Review of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) by Adam H — 30 Apr 2010

When writer Scott Kosar and director Marcus Nispel play variations on the original, almost setting this up as a sequel rather than a remake, the film is effective. The point of entry into horror is cannily contrived to be reminiscent of Hooper's opening, but spins off in a different direction.

The freaky hitchhiker turns out not to be a killer but a survivor (maybe the girl from the '74 film) who inconveniences her benefactors by blowing her brains out through the back window (a memorable shot tracks through the wound).

The film only turns conventional when it gets back to the old plot and starts replaying scenes. There's an attempt to rethink the premise as a franchise: while the new Leatherface has a larger group of weird relations, he's the only actual killer and the original's sitcom family arguments are missed. The look, created by Hooper's cinematographer Daniel Pearl, and expert art direction is persuasively nasty... but somehow that buzzing saw doesn't sound as scary as it used to. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre would have been much improved by leaving out the ?saw and inventing a new title. You?ll have to overcome resentment towards this unnecessary remake before you can be properly terrorised but, on its own terms, it plays well.