Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

   

Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman

Written by: Sheldon Turner

Story by:
Sheldon Turner & David S. Schow

Starring:

Jordana Brewster .... Chrissie
Taylor Handey .... Dean
Diora Baird .... Bailey
Matthew Bomer .... Eric
R. Lee Ermey .... Sheriff Hoyt
Andrew Bryniarski .... Thomas Hewitt / Leatherface
Terrence Evans .... Monty
Marietta Marich .... Luda Mae

Special Appearances:


Lee Tergeson .... Holden
Lew Temple .... Sheriff Winston

Release Date: Theatrical: October 6, 2006

*Images courtesy at: www.outnow.ch

 

 

Rating:

 

A heavy set woman named Sloane (L.A. Calkins) gives birth to a retarded and deformed baby boy and then abandons him. A crazy lady named Luda Mae (Marietta March) who's family works at a slaughterhouse finds the baby and takes him home.
There the family names him Thomas (Andrew Bryniarski) and trains him to be a killer to anyone who gets in their way. Well their slaughterhouse is forced to be shut down by the law there by having it condemned but good ole Tommy kills the man in charge as well Tom's uncle Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey) shoots the local Sheriff Winston (Lew Temple) who tries to arrest Thomas.
Hoyt dresses up as the sherriff and used the car to play a game of being the local sherriff in Texas.
Four young travellers on one last road trip before they're sent to serve in Vietnam. They are chased by a woman biker as they try to speed away from her but they accidentally run over a cow crossing the road and end up in an accident.
Hoyt shoots the biker woman and then takes three out of the four people are taken away in Hoyt's car.
One of the people who managed to get away named Chrissie (Jordana Brewster) goes to the house where Hoyt takes them.
There he tortures her three friends eventually getting Thomas to kill them. Chrissie is caught and then it's time for a family dinner.

 

The film seems to have quite a gross beginning in which we spot a pregnant woman going into labour at a slaughterhouse factory viewing every details like blood coming out of her and spotting the baby and how deformed it looked in which we all had a feeling that this was Leatherface as a baby. It's also impressive when the Luda Mae character finds this baby in a garbage by taking him home which truly makes you feel sorry for the poor thing as well as her family members spotting the baby and making ugly comments about it which was also nicely put into the story.
Then later on it's very interesting for a businessman at a slaughterhouse where Leatherface is working at to give him the news that he's laid off which we all know isn't an easy task at all since we spot him aggressively chopping up meat and when this businessman tries to walk up to him you have a creepy feeling that he might go beserk. This was perfectly put in without a doubt.
There's good intense killing which Leatherface does to an assistant employer which can be too painful to watch on how he does this which will definetely be a nice gold star for the slasher fans to really get a kick out of when he uses a sledge hammer in order to do this which of course pays a tribute to the 1974 classic! Then we spot him leaving and taking a chainsaw with him which is how he started using a chainsaw to do his killings afterwards. This was also nice to see how he got his roots as a chainsaw massacre.
Plus there's a neat camera shot on the local county sheriff trying to talk to Leatherface carrying a chainsaw slowly walking with his back turned on him which looked classy for a TCM movie indeed. The suspense piles up after we discover to as to what happens to this sheriff which was nearly a jumping moment too as one of the demented family members named Hoyt is responsible and it totally explains as to why he made out as a sheriff in the first flick.
Then when he comes home we see that he has made a stew in which we kinda have a sickening feeling that this isn't made by your ordinary meat.
Later on we have young adults driving on a road and spot some bikers too causing trouble which is very mysterious as to why they are doing this to them for no reason at all. Plus later on in ht story we spot a female biker about to use a shotgun on them and the driver Eric is distracted and pulls out a gun but a cow is in the middle of the road which is another perfect jumping moment spotting the car to crash over. This one packs a real punch to see what happens here.
Then we spot the demented Hoyt shooting this female biker in which you might think he is saving these people in a demented way but yet the intensity grows even more here to what he plans doing to them which makes you watching for more here.
There's really painful situations with Hoyt taunting both Eric and his friend Dean hanging them on metal poles along with him suffocating Eric with a plastic bag over his head in order to force Dean to do what he wants him to do in which this for sure looked peer pressuring as well as a good torture device to use too. Kinda makes you wonder if they got this idea off of Black Christmas.
With the other friend named Bailey we spot her tied on the floor of a table with Luda Mae while a friend of hers is over for tea in which this looks like a normal friend to friend conversation but it's for sure twisted on this moment happening while Bailey is weeping being tied on the ground with these two chatting away. Nicely put in for a twisted plot on a bunch of lunatics.
Plus we have moments with another friend Chrissie who never got caught trying to find a way to get her friends out of the place which also keeps you in suspense wondering if she will get caught when she is hiding from place to place.
There's good heroic moments when Eric tries to rescue Bailey from the table and you wonder if something will backfire since most of the time it does come just to that.
There's even a situation when Chrissie is speeding away in a vehicle and Leatherface grabs her with a hand hook through the window which definetely makes you jump and a good fast paced moment to watch too.
We spot close up shots on Eric strapped to a metal table as well as Leatherface pointing a carving knife to his face which leaves an eerie impression here knwoing as to how he got his mask out of a person's skin. Plus good effective moments on him carving flesh off his wrist which also is not an easy thing to watch if you can't handle a horror film that deals with intense torture. Very well done and this moment can please fans who enjoyed Hostel.
A total original killing is when a biker is pushed onto the ground by Hoyt and a chainsaw is underneath him and Leatherface turns on the saw making it easy to cut him in half and the results are very graphic here for gorehounds to really get a rise out of here. 
Another great moment is to spot on what Learface does for surgery on Monty's legs after one of them were badly shot by the biker which doesn't look pretty to watch at all and imagining the intense pain while this momnet has happens here.
Another one for the gorehounds to enjoy is to see what next Leatherface does to saw up Eric and to spot what he will do to his face to get his mask done.
Plus there's the classic scene at the dinner table with the remaining friends tied to a chair taking another nod to the original here except we spot the odd dead body here and there sitting at the table too. Also we spot a moment when Chrissie manages to escape and running through the halls only to be stopped by a family member and then crashing out a window. Another nod here folks. Plus nice foggy night shots on Leatherface chasing after her in the wooded area which looked fun to watch.
What was also fun to watch is that Dean seeks brutal revenge against Hoyt as we hope he creates him intense pain but hoping that a family members won't get him while doing this.
Lots of good dark shots on Chrissie trying to hide away at a slaughterhouse in which alot of this looked suspenseful to watch whenever we find her having a hard time escaping with Leatherface on her tail. Plus it looks amusing when she tries to escape in a vehicle almost giving a sigh of relief. Yet we have a hard time thinking that she's get away that easy knowing there's gonna be a catch here. A good slasher tradition for this moment since we;ve spotted stuff like this and making you still scared as to what will happen.
Bottom line is that this is the most disturbing one out of all the TCM movies to say the least. It is incredibly well done but I wished they had more scenario's as it mainly took place at that horrible house. It's still very well done and you start to cringe wondering if these people will manage to escape that madhouse. If you enjoy disturbing films you'll love this one. This prequel really explains how Leatherface came to be and why there was an evil Sheriff too as well as the old man having no legs and what's better is Tobe Hooper produced the film who directed the very first flick.

The acting is terrifically well done in which lead actress Jordana Brewster (Chrissie) pulls off her weight very well as the one who tries to solve everything with the madness going on and shows a great energetic performance while doing all of this in which she deserves credit at being a worthy character actress. She shows a great intense fear when the terror surrounds her and really gets into all of this in her performance without letting an ounce of energy down here. She even shows a nice emotional speaking in a scene while being anxious on a devastating situation which looked great to watch here. A perfect scream in a scene that she spots someone being sawed to death which looked highly powerful. She shows a perfect cussing stern type of attitude at the dinner table with her expressions too.
Taylor Handey (Dean) does well reacting emotionally scared into what happens with him having a good sobbing behavior reacting weak to the terrors. He also knew on how to change this mode by acting vengeful in which he was believeable by doing this too. I found him to be one of the most effective actors in this film and deserves great credit into what he does here. He shows a perfect aggression into all of this too and had the perfect looks for everything that was spotted onto the camera. Great energetic running by him in a scene as well as him howling in pain while getting caught in a bear trap in which he makes this sound as if he's really in pain from this. He also does a terrific job with his blocking by banging someone's head to the ground with great powerful force along with a great aggressive speaking towards him.
Diora Baird (Bailey) had the nice girl looks and she does well with her whiney and sobbing behavior bringing out alot of great intensity as a victim of the killers. She brings her energy at a high level and was a perfect one acting in a horror flick seeming to study this part incredibly well with her surroundings here. She was even great with her scared and crying behavior too.
Matthew Bomer (Eric) shows a perfect tough as nails attitude as the head of his group of friends in which he has a believeable courageous type of appeal to him and trying to stay level headed throughout his performance here. There's a terrific situation when he is weakly speaking after he was tortured which came to life greatly here. I really enjoyed spotting with what he does here as well as great howling when he is getting slaughtered bringing it to a great hype here. He brings it all together and relating to everything that he does in a great believeable fashion and taking it to the extreme.
R. Lee Ermey (Sheriff Hoyt) draws the attention big time as an evil and demented typical redneck prick and knows a thing or two by acting violent and abusive with his attitude used in the film. I found that he was perfect with his loud speaking and intimidating attitude that you feel like killing this bastard as he draws this so well within his perfomance. Also he had a great psychological and forceful attitude within all of this too. I found he didn't lose his touch with this role like he did in the first film. A worthy character actor and defientely a serious actor too.
Andrew Bryniarskiv (Thomas Hewitt / Leatherface) really looks menacing in his performance and still has it like he did in the first one. He shows a good masculine presence in his role and knows his powerful blocking increidbly well too. I just find this person truly intimidating just watching him go at his killings. A powerful man in general.
Terrance Evans (Monty) certainly shows it off even more in this one as an old geezer who seems a little not all there as well as having a great sour behavior throughout his performance here. He for sure comes across by having a good old timer eccentric type of behavior that doesn't come off as someone that you can trust but yet does little damage compared to his other family members. He draws the line well with that too. A great intense reaction on him howling in pain while being viciously attacked. A perfect paranoid reaction on him while he is about to have his legs sawed off but yet his screaming was not good enough in which was necessary to be needed here.
Marietta Marich (Luda Mae) has that mellow deceiving behavior in her performance but yet comes across as someone a little off their rocker and has that knack like in the first one too while performing like this. She shows a good sharp type of behavior as well as of course having the wholesome looks which was a good plus to make her seem like she's not all there and can almost fool you with her attitude.
Lee Tergeson (Holden) had a small role in the film but was worth mentioning in which he comes across nicely as an arrogant self centered biker showing a good no nonsense type of attitude and really getting down to the end of things which comes off nicely here. He portrayed a perfect bad ass type within what he does here.

Lots of brutal slayings and blood.
A guys arm is sliced off.
A chainsaw is cut in many victims bodies.
There is a corpse hanging on a hook with parts of their body cut off.
An old man's legs are chainsawed off.
A woman's throat is cut off with pliers.

Steve Jablonsky returns for this prequel and is still terrific with it. He has great low moaning music and intense material with it too along with great heavy drum thumpings and fast tappings too. We also hear good fast paced violin playing which sounds pretty effective and well done too. Everything here was powerfully done not matter what it was and suits the story in general.

[from trailer]
Sheriff Hoyt: People may not remember what we say here tonight, but by God they'll remember what we did.

Bailey: Normal guys would die for this.
Dean: I'm just distracted.

Sheriff Hoyt: There comes a time, when a boy, becomes a man.

Sheriff Hoyt: [from trailer] See whatcha did boy?

Sheriff Hoyt: [after shooting the sheriff of a small town] Damn, I just killed the entire police department!

Sheriff Hoyt: Tommy? Tommy? We need you upstairs. Bring your lil' toy with you.
Luda Mae: What are you goona do to him?
Sheriff Hoyt: Nothin' but a little surgery. Come on now Tommy.
[Chainsaw revs, Monty's leg is sliced off, the other leg cut in the process]
Monty: AAAAAAAAAHH!
Sheriff Hoyt: Now come on Tommy, that's sloppy work. Fix it up!
Luda Mae: No No!
Monty: AAAAAAAAAAHH!
[Cuts off other leg clean]
Luda Mae: What on earth didya do that for?
Sheriff Hoyt: You know, jus' to balance things out.

Sheriff Hoyt: [after seeing Leatherface with a mask for the first time] I like your new face.

Sheriff Hoyt: As long as we stick t'geth'r th'ain't nuthin' we can't handle!

Sheriff Hoyt: We're on our own tonight people... and alone, we shall rise above it all!

[last lines]
Narrator: From 1969 to 1973, the Hewitt family murdered thirty-three people across the state of Texas. To this day, it is universally considered the most notorious and brutally sadistic killing spree in the annals of American history: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.