The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

A group of friends passing through are stalked and hunted down by a deformed killer with a chainsaw in order to sustain his poor family who can only afford to eat what they kill.

Director:

Marcus Nispel

Writers:

Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper,

Stars:

Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen

7 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Biel	...	Erin
Jonathan Tucker	...	Morgan
Erica Leerhsen	...	Pepper
Mike Vogel	...	Andy
Eric Balfour	...	Kemper
Andrew Bryniarski	...	Thomas Hewitt (Leatherface)
R. Lee Ermey	...	Sheriff Hoyt
David Dorfman	...	Jedidiah
Lauren German	...	Teenage Girl
Terrence Evans	...	Old Monty
Marietta Marich	...	Luda May
Heather Kafka	...	Henrietta
Kathy Lamkin	...	Tea Lady in Trailer
Brad Leland	...	Big Rig Bob
Mamie Meek	...	Clerk

Storyline

Driving through the backwoods of Texas, five youths pick up a traumatized hitchhiker, who shoots herself in their van. Shaken by the suicide, the group seeks help from the locals, but their situation becomes even more surreal when they knock on the door of a remote homestead. It's quickly apparent the residents are a family of inbred psychopaths, and the unlucky youths suddenly find themselves running for their lives. In hot pursuit is a disfigured, chainsaw-wielding cannibal known as Leatherface.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | leatherface | chainsaw | group of friends | telephone | 

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Taglines:

You want scary? THIS is scary!

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, language and drug content

Details

Official Sites:

New Line Cinema [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

La masacre de Texas

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$370,662 (Spain) (21 May 2004)

Gross:

$562,521 (Spain) (28 May 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Focus Features, Radar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was made into a haunted house at Universal's "Halloween Horror Nights" in both Florida and Hollywood Universal parks.

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Goofs

When Sheriff Hoyt climbs into the van to begin wrapping the dead hitchhiker's body with the plastic he begins wrapping the head first. Moments later, he is still wrapping the head but her whole body is already wrapped.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of 5 youths. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But had they lived very, very long lives, they could not have expected, nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that day. For them, an idyllic summer afternoon became a nightmare. For 30 years, the files collected dust in the cold-cases divison of the Travis County Police Department. Over ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2013)

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Soundtracks

"A Part of Me"
Written by Rick Garcia and Rene Reyes
Performed by Rick Garcia and Rene Reyes
Courtesy of Fastkat Music

User Reviews

was expecting worse

Not bad for a re-make of course it didn't have quite the impact of the original. It did a decent job building tension and there was a darker atmosphere to the location, made it seem more nightmarish.

Obviously the film had some advantages from a bigger budget, and R. Lee Ermey is definitely worth watching. As for the family, you had an almost twisted take on 'the dirty south', or in this case southwest, people being more bizarre caricatures, but with the darker and more atmospheric setting it works.

Interstingly, it seems to lack the social commentary of the original, but that is very common with remakes these days. Though there is extensive use of rather effective foreshadowing in numerous scenes.