of tripping when the maniac nears, or trying to seduce him into submission or anything as hokey as what's been presented to us countless times before. She uses her brains, buckles down and does what she must, all while looking better in a pair of tight jeans and tiny tank-top than any girl in the 70's could possibly have done.
The rest of the cast fills out their roles nicely to become something more than slasher-bait. Director Marcus Nispel takes the time at the beginning to establish who these people are, what their individual takes on the situation would be, enough so that we actually care (as much as possible in the genre, anyway) when they're eventually killed. But the real scene-stealer is the original "Mad-Marine" himself, R. Lee Ermey, who brings a hardcore madness that shows more the "passive" results of all this psychological inbreeding. Completely insane in his own right, he's the yang to Leatherface's yin, two sides of the same demented coin. While Leatherface tears them up with his physical dominance, Ermy likes to torment his captives with mind games and small bouts of maniacal torture.
The directing here is solid and engrossing. The sets are beautifully creepy in an almost attractive sense, making the shots of the house and the empty fields seem like an entity in itself, beckoning those who would wander by. The darkness of the basement torture chamber is lit just enough to make the unmentionable collectables vivid and disturbing. The chase and fight scenes, even when shot using handheld, are not so herky-jerky that we loose sight of what's really happening. Nispel keeps us in the moment, trapping us along with whichever victim until their own grisly demise. Here too is a step forward for "slashers."
The violence, while gruesome and brutal, is more suggested than shown. We never really SEE the victim's meet their final end, though we feel it through vibrant sound and a well-orchestrated score. And each victim's demise is fairly original in its own right. There's only so much you can do with an ax or a chainsaw, but Nispel shows it in a way that keeps it fresh, giving the audience that must needed "Eeewww" moment.
The script is smart, even funny at times. The story actually flows and, unlike most of its predecessors, contains moral conflicts that put our heroes at their personal crossroads, elevating the sense of terror by making their plight all the more arduous. Not only must they (especially Jessica) survive their physical challenges, but must now also survive the guilt over the choices they make beyond the physical, from putting a friend out of his misery to saving a young child from becoming the next Leatherface.
It's good versus evil on every type of playing field. For a flick set in the seventies, it's remarkably contemporary. Strong, believable heroes who make rational and moral decisions amidst a chaotic whirlwind of dementia, psychosis and bloodlust.
Now some of you may argue that all I've mentioned above is exactly what made the first film so great. Well, if it was in there before, I didn't see it. Perhaps it was just too before my time. But whatever your opinion, fans of the series should be pleased by a well-executed retelling of their favorite story (complete with more footage of their beloved Leatherface) while newcomers looking for an intelligent "slasher" picture will enjoy the dimensional characters and well-conceived plot. Either way, if "slasher" is what you're looking for, give this a try.
Comments & Responses
More Theatrical Reviews
ByB. Alan Orange ( Warning: Agent Orange's review's are rated R ) "Run, run, run. Chase, chase, chase. Kill, kill, kill. Redundant, redundant, redundant."
"It's a very well-made movie that is a nice homage to the original, but would've been even nicer if they had a different script or actors...except for Jessica Biel and her tank top, of course.
" ByBrian Gallagher
Top Stories
14 Comments
