The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Marcus Nispel
Produced by	Michael Bay Mike Fleiss
Written by	Scott Kosar
Starring	Jessica Biel Jonathan Tucker Erica Leerhsen Mike Vogel Eric Balfour David Dorfman R. Lee Ermey
Music by	Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography	Daniel Pearl
Distributed by	New Line Cinema Focus Features
Release date(s)	October 17, 2003 (2003-10-17)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9,500,000
Gross revenue	$107,071,655
Preceded by	Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
Followed by	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name. The film was directed by Marcus Nispel and produced by Michael Bay in 2003. It was also co-produced by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper, co-creators of the original 1974 film. It is rated R for strong horror violence/gore, language, and some drug content.

[edit] Plot

In 1973, five college students, Erin (Jessica Biel), Kemper (Eric Balfour), Morgan (Jonathan Tucker), Andy (Mike Vogel), and Pepper (Erica Leerhsen), are on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert after coming back from Mexico. As they drive through Texas, they see a distraught hitchhiker, who eventually gets in their van. After trying to speak to the hitchhiker, who speaks incoherently about a "bad man," she shoots and kills herself with a .357 Magnum. The group tries to contact the police, then go to a store where a woman tells them the sheriff is at the mill. Instead of the sheriff, they find a little boy named Jedediah (David Dorfman) who tells them that the sheriff is drinking at home. Erin and Kemper go through the woods to find his house, leaving the other three at the mill with the boy. They come to a farm house where Erin is allowed inside by the owner, Monty, to phone for help. When Erin finishes, the old man asks her for help. Kemper goes inside to look for Erin and is killed with a sledgehammer by Thomas Hewitt AKA Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski).

Meanwhile, Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey) arrives at the mill and disposes of the hitchhiker's body, wrapping her in cellophane and putting her in his trunk. Erin arrives and finds that Kemper is still missing. Andy and Erin go back to the Monty's house, where Erin distracts him while Andy searches for Kemper. Monty realizes Andy is inside and summons Leatherface, who attacks him with his chainsaw. Erin escapes and heads towards the woods, but Leatherface cuts Andy's leg off. Leatherface carries him to the basement and hangs him on a meat hook, where he rubs salt on Andy's stump of a leg before wrapping it in butcher paper. Erin makes it to the mill and tries to escape in the van, but the sheriff shows up and, after finding marijuana, orders Erin, Morgan, and Pepper out of the van. The sheriff gives Morgan the gun he took from the hitchhiker and tells Morgan to reenact how she killed herself. Morgan, scared and disturbed by the sheriff's demeanor, attempts to shoot the sheriff only to find the gun is unloaded. Sheriff Hoyt handcuffs Morgan and takes him to the farmhouse, leaving the girls in the van where they are attacked by Leatherface. Pepper runs, but is cut in half by Leatherface's chainsaw. Erin also sees that Leatherface is wearing Kemper's face over his own. Erin manages to escape and hide in a trailer with two women inside, who offer her tea and try to soothe her. Erin discovers they have kidnapped a child. However, the tea is drugged and she passes out when she tries to leave.

Erin wakes up at the Hewitt house surrounded by the Hewitt family: Leatherface, his mother Luda May (Marietta Marich), Sheriff Hoyt (Charlie Hewitt), Monty, and Jedidiah. Luda May reveals that they used to work in a slaughterhouse but turned to capturing people, killing them, and selling their meat. Erin is taken to the basement, where she finds Andy. She tries to help him off of the meat hook but he begs her to kill him, which she does. She finds Morgan, still handcuffed, and Jedidiah leads them out of the house. Jedediah rejects Erin's plea to come with them and distracts Leatherface long enough for them to escape. Erin and Morgan find an abandoned house in the woods and barricade themselves inside. Leatherface breaks in and discovers Erin, but Morgan attacks Leatherface, causing him to drop his chainsaw. Leatherface hangs Morgan on the chandelier by his handcuffs and kills him. Erin runs out of the shack and escapes through the woods. Leatherface trips and cuts his leg while pursuing her. Erin finds a slaughterhouse and hides in a locker; Leatherface opens the locker next to hers and she attacks him with a meat cleaver, and chops off his right arm. Erin runs outside and flags down a trucker, whom she tries to convince to go away from the Hewitt's house, but he stops to find help at the eatery. Erin sees Luda May and watches as Sheriff Hoyt arrives and talks to the trucker. Erin sees the Hewitt family with the kidnapped baby in a highchair. Erin sneaks the baby out of the eatery and hotwires the sheriff's car before running him over repeatedly until he is dead. Leatherface appears in the road and tries to stop her, but Erin and the baby escape unharmed. Later on in the present footage, there's only one known footage photo of Leatherface. The case is still open.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Connection to actual events

