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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 39 | slideshow) Videos (see all 7)
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.
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.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) -- AllTrailers.net - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   36,190 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Kim Henkel (1974 screenplay) and
Tobe Hooper (1974 screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 October 2003 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Inspired by a True Story more
Plot:
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. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
4 wins & 10 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(371 articles)
New Crazies Trailer and Pictures
 (From HorrorYearbook. 15 December 2009, 8:56 AM, PST)

New Crazies Trailer and New Image Stills
 (From FusedFilm. 14 December 2009, 6:47 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Surprisingly good remake. more (710 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, language and drug content.
Runtime:
98 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Some of the big plot changes made in the remake: 1. It is actually not mentioned nor implied that the family is cannibalist. One of the symbols of the TCM movies was the big dinner scene where all the family tries to eat their victims. 2. The whole family has changed. Now there are 7 members of the family, plus famous "grandpa" from the first four movies is not included here. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Jessica Biel's character clearly cuts off Leatherfaces right arm, but at the end while she is driving away with the baby he is holding the chainsaw with his right arm, while his left arm is missing. more
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...
[...]
more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Sweet Home Alabama more

FAQ

Who Survives?
Is it gorier than the original?
How did Critics react to the film?
more
23 out of 41 people found the following comment useful.
Surprisingly good remake., 29 September 2005
7/10
Author: Eikonoklast from New Scotland, Canada.

The horror/sci-fi movie critic Richard Scheib coined the term "Backwoods Brutality" to describe the slew of low-budget movies that emerged in the 1970s which had as their main theme the violent and abrupt destruction of middle-class serenity. The concept has occasionally found expression outside of the horror genre (Straw Dogs, Deliverance), but since Wes Craven's Last House on the Left (1972), it has been a mainstay of the horror genre. Even thirty years later, the basic idea continues to be remade and re-interpreted.

In my view, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is the most successful exponent of the genre. As it often is in the American variations of this genre, the TCM takes the so-called blue state/red state dichotomy to a grotesque extreme: the backroads of the Deep South is another country and its inhabitants exhibit uncontained contempt for every unsuspecting wayfarer. Its use of tension, which is meticulously established in the movie's first 45 minutes, and release -- the last 45 minutes -- is almost elegant in its simplicity. Throughout, violence is used in sparing and sudden bursts until the adrenaline-fueled final act, during which it is mercilessly sustained.

With some minor qualifications, this description also fits Marcus Nispel's 2003 remake. Here the enlarged budget and technical expertise have worked both for and against the film. On the one hand, a variety of new elements have been added to the story. Some, like the mysterious little boy or the ending, are so-so, while others, like Leatherface's skin mask or the "extended family," are effective. On the other hand, the professionalism and attention to detail demonstrated by Nispel and Daniel Pearl (whose cinematography here is magnificent) on down to those responsible for filming locations and set detail, is consistently impressive.

So the basic "tension-release" framework has been lifted from the original but instead of improving on it the filmmakers have saddled it with characters, situations, drama, and violence. (We learn from the DVD extras, happily, that some "tender moments" were left on the cutting room floor.) I give it a 7 because ultimately I think it works as a horror movie on its own terms -- in fact, I don't think a better American horror movie has been made since 2000 -- and Nispel/Kosar deserve credit attempting to revise the concept in minor ways for fans of the franchise. On the balance, however, the original's low-budget guerilla-like realism as well as some of its visceral power has been compromised.

Of note, finally, is the performance of Jessica Biel. Having earned her acting chops on the Christian TV show/cheesefest, Seventh Heaven, Biel has as of late found a niche playing physically tough, but likable and intelligent characters. She's quite excellent here; as it was for the original TCM's Marilyn Burns, Biel's performance is exhilarating and intense -- a kind of endurance test. But one easily believes she has the acuity and toughness to survive the ordeal.

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The girl in the van freaking out. mbomar-1
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The footage at the beginning of the movie. brandisfnsexyyy
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