The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

2006

Starring: R. Lee Ermy, Jordana Brewster, Taylor Handley, Andrew Bryniarski

Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman

First let me say that this is a prequel to the 2003 remake of the 1974 original film. Leaving the original one be for now, I liked the remake and felt that the Marcus Nispel direction took the remake into the right feel, though nothing will ever beat the original Tobe Hooper 1974 classic.

With that said, The Beginning starts before the remake and takes place in 1969. Holden and his brother Dean are being led across Texas by their girlfriends so that they can be carted off to Vietnam. It's Holden's second tour and Dean is a little apprehensive about joining up for war. In the meantime, we find out that Lee's Meat Plant is closing and hundreds are going to be without jobs, so basically the whole town is packing up and leaving. Well, everyone but the Hewitt family.

The two brothers and their girls stop in this bumpkin town on their way to war for the girls to use the bathroom. After leaving a store, a biker chick tries to basically run them off the road to rob them blind. In what is probably one of the coolest horror movie car crashes, the boys crash their jeep into a cow. That's right, a cow. It's either tragic or hilarious... depends on how you see life I guess. Personally, I found it funny as all Hell. After this, things only go downhill for the main four cast members.

Now, on to why it's called The Beginning. We get to see why the Hewitt family started their little killing spree, but here instead of Leatherface standing as the foremost psychopath, Sheriff Hoyt stands tall as the ringleader of them all. We get a partial origin of Leatherface, but ultimately, we the audience are left with most of his life to our imaginations. This is good as far as trusting your audience, but there's something missing in seeing a young Thomas Hewitt (Leatherface) get picked on on the playground. The rest of the "family" sort of fill in the gaps with their own eccentricities, but Hoyt stands alone as the "mastermind" of the killings.

In what is probably his best role since Full Metal Jacket, and maybe a role that rivals that role, R. Lee Ermy knocks the character of Sheriff Hoyt out of the park. He's totally creepy, funny, and psychotic all in one grizzled and rough package. With more insight into his character than the previous film, we begin to understand "why" and then just go with it. Basically, this IS R. Lee Ermy's movie and Leatherface is just a minor role. We do get to see Leatherface's "first human mask", so that's a BIG plus in my book.

As far as the rest of the acting is concerned, I didn't see anything that I hadn't in any other Chainsaw movie before. Nothing special, but nothing bad. Everyone serves their purpose for the film, which is basically to make Sheriff Hoyt be as evil and demented as possible. The main teen cast is disposable, which is what we've come to expect from horror movies as of late. To be honest, I always root for the badguy and was hoping it wouldn't be long before the first teen got what they had coming.

The direction is decent, but not as good as the first film (or 2003 remake). A lot felt borrowed from the remake, but I guess the new director wanted to keep continuity up, so there wasn't anything out of place. Though I can't say there was anything really dynamic about the direction. Camera shots were good and the pacing was decent, but nothing to write home to momma about.

The gore and makeup fx were great though. I'd say more gore and better fx than the remake had. But isn't that ultimately why we go see horror movies? Gore, blood, death, and scares. If you like gore and blood in movies, this one doesn't hold back. Though some of the shots were cut short of the "money shot" so to speak, I expect that was the decision of the MPAA and not the filmmakers.

The script was decent too, but kind of lacked some of the elements that made the remake great. I think the story was propelled forward better in the remake, but isn't done too bad here. Just a couple of slow places make you wonder why they chose to do some things, but nothing that will make you hate the film.

Ultimately, The Beginning was a solid film and a good installment to the Chainsaw franchise. I would have done a few things a little different, but I won't complain and gripe because I feel I got my money's worth. The ending comes a little short with the setup they give, but if you think about it, the 2003 remake is set up perfectly if you watch this one first. With that said, I recommend this movie to anyone who just loves the Chainsaw movies or to anyone who loves a decent horror flick. Though some of the audience jumped in places, I found nothing scary about it. In fact, I found myself laughing when others were gasping in terror and disgust, so I walked out of the theater satisfied and realizing that I'm a sick, sick man.

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