This film, like the 1974 original, as well as Psycho, was inspired by Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein.^[1] Gein skinned human bodies and made up furniture out of it, but he acted alone and did not use a chainsaw. The film's opening claims the events are factual, a use of the false document technique (filming of the first movie was from July 15, 1973 to August 14, 1973, while the opening narrative claims that the events took place on August 18, 1973).

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical reception

The film received a "rotten" critical consensus from Rotten Tomatoes with a rating of 34% (with 100 negative reviews and 52 positive).^[2] A common criticism about the film was that it tried to scare the audience with on-screen deaths and gore^[2], whilst the original film had used little blood and a documentary-like atmosphere. For this reason, the film was nominated for a 2004 Golden Raspberry Award for 'Worst Remake/Sequel'. Roger Ebert gave the film a rare zero stars out of four, commenting "A contemptible film: Vile,ugly and brutal." ^[3] However, the art direction and acting were praised. Jessica Biel and R. Lee Ermey were particularly praised.

[edit] Box office

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released in North America on October 17, 2003 in 3, theaters.^[4] It grossed $10,620,000 on its opening day and concluded its North America opening weekend with $28,094,014. It ranked number one at the box office.^[5] The film opened in various other foreign countries and grossed $26,500,000, while the North American gross stands at $80,571,655, bringing the worldwide gross to $107,071,655.^[6]

The film's box-office success was notable for starting a long line of remakes of 70s/80s horror films that continue to the present day; examples include The Hills Have Eyes, The Amityville Horror, Halloween and Dawn of the Dead.

[edit] DVD release

The region 1 DVD was released on March 30, 2004 through New Line Home Entertainment.^[7] Special features include audio commentaries, documentaries, deleted scenes, and an alternate ending and opening. Also included is the theatrical trailer, image galleries, tv spots, and an evidence file with crime scene photos. The music video to "Suffocate" by Motograter was featured on the special features of the DVD.

[edit] Deleted scenes

Five scenes had to be edited to avoid an "NC-17" rating and achieve an "R" rating^{[citation needed]}:

• More graphic shots of Morgan's death, featuring the chainsaw slicing into his crotch, and having blood and guts falling from him.
• The hitchhiker's suicide having her ear flying off of her head and blood, and brain matter being more dark in color and more in amount flying out of her head.
• A slightly more graphic death of Kemper: after getting hit with a sledge hammer, he drops to the floor gasping and convulsing with blood pouring out of his head.
• Pepper's death originally showed the chainsaw cutting into her stomach.
• Jedidiah was going to be killed by Leatherface via chainsaw impalement after he let Erin and Morgan go.

[edit] Soundtrack

There were two soundtrack albums released by Bulletproof Records/La-La Land Records for the film; the first was meant for regular audiences featuring popular rock music and was released on November 4, 2003. The second was the film's original score as composed by Steve Jablonsky. This was released on October 21, 2003 and has a run time of 50:25.

In the beginning of the 2003 remake, the protagonists are listening to "Sweet Home Alabama", a song which was released in 1974, while the film takes place in 1973.

[edit] Track Listings

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the Internet Movie Database
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at Rotten Tomatoes