Not exceptional, but better than average, with an homage to original TCM

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2007)

I recently saw the unrated DVD version, and the main difference seems to be that the DVD has an excessive use of the F word, which is rather distracting and unnecessary. Generally this is just as good as Cabin Fever, Roth's initial film, and very similar in style, not subject. The nice thing about Roth's films is the time he spends with what seem fairly ordinary or mundane activities of the characters, behaving in mostly superficial fashion, but there is actually more to this behavior within the development of the plot. For one thing, these mundane activities are later shown to be paramount to the scenes of horror that are to come. Also, they allow the characters to behave as most people actually do, which is to maintain a fairly superficial persona except amongst the closest of friends and family, until in here when faced with their impending death. The sex in the film is always non-personal, and this is a precursor for the murder-club. Within this framework is a horror film that is grisly and gory enough to satisfy most of the gore-fans who don't care about plot, though obviously not all judging from the comments stating that the film took too long to get to the scenes of terror. This is actually a nice combination of American styled horror films and European Giallo terror, just as Cabin Fever was, and has a satisfying revenge-type ending. I will not divulge the 1973 Texas Chainsaw Massacre homage, but it will be obvious to those who know the original TCM and is quite enjoyable.