Harefooted Halloween: Texas Chainsaw 3D

What I Liked: Even though the setup and execution is mostly conventional it has a different feel partly due to the very long action scene in the middle with Leatherface chasing the kids around.  They changed the Texas Chainsaw formula enough to freshen things up which was welcomed.  We haven’t had a truly different type of installment since number 2 back in 1986.

The filmmakers sneakily make you sympathize with Leatherface and doggonit I fell for it.  This is a minor spoiler but I wanted to mention it because it may get you to see the movie and come on, who couldn’t use more Chainsaw in their life?

After Leatherface slices a tire on the kids’ van as they’re peeling away there’s an awesome shot of him picking up his chainsaw and watching the van careen down the road and flip over in the distance.  These films never go for more reserved shots like that where you see something play out uncut so this was a pleasant surprise.

What I Didn’t Like: The story makes no goddamn sense whatsoever and is pretty stupid.  A twenty something (Alexandra Daddario (Bereavement)) inherits from her late grandmother a huge house along with everything in it.  The only catch is there’s a Leatherface living in the basement.  He’s a relative of the grandmother and she’s been secretly taking care of him.  When the inheritor and her friends show up Leatherface tries to kill everyone not realizing the new girl is also family.  That’s quite a different (and bad) premise for a Chainsaw.

It’s never a good idea to have “3D” in your title.

Overall Impressions: This one’s supposed to be a direct sequel to the original 1974 film and not part of the 2003 remake franchise.  The movie starts with the sheriff and his posse confronting the fucked up family right after Sally escapes to freedom.  The mob kills the family and burns the house down except Leatherface mysteriously disappears in the confusion.

You probably didn’t need to go all the way back to the first picture to setup a film where Leatherface goes solo.  And Leatherface on his own without weirdo family members surrounding him is really the main idea here.  It’s strange that it took thirty nine years for this happen considering he’s pretty much the only thing most people remember from the Chainsaw series.  I mean I’m glad someone tried it once because I think it’s a worthwhile experiment.  But in the end Leatherface doesn’t work great just by himself.  You kinda need the whole bizarre family to help round out the experience and give more variety to the horror.

But the big question the filmmakers had to tackle was how do you get Leatherface alone?  He can’t take care of himself and he’s not supernatural like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees.  He needs a caretaker but they can’t actually be in the picture because that would defeat the purpose.  So the best the filmmakers could come up with was the inheritance angle.  It’s weak as shit but I guess it maybe sorta works if only to achieve the goal of isolating the character for this one movie.

On another note I remember when this came out the semi-big deal was that we were gonna get to see Leatherface going on a rampage in public.  He shows up at a carnival, wreaks havoc and even throws his chainsaw at someone.  All of that is fun but not nearly as crazy as the trailers and commercials would have you believe.  It isn’t like Leatherface is gutting people left and right.  Everyone scatters when he shows up and he’s after one particular person so he’s focused.

Oh and did anyone else notice the pig masked person in a black robe at the carnival?  You know like from the Saw movies?  What the hell was that all about?  It’s clearly intentional but I’m not sure what the connection is.

The concepts in Texas Chainsaw 3D had to be done.  Let’s see how well Leatherface does by his lonesome and let’s see if they can get the audience on his side.  The film is kinda interesting in that sense but it turns out Leatherface can’t really carry a movie by himself.  I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re curious to see what a family free Chainsaw installment is like.