My buddy Jill joined me last night
for a private screening of Texas Chainsaw 3D at the local Premiere
Cinema. We did not schedule a private screening, it just appears no one else in
BCS wanted to subject themselves to such murderous mayhem at 5:15 on a pretty
Wednesday evening. So be it. Still, Jill and I both walked away more than
pleased, admitting this Chainsaw drastically exceeded our
expectations.
A little background: this is the
seventh film in the Leatherface franchise, but it's the first legitimate sequel
to follow the 1974 original. Other Texas
Chainsaw Massacre films in the ‘80s and ‘90s offered far out supplementary
Sawyer family retellings. Thanks to Michael Bay productions, 2003 saw a cheesy
remake of Tobe Hooper’s original, followed in 2006 by a stellar (and ridiculously brutal) prequel to the original. The fact that Texas Chainsaw
3D is the first actual sequel, following the events of Sally and company's
demise, makes this one a must-see horror-geek priority.
The film begins with spliced footage
from the '74 original, showing all the kill scenes (including the meathook!)
and finishing on Sally's escape from the Sawyer house through the dining room
window. The original footage ends with Leatherface dancing in the street and
Sally laughing hysterically in the escaping truck bed. The new footage picks up
immediately with a sheriff's car driving past Sally and the pick-up truck. This
sequel begins not only the same day, but within an hour of the original film's
finale. Not even Kill Bill 2 shaved it that close.
Through a series of events the film
progresses to the present day where we meet college aged Heather Miller who
suddenly finds out she was adopted from the Sawyer family. She never knew of
her birth family until her biological grandmother, Verna Sawyer, died. As the
last remaining member of the Sawyer family, Heather loads up her road-tripping
New Orleans bound friends and heads to Texas to check out her inheritance. As
expected from the infamous Sawyer family, Heather inherits more than she
bargains for and discovers something distinctly powerful in her newly realized
roots.
This is a lot of plot to rehash, but
I rehashed it for one reason: Jill and I both agreed that, more than any other
film in Leatherface franchise, Texas Chainsaw 3D told an engaging story
about the value of family, the crux of identity crisis, the commitment of
friendship (in and out of the face of betrayal), and even of old school small
town family feuds. Indeed, some of the 3D effects, dismemberment gore, and
direction were laughable, but none ever stole from the story, which is
something I never thought I would say about a Leatherface film. Generally these
things follow a strict formula of kids in
a van + kids on the wrong road = kids in a scattered putrid pile. Not this
time. Here the film had a bit of heart and actually entertained as a narrative
and a gore flick. Go figure.
I gave Texas Chainsaw 3D 3.5 ferris wheel hops out
of 5. Yes, it was silly and gross, featuring abdominal gore and full
face-peeling, but it also expanded a flat franchise with a bit of integrity and
style. I heartily recommend this flick even if you have not seen the original.
