Friday, October 04, 2013

Texas Chainsaw 3D


(2013) ***

There have been sequels, prequels and even a re-boot to the Texas Chainsaw series.  Texas Chainsaw 3D is the latest attempt to re-energize the creaky 40-year old franchise.  Picking up moments after the 1974 original ended we find the police and townsfolk (i.e. hillbillies) of Newt, Texas stampeding the Leatherface compound, murdering the cannibal clan and burning the homestead to the ground.  Sifting through the ruins one of the hillbillies stumbles across a mother and her baby still very much alive.  In a split-second decision he kicks the mother to death and quietly takes the baby girl to his barren wife.

Years later the little girl, Heather, now a grocery store butcher (of course!) receives a letter in the mail indicating that a grandmother she never knew existed died leaving her a hefty inheritance.  Recruiting her boyfriend and a few friends Heather makes the trek to her family estate which turns out to be a mansion.  While exploring the vast dwelling a secret basement is discovered and an old evil is resurrected.




For any aging horror franchise it becomes increasingly difficult to craft anything new or interesting that the audience has not seen countless times before.  While adding little to cannon, Texas Chainsaw 3D does have a few standout sequences including one with Leatherface chasing Heather through a local carnival.  Although there are numerous deaths, the film is not nearly as gory as its predecessors.  The opening was my favorite part of the film.  If you have ever wondered what happened next as Leatherface stood in the street waving his chainsaw Texas Chainsaw 3D offers a very satisfying answer.

8 comments:

Johnny Sweatpants said...

You bastard, you beat me to this one! TCM may be the laziest horror franchise of them all. Aside from part 2 (which was over-the-top fun) every installment is the same damn thing over and over. I'd argue one only needs to see the original, Texas Chainsaw 2 and Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning. The rest are complete throwaways. Octopunk did a thorough roundup of the others a few years back.

Catfreeek said...

Tony & I watched this recently and did not support their decision to portray leather face as a mentally challenged simpleton with a soft side for family.

Landshark said...

JPX, your theme for this year seems to be "movies with 3D in the title that I watching in 2D."

JPX said...

Hilarious, Landshark!

I agree, Catfreeek, it makes no sense to try to humanize Leatherface given his atrocious crimes.

Octopunk said...

I suppose I'll have to add this one to complete my roundup, but maybe not this year.

Wait, is this meant to take place right after the original and not the 2003 remake? The 3 in 3D would suggest it's meant to be the third in the post-remake run, but it's so confusing. I would still like to know if this was, as I suspect, the first franchise to get both a reboot and a prequel.

AC said...

so... has anyone seen it in 3d?

JPX said...

What's most confusing is that the opening takes place immediately after the first one and then it goes into (the present?). The main heroine, who was a baby at the beginning of this film is in her 20s s the main story gets moving. This suggests that the film takes place circa 1994? It is never clear. No one has a cell phone.

50PageMcGee said...

so the answer to the question of what happened next as Leatherface stood in the street waving his chainsaw isn't, "he did the chainsaw waving thing for a couple more minutes and then stood there looking around awkwardly for a few minutes before turning around and going home"?

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...