Review - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

There is one important aspect to remember when viewing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning . . .

. . . it is a prequel to the remake of the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not to the . Once I remembered this I found that I kind of liked the film . . . kind of.

What it lacked in plot it certainly made up for in gore. I think the problem is that they spent so much of the time trying to explain the family from the remake and how they got there that they just missed the mark on what was going on in the present time. I know, normally I am whining about not enough explanation, right? One thing you should learn about me is that I am seldom ever satisfied!

One of my favorite "explanation" scenes in the film is how Monty (Terrance Evans) lost his legs. It just goes to show how obscenely insane Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermy) really is. No wonder Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski) was so whacked – look at his male role model! I was also very happy that in this film they chose to insert a dinner scene. What is a TCM film without it?

So anyway, the film begins with a couple of couples having one last hoorah before two brothers, Dean (Taylor Handley) and Eric (Matt Bomer), are shipped off to Vietnam. They are traveling with their hoochie mamas, Chrissie (Jordana Brewster) and Bailey (Diora Baird) when they unfortunately run into some riff-raff in a local store. This is important for later in the film when angry motorcyclist boyfriend Holden (Lee Tergesen) shows up to avenge the death of his lady love Alex (Cyia Batten). Without Alex he is half the man he used to be.

I want to call out one of my favorite characters from the film, The Tea Lady (Kathy Lamkin). It is like a bit of normalcy in an otherwise absurd atmosphere as Luda Mae (Marietta Marich) and the Tea Lady sit down for a nice spot of tea - so very sophisticated amongst the ensuing madness.

As I said before there is quite a lot of gore in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and while I took my issues with the over explanation at some points, the abundance of gore certainly made up for a lot. I would definitely recommend this film but just please, please keep in mind that it is a prequel to remake, not the original. This is quite an important distinction to remember.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning Movie Cast and Credits

Directed by
Jonathan Liebesman

Writing credits
Sheldon Turner (screenplay)
Sheldon Turner (story) and
David J. Schow (story)

Cast (in credits order)
Jordana Brewster ... Chrissie
Taylor Handley ... Dean
Diora Baird ... Bailey
Matthew Bomer ... Eric (as Matt Bomer)
R. Lee Ermey ... Sheriff Hoyt
Andrew Bryniarski ... Thomas Hewitt / Leatherface
Lee Tergesen ... Holden
Terrence Evans ... Monty
Kathy Lamkin ... Tea Lady
Marietta Marich ... Luda Mae
L.A. Calkins ... Sloane (as Leslie Calkins)
Tim De Zarn ... Supervisor (as Tim deZarn)
Allison Marich ... Young Luda Mae
Marcus H. Nelson ... Lackey (as Marcus Nelson)
Lew Temple ... Sheriff Winston
Cyia Batten ... Alex
Emily Kaye ... Biker Chick (uncredited)
John Larroquette ... Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

More The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning Reviews

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