I first watched Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a young kid back in the 80s on VHS. I rented it from my local video store and watched it three times in one weekend. I remember actually being out of breathe after watching Marilyn Burns's Sally pursued through the woods by Leatherface. Even now, 20 odd years later, it still retains the power to shock. Unlike with The Haunting, I didn't mind the Marcus Nipsel remake (it kind of washed over me, if I'm honest), but it only served to show just how raw and nasty Hooper's original was — and remains.
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...And yet another favourite! But you know what? I actually LOATHE the remake. I couldn't even tell you why, but I absolutely hated it. Everything was just entirely wrong, and when you remove cannibalism from the equation, what's the point? The whole "He's our special boy and we let him do what he needs to do" malarkey took away everything that made the original so damn unsettling for me. Whereas I simply fond De Bont's remake of The Haunting crap, the Texas Chainsaw remake, to me, was utterly pointless and offensvely bad.
It's actually one of my most hated films! And it's very rare that a film elicits such a strong adverse reaction from me.
So yes. There's my rant.
Love the original though :)
Wow, that touched a nerve, but I've been known to be like that about certain movies too. I think the thing about the Texas remake was that it left me feeling apathetic and drained. I knew it wasn't great when I was watching it but I couldn't muster the energy to be angry. It seemed all so pointless. The again, all my critical faculties were being focused on Jessica Biel...
Pointless is exactly the way I'd describe it, and I think that was what made me so angry. The original is such a visceral, inventive and downright frightening film, I hated that they took away everything that made it great and basically just went through the motions with a prettier cast.
I didn't even bother with the prequel - did you check it out?
Nope. Skipped it too.
Truly, wise men are we.
Though I did hear there's a scene where Lil' Leatherface is dumped in a trashcan as a baby. That sounds pretty funny...
Sounds like a youtube moment!
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