The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning – Unrated Edition – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Director

Jonathan Liebesman

Cast

Andrew Bryniarski Leatherface/Thomas Hewitt
Jordana Brewster Chrissie
Taylor Handley Dean
R. Lee Ermey Sheriff Hoyt/Charlie Hewitt Jr.
Matt Bomer Eric

DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 89 Minutes

The Movie

At some point or another, you’ve seen this man. Even if you’ve never actually seen any of the previous films he has been the focus of – five in all – you’ve heard his name spoken and at least seen a picture of him. He is a huge, raging, monstrous creature that carries a chainsaw and wears a mask made of human flesh. His name is Thomas Hewitt; but you probably know him by his more popular name of Leatherface. He doesn’t possess any magical powers to control you in your dreams. He can’t get murdered repeatedly only to revive and come back for more. So where did he come from? Why is he the way he is?

Just who is Leatherface?

There have been four movies about the monster Leatherface and his demented family. In 2003, there was a remake of the original that elaborates on just how demented and sadistic he truly is. But we never have known exactly how he became the way is until now.

TCM: The Beginning gives the perfect backstory that all horror fans have been anticipating for a very long time.

Thomas’ mother was working in a meat-packing plant trying to make ends meet as best she could. Pregnant and still working for her tyrant of a boss, she was certainly stressed and hoping to provide the best life possible for her child who was on the way. When her water breaks, her boss forces her to continue working which in turn ends up with little Thomas being born right there in the factory. Hideous and disfigured, the baby is thrown into the waste vat by her boss to put it out of its misery forever.

It’s then that a demented family finds the child and takes him back to their small Texas town. Raising him as their own, the Hewitts mold him into the person they feel can become a menacing and murderous monster. Through the odd habits of his Uncle Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey) – including a fascination with the taste of human flesh – Leatherface and the rest of the Hewitts learn that the only way to appease their appetite to is hunt the creatures they long for. And a few kids en route to sign up for Vietnam appear to be the next unfortunate ones to be invited for dinner.

There had been a lot of flack and bad reviews when this film came out in theatres, but it’s a horror movie; so for me it was still a definite one to watch. I came to discover that it is not a retread of the remake of a few years ago, but one that stands alone. And it allows for future installments in the Leatherface franchise. The movie was purely an origin tale, finally giving a sense of where Leatherface came from. Sure, we could always say that his name came from the fact that he wore his victim’s facial skin over his own as a mask, but we never really knew as to why.

TCM: The Beginning is a good horror film that actually kept my interest with the story, while also providing me with some decent scares and tense situations. It wasn’t one-dimensional like most in the genre have been over the past decade, and the movie actually flows with valid plot points instead of just random and senseless killing.

The Video

The film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and I must tell you that I love the way the entire film looks. I was really hoping that once I popped in the DVD the film would have that same sepia tone, just like the remake. And it does. Don’t worry, though, blood shows up just fine in sepia.

The Audio

Heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround Sound and again sounds dead on, pardon the pun. The way the chainsaw roars and the screams of the victims was music to my ears.

Special Features

Down To The Bone – This is your “making of” featurette with comments from almost everyone on cast and crew. I highly recommend not watching this if you have never seen the movie. Spoilers are frequent. Definitely watch this fun and well put together piece after the feature.

Deleted and Extended Scenes – We get four scenes with extended material or totally deleted from the film, as well as three alternate endings. Well worth a watch, especially the alternate endings. They all could have been placed in the film to make it work, so I can only imagine how tough a decision it was to use the one in the final cut.

Audio Commentary – Director Jonathan Liebesman, Producer Brad Fuller, and Producer Andrew Form sit down to give you their thoughts on the movie as it progresses. It’s a decent listen if you feel like watching the movie again because they give a few ideas here and there about how they came up with certain scenes to get them absolutely perfect.

Theatrical Trailer

TrailersThe Number 23, Snakes On A Plane, Tenacious D in: The Pick Of Destiny, The Butterfly Effect 2, Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, The Plague, and 300

The Inside Pulse

For those that think the Chainsaw franchise has been overkill of late, think again and go out to buy this DVD now. Not just a rehashing of any of the previous films, but an origin story complete with a brand-new plot. This keeps TCM: The Beginning interesting from start to finish. Sure, there aren’t many extras but those included make for a fun and scary evening. Just make sure not to let in any party crashers. They may want to eat your face.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning Unrated Edition
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

9
THE VIDEO

9
THE AUDIO

8.5
THE EXTRAS

6.5
REPLAY VALUE

7.5
OVERALL
8.5
(NOT AN AVERAGE)