The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a deformed chainsaw-wielding loon and his family of equally psychopathic killers.

Director:

Marcus Nispel

Writers:

Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper

Stars:

Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Andrew Bryniarski

4 wins & 17 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:

scantily clad female | leatherface character | cleavage | upskirt | panties | 

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Taglines:

What you know about fear... doesn't even come close.

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Genres:

Crime | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sheriff Hoyt carries a Ruger Vaquero as his duty sidearm. The firearm is anachronistic as the Ruger Vaquero was not produced until 1980.

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Goofs

When Leatherface first begins to chase Erin and Andy inside the house and Andy turns aside the chainsaw with the tire iron, we see the saw from below and it is cutting length-wise through the floor boards. When we see the same shot from above the saw is cutting across the width of the boards.

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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

Featured in 1,001 Movies You Must See (Before You Die) (2014)

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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

I had mediocre expectations. Glad to be wrong.

First of all, I really liked the photography. I think that it was matching a lot with the mood. The directing was pretty good. I enjoyed the beginning scene with the hitchhiker.

I appreciate the fact that they changed Leatherface's family name from Sawyer to Hewitt, because that shows respect to the original film.

This film is the remake of the original and it has similarities, yet a lot of differences, which is cool. You don't want to see the same film, but you want to find elements that are in common in both movies. This was happening. Basically, the remake can stand proudly by its own.

The last 20 or 25 minutes were very suspenseful, and I enjoyed every minute of those. The chase scene was long and scary. I like the scene, where Erin thought that she found "shelter" in a caravan... again, she thought. Very pleasant the fact that they included more characters, with the same psychological problems as Leatherface. And another unique thing that I found was the fact that the family was not patriarch (like in prior films), but matriarch. It was a great difference that made this film extra unique.

In my opinion the gore was mediocre. Before watching the film, I was afraid of the gore, because the title by itself contains "chainsaw" and "massacre", and since I watched the 1974 film, where the gore was tame, almost non existent, I thought that the remake would he something like a splatter. In fact, absolutely not. The violence was very tolerable, and for such a film was less than what I was expecting. So, again, in my opinion, the gore will not affect you at all. Of course, as a horror/slasher film it contains more than its prior (I guess), but again, tolerable. You can check out the "Parent's Guide" for detailed information.

Last thing I want to mention, is that every sexual thing was very tame. Something rare in horror films with young people. I really liked the fact that it was not sexploitation. I also want to say that the story behind the hitchhiker, the baby and her family was very shocking and I liked what Erin did for that.

A thing I didn't liked was that I couldn't feel any 70s vibe. Like, I felt that it was so 00s, even not 90s. And the film takes place in 1974. You know. Oil crisis... I would definitely like more the film if the 70s sense was stronger, or at least existent a bit. Only the haircut of Morgan was very cool and in this decade.

Generally, I love this film and I would watch it again without hesitation.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Filming Locations:

Cele Store - 18726 Cameron Road, Manor, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$29,100,000, 19 October 2003

Gross USA:

$80,571,655

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$107,363,905

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Focus Features, Radar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1