When the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre hit theaters in 1974 it changed horror forever. While the film may not seem all that terrifying now at the time of its release it faced all kinds of controversy being banned in some countries and getting the dreaded X rating before being recut. After 3 sequels, a remake, and a prequel to the remake, the saw is back with Texas Chainsaw 3D as a direct sequel to the original 1974 classic. Can it slice its way back into a new series or will it stall once again?
Texas Chainsaw 3D picks up where the original massacre ends as a vigilante mob surrounds the Sawyer house with the intent to kill every last one of them. Decades later a young woman learns she has inherited an estate from her grandmother that she has never met, so her and her friends take a road trip out to check it out, but soon realize that she inherited more than just a house. The idea of connecting to this film to the original was a pretty cool idea and delivered a pretty cool opening to the film. While the always great Jim Sedow has passed on and clearly unable to reprise his role as Drayton Sawyer, the always great Bill Moseley stepped into the role complete with signature buck teeth. Once the film kicks into its current storyline it introduces a new set of teens destined for the terror, but most of the performances were average at best. This is pretty normal for these types of films and the lead does decent enough, but overall most of the acting is pretty lax. With the exception of a couple of people, there never really seemed too much urgency by anyone. The story actually works pretty well taking the Leatherface character in a new direction, even aging him with the time adding a new element to the legend. The pacing is a bit slow trying to build the tension as well as formatting it similar to the original film, but doesn’t work as well already knowing what’s coming. The story is pretty obvious where it’s headed for the most part, with a few moments that make little to no sense, but still manages to deliver a pretty fun addition to the franchise. The 3D add very little to the film, although there are a couple of stereotypical moments that work pretty well.
This film doesn’t add all that much to the genre and plays it pretty much by the numbers, but thanks to the twist ending it sets it up to take it in a new direction for this generation. Prepare to see Leatherface like you have never seen him before with this film as it humanizes him a bit for the first time. Be on the lookout for cameos of two of the original actors in the film beyond just the archive footage. While some will not enjoy the film as a whole, the opening and ending are worth the entire thing. There is talk of delivering a new franchise with up to seven new films and the end of this one defiantly creates some interesting possibilities.
Comments