Genre: Horror/Suspense/Thriller
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Jordana Brewster, Andrew Bryniarski, R. Lee Emery, Taylor Handley
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Released By: Warner Bros
Rating: R21 (Violence & Gore)

Opening Day: 9 November 2006

Synopsis :

Writer Sidney Sheldon, (The Longest Yard (remake), The Amityville Horror (remake) creates an exciting new fright fest guaranteed to keep audiences frozen in terror as original of the legendary horror adventure unfold. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASACRE THE BEGINNING is next step in an exciting new horror franchise. Michael Bay (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pearl Harbour, Armegeddon) returns as producer.

Movie Review:

As much as this reviewer wishes to be politically-correct in his reviews, he cannot bring himself to think that anyone in the right frame of mind would enjoy this horror-fest, and to even bear thought of asking anyone to watch this movie with him.

Unless there is someone out there who takes pleasure in seeing lots of mindless blood and gore on the celluloid.

And most importantly - overlook the feeble attempt by the filmmakers to detail the beginnings of one of the most successful cult horror character of all time – Leatherface.

The supposed prequel to Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and well, if you really want us to mention it, Marcus Nispel’s unnecessary remake in 2003, traces the origins of the deformed and demented psychotic killer. The year is 1969 and four unlucky teenage souls cross paths with the Hewitt family, where a monster is being nurtured into one of the greatest killing machines of all time.

Those who are genuinely interested in knowing how Leatherface became the psycho he is, sorry to report that you will be sorely disappointed. Other than an obviously pointless prologue that he was born an ugly baby, there is no other story or character development for this poor creature.

And the sub-plot of the two ill-fated friends who are taking their last road trip before they are sent to Vietnam for service still baffles us, because we cannot figure out whether this carries any intelligent political connotation which contributes to the story in any constructive way.

While some may argue that a movie of this genre does not really need to cater to the pseudo-film-appreciators, this 91-minute flick does not offer any good scares (as of most other “horror” pictures these days). Instead, you may find your patience level running low as the movie progresses, simply because you know that the victims will all die eventually, albeit in different gruesome ways.

As of most scream-fests, you won’t be able to recognize the faces because most of them are TV stars hoping to get a big break on the big screen. Unfortunately, their performances are as forgettable as their characters.

Not that this Johnathan Liebesman-directed movie is without any grace, as there are a few nicely composed shots of Leatherman in action. It may not sound appropriate, but these moments add an odd touch of lyricism to the otherwise gory movie.

But you’d not stop to appreciate these moments, because you won’t be empathizing with the psychotic killer at all. When Leatherface’s uncle defends him by saying that “he’s not retarded, he’s misunderstood”, this reviewer could not bring himself to agree with the statement.

All he could think of is Leatherface’s mere unluckiness to be born ugly. And to have such an ugly movie made about him in the year 2006.

Movie Rating:

(Watch this only if you are into blood, dismemberments, watching people skinned alive and hearing people screaming their heads off. And good luck trying to find someone to watch it with you)

Review by John Li