Is every movie serial killer based in some way shape or form on Ed Gein? What’s interesting is that he doesn’t appear to have actually killed more than two people, although he was plenty psychotic and liked hacking up bodies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre gets some of its ideas, like the mask made out of human skin and such, from Ed. Not much else is based on anything real, though; this is still a work of fiction no matter what the taglines say about it being otherwise. Leatherface likes cutting people up, but his movie is a little different from other killer thrillers in that Mr. Face is aided by his family of miscreants rather than acting entirely on his lonesome. An idea from the Sawney Bean legend perhaps?

On their way to a concert a group of teens finds themselves caught up in a nasty situation that leaves them stranded. Seeking help they are lured to a remote location where they are terrorized by Leather’s family (a family that slays together stays together as they say) and ultimately get hacked apart by the masked maniac himself. The movie follows their struggle to survive.

This is one of the better horror movie remakes I’ve seen. Granted I haven’t seen many because so many have made the mere idea of a remake become distasteful to me. But the borrowing of the movie at no charge (I do like “free”) from a friend lead me to give it a chance. It’s still not what I would call “a great movie,” but as far as a gore-fest slasher flick it’s a lot better than some.

There is a very strong sense of tension throughout the movie. I was pulled into it. More than that, though, I cared about what happened to the characters. I was sad for them when they started getting killed off and rooting for them if and when they ever got a lick in of their own. That more than anything sets this movie apart from rivals like Friday the 13th which typically have throw-away slaughter-fodder characters.

The look of the movie is pleasantly creepy. Sure, it’s not the first to decorate a house with body parts and torturous implements, but the design and placement of them feels realistic and therefore more frightening. This is the ultimate spooky house. The look of the movie isn’t modernized from the original. It still takes place in the 70’s. However, the production is very much more geared towards the more modern audience.

The original was more Hitchcockian - letting the imagination fill in the blanks rather than being gory graphic. The modern version leaves nothing to the imagination which I feel is one of its weaker points. Movies have gotten away from really involving the audience, and I miss that. The original, despite being less graphic, feels more raw than the remake.

The characters are similar to the originals although there are some differences like the lack of anyone in a wheelchair. The hitchhiker the teens pick up is completely different, the evil grandpa is more active, and Leatherface appears more often. I’m sure there are plenty of other differences that I don’t remember offhand. Some of the changes are improvements while others are not necessarily good or bad unless you happen to specifically latch on to one of those elements.

Acting is pretty good. Though maybe not perfect, each actor sells the character which helps with that caring connection I was talking about earlier. Even when they do something obviously dumb there’s never a sense of “those evil teens are getting what they deserve” kind of thing. It’s just more of a “man, if they hadn’t been so stupid they might have been OK.”

All in all this is a pretty intense ride that is strong enough to make some people retch and most people at least wince. You definitely need a high tolerance for cinematic death to sit through this.