Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THIS FILM IS JUST SOMETHING ELSE... , December 5, 2006
I was a bit sceptical going to a theater to watch "TCM: the Beginning". What can they possibly do to surprise me or to shock me whatsoever? - I thought. - What haven't I seen already to be touched by this? Furthermore it's the good old Texas Massacre, it's been remade once - what can there be in the prequel that was not in the three year-old remake? This "wrong time, wrong place" kind of movies which once produced a very nice example with a perfect title "Wrong Turn" seemed to tumble down into a dull routine like a genre of teen-slasher movies did a couple of years back. But... not yet. This one haven't tumbled.
Two brothers with their girfriends hit a cow making a total mess on a rural road in Texas. Sheriff arrives and soon we get to know he's not an ordinary sheriff. When he takes them to his isolated house you know already a REAL mess is about to happen. Yes, many wanted to know how Leatherface became what he's infamous for. And that's not the main interest of the film although we are told the whole story in the first 10 minutes. Surprisingly R. Lee Ermey's sheriff Hoyt steals the show here, making even Leatherface look like an innocent boy, and showing himself at his insane, maniacal best. So, like stepfather, like stepson...
What "TCM: the beginning" offers us after the four friends get into the house, is a true nightmare. You haven't seen anything like this neither in previous TCM nor in other films alike. I won't even mention the quantity of gore and all the physiological details of what's happening, but emotionally this movie just leaves you speachless. It's so dark, relentless and morally exhausting you won't believe it. It's intense to the extent I wanted to yell at times: Stop it! That's enough! Horror fans saw many good examples of brutal and vicious pictures lately, but "TCM: the Beginning" tops them all in some sense.
Besides there'll be a surprise. I won't reveal all the details, but horror movies have their own rules established during all those years of terrifying the audience. Usually if a character shows some will to live, doesn't act like a coward and helps his friends he is rewarded in the end. His life usually is saved. So if you try to figure out the ending here, you'll never guess. The makers of the prequel decided to do everything like it could happen in real life, not taking the genre's rules into consideration. This adds so much dread to the film...
I have to add that original Texas Chain Saw Massacre of '74 is my favourite horror movie so naturally I had all kinds of prejudices against the remake and its prequel. And still I adored "The Beginning". That's to everyone who also have prejudice against it - don't compare, just watch. And as a horror fan you'll see quite possibly there hasn't been a movie so dark and rigorous.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A true "Chainsaw" epic, December 22, 2006
First of all, anything that came after the 1974 classic should not fall into immediate comparison. I hate it when these Internet critics take the remake, the sequels or this recent endeavor of the 'Chainsaw' franchise and line it up toe-to-toe with Tobe Hooper's masterpiece. It can't be done.
Having gotten that out of the way, I'll admit that I loved 'The Beginning' a lot more than the remake it is preceding. Afterall, everything they wanted to do in the remake is on full display here, and I can only point out one useless homage to the original that was probably intended for the remake itself (the heroine launching herself through a glass window to evade her maniacal captors). Aside from that, there is nothing about this film that I didn't like. In an hour and twenty minutes' time, I was put through the wringer and actually had to wipe my sweaty palms on the seat a few times because I was so caught up in the mayhem that unfolded, however unapologetically, in front of my eyes. Coming from me, that's a major compliment to how tense this particular installment was.
'The Beginning' takes place a few years before the remake (I would say the original but this revisits the Hewitt family, not the Sawyer family) and for a series of movies that are infamous for portraying scream queens falling under the clutches of a chainsaw-wielding maniac, this particular movie wears a lot of ambitions on its sleeve, especially when it comes to examining the psychological and situational underpinnings of this family's sick behavior. Depending on your stomach, you will either grow to understand Leatherface's actions or even pity him altogether. 'The Beginning' elevates Leatherface (Thomas Hewitt) from mere slasher status to a tragic character of, dare I say it, Greek proportions. In the longrun, he is just an accessory to another man's warped perception of the Darwin theory. There is a social-political subplot involved but unfortunