In 1974 first-time director Tobe Hooper unleashed one of the
greatest horror films of all time, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which contained
one of the first iconic roles of the modern slasher-era of horror films,
Leatherface. The film is a masterwork of
its genre, and remains to this day one of the most terrifying films ever made, mostly due to its technical precision in creating a relentless atmosphere of pure, unabashed evil. Thirty-nine years later, after countless sequels, a remake,
and a prequel of a remake, here we are again, with Texas Chainsaw 3D, a film
which has the gall to claim to be a direct sequel to the 1974 film, completely
ignoring and abandoning any continuing storylines in between. And the funny
thing is, it mostly works. Tobe Hooper
himself recently said this about the film: “Incredible! A perfectly terrifying follow-up to the
original." And I'm inclined to agree.
The film gets off to a great start by offering, through the opening credits, a montage of scenes from Hooper's original, all converted to 3D, that brings the audience up to speed; it's a perfect way to bridge the gap between the old and the new while grabbing our attention. The last thing we see of the original is Sally Hardesty escaping, and then the film cuts to a police cruiser en route to the house of horrors to confront the murderous family. It's pretty seamless. Soon some bloodthirsty townspeople show up, and what begins as a police officer's plea for Leatherface to surrender, ends with the torching of the house, and the slaughter of the entire family...well almost the entire family. Fast-forward twenty-some years to Heather Miller, a baby back then and now all grown up, who is bequeathed an estate in Texas by her paternal grandmother, the only known survivor from the blaze. So Heather and some friends load the car and head for Texas to claim the property, but unbeknownst to them there is someone still living in the house, locked away in the wine cellar, behind a metal door...
And so unfolds Texas Chainsaw's rather serviceable plot, that manages to arrange a carload of twenty-somethings on a road trip towards their demise in a slightly better than careless manner, which has unfortunately become the norm for the genre. The dialogue is rote, horror film stock, and the actors, ranging from TV talent (Parenthood's Alexandria Daddario and Lost's Tania Raymonde, the French woman's daughter) to music talent (R & B perfromer Trez Songz), deliver it believably enough. There is actually more story, but I won't spoil it; I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the point where most horror films surrender to auto-pilot, TC 3D actually had more to say. One of the conventions of horror films, made a convention I might add by the 1974 original, is that a certain level of restraint can be maintained until the main character finds the first body, at which point restraint becomes impossible. Here, about half-way through the film Leatherface unleashes his bloody assault on the cast, but Heather escapes, and is picked up by the local sheriff and mayor, who of course were both present back on that fateful day when the course of her life was drastically altered. From this point there is a marked shift in tone, as Heather learns of the truth of her past, and the line begins to blur between the film's heroes and villains before more blood gets spilled.
And speaking of blood, it should be noted that Texas Chainsaw 3D has quite a lot; director John Luessenhop (Takers) is quite liberal with the stuff, and treats the audience to many graphic dismemberments and disembowelments in three dimensions. And he maintains a pervading mood of nastiness, which is mostly absent from the contemporary crop of horror films, a wise decision since the film is clean and polished, lacking the grain and grit that was ground into the film stock of the original, a source of its timeless relentlessness. The film is also mostly humorless, comedy being the death of horror, and usually a crutch whenever a filmmaker has no faith in the source material, a problem that plagued 2012 horror favorite The Cabin In The Woods. So why sit through a film that is humorless, graphically violent, and downright nasty? If you have to ask that question you're probably not going to see it anyway. For my money Texas Chainsaw 3D succeeds as a genre exercise; it is comfortable with itself and doesn't pull its punches. It was actually shot in 3D, which is amazing, considering something like this could have easily been post-converted; as a point of reference, The Avengers wasn't even shot in 3D. Ordinarily I am highly critical of the gimmick of 3D. It tends to ruin films by adding a layer of darkness and dreariness, while giving very little in return. And post-converting a film lays bare before an audience's eyes the blatancy of Hollywood's desire to separate people from their money above all else. But for some reason darkness and dreariness did not bother me with Texas Chainsaw 3D. Go figure.
Is this film going to win any Oscars? No. Am I going to remember it, or even care about it six months from now? Probably not. Is this going to end up on my top ten list for 2013? No. But for ninety minutes in a dark theatre it scared me and thrilled me without boring me. If you're one of those people who complain that horror films aren't what they used to be, this isn't going to change your mind, but among those that unfortunately define what horror films are today, it is a satisfying and entertaining cut above the average.
*** out of *****
And so unfolds Texas Chainsaw's rather serviceable plot, that manages to arrange a carload of twenty-somethings on a road trip towards their demise in a slightly better than careless manner, which has unfortunately become the norm for the genre. The dialogue is rote, horror film stock, and the actors, ranging from TV talent (Parenthood's Alexandria Daddario and Lost's Tania Raymonde, the French woman's daughter) to music talent (R & B perfromer Trez Songz), deliver it believably enough. There is actually more story, but I won't spoil it; I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the point where most horror films surrender to auto-pilot, TC 3D actually had more to say. One of the conventions of horror films, made a convention I might add by the 1974 original, is that a certain level of restraint can be maintained until the main character finds the first body, at which point restraint becomes impossible. Here, about half-way through the film Leatherface unleashes his bloody assault on the cast, but Heather escapes, and is picked up by the local sheriff and mayor, who of course were both present back on that fateful day when the course of her life was drastically altered. From this point there is a marked shift in tone, as Heather learns of the truth of her past, and the line begins to blur between the film's heroes and villains before more blood gets spilled.
And speaking of blood, it should be noted that Texas Chainsaw 3D has quite a lot; director John Luessenhop (Takers) is quite liberal with the stuff, and treats the audience to many graphic dismemberments and disembowelments in three dimensions. And he maintains a pervading mood of nastiness, which is mostly absent from the contemporary crop of horror films, a wise decision since the film is clean and polished, lacking the grain and grit that was ground into the film stock of the original, a source of its timeless relentlessness. The film is also mostly humorless, comedy being the death of horror, and usually a crutch whenever a filmmaker has no faith in the source material, a problem that plagued 2012 horror favorite The Cabin In The Woods. So why sit through a film that is humorless, graphically violent, and downright nasty? If you have to ask that question you're probably not going to see it anyway. For my money Texas Chainsaw 3D succeeds as a genre exercise; it is comfortable with itself and doesn't pull its punches. It was actually shot in 3D, which is amazing, considering something like this could have easily been post-converted; as a point of reference, The Avengers wasn't even shot in 3D. Ordinarily I am highly critical of the gimmick of 3D. It tends to ruin films by adding a layer of darkness and dreariness, while giving very little in return. And post-converting a film lays bare before an audience's eyes the blatancy of Hollywood's desire to separate people from their money above all else. But for some reason darkness and dreariness did not bother me with Texas Chainsaw 3D. Go figure.
Is this film going to win any Oscars? No. Am I going to remember it, or even care about it six months from now? Probably not. Is this going to end up on my top ten list for 2013? No. But for ninety minutes in a dark theatre it scared me and thrilled me without boring me. If you're one of those people who complain that horror films aren't what they used to be, this isn't going to change your mind, but among those that unfortunately define what horror films are today, it is a satisfying and entertaining cut above the average.
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