Product: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Uncut) [Region 2] (1974)
Rating: 2.0
2013 TEXAS CHAINSAW tried to be different, but had no LOGIC
Well, here we go again into Texas, in a van, with a bunch of teens. Originally inspired by Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, Texas Chainsaw Massacre hit the silver screen in 1974 and was a smash hit at a time when people craved intense horror movies because they were relatively new. Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" opened up Pandora's box and then everybody began to do crazy things with film, trying to push the envelope even further. "Chainsaw" was a major push. Today's audience may not be the same as it was in 1974, but apparently there is still a popularity to speak of."Chainsaw Massacre" is not your average horror movie franchise. Many highly familiar actors have gone up against or protected Leather-face. People like Viggo Mortenson (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III 1990, Lord of the Rings trilogy), Dennis Hopper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre II 1986), Matthew McConaughey (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation 1994), Renee Zellweger (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation 1994, Jerry Maguire), Jessica Biel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003, Total Recall) and Jordana Brewster (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning 2006, Fast and the Furious). So, I guess, as far as horror movies go, "Texas Chainsaw" is sort of a classic.The actors in this new version, "Texas Chainsaw 3D" aren't all that well known, but neither were Zellweger, Mortenson and McConaughey. Alexandra Daddario gets the main role this go around. Her most well known movie to date would be, hands down, "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief". She does a great job in this. She has to do more than scream in terror and run and look scared. Her character is a little bit more complicated, and that's a really good thing with a genre and a series that are pretty much consistent of bringing teens to the slaughter and then rolling credits."Texas Chainsaw 3D" was a mixed bag for me. Fully expecting to be treated to the same ol' same ol' horror movie, I was at least glad that they had a story to tell that was different than the rest; not much different, but different. The filming is intense and I have to admit there were numerous times that I felt my heart leap and I was feeling the intended fear they shoot for. On the bad side, the movie in its effort to be different than the others had a few hard to believe and hard to stomach moments that I shouldn't get into, but I'll do it carefully. A baby is left with a mark from a family crest necklace early in the movie and then years later when she is an adult, the mark is exactly the same.The biggest problem I had with the movie though was the story arch that turned Leather-face into a sympathetic character that you were conflicted about rooting for. I guess all horror movies sort of do that, but this one goes even further and I found some decisions made by certain characters to be highly questionable. Many of these questionable decisions were things that were poorly set up and poorly thought out.As far as horror movies go though, I guess it's a pretty good scare and a pretty intense trip to the movies. If you like common sense and decency in your characters, skip it. Finally, the 3D was sort of gimmicky. It works pretty good for the most part, but there were times that it didn't.