Review of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) by Tuhin M — 07 Aug 2009

This films suffers from what most "prequel" films do, in that you already know that the most important players are not going to have any real danger or harm brought to them. And in a horror film, that is simply downright destructive. But even without this handicap, this film is lacking in many other ways.

Trying to give us origins of the legend Leatherface and his brood, the film comes up short in actually giving you any of the insights it supposedly is to provide. The story is very incoherent, at times, giving you little understanding or interest in seeing what is happening on the screen. Sure, we get to learn who's face was used to make the famous mask and some interesting, if underdeveloped, tidbits about how the family became cannibals, but none of it ever gels into a film that creates a story that sucks you in. So, when the killings start, you really have little in the way of fear or interest in what you are seeing. None of the actors here provided any depth or intrigue to thier roles, so you never come to feel anything for them, whether they are a killer or a victim.

The one thing the film does provided is plenty of graphic gore. Gore-fiends will no doubt get what they want. But there is no psychological edge to it, as was done in the original film. It just ends up as splatter for the sake of shock alone, like many of the "torture porn" movies that are passed off for modern horror films today.

This is what modern slasher films have come to, in the wake of films like "Hostel" and "Saw." But those, at least, were done from original concepts, unlike this one, which uses the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" name to draw fans of it to this pitiful display. This is easily one of the worst films of this franchise and an insult to true horror films of every kind. Unless you are simply a fan of watching blood splatter, this is a film you need to simply steer clear from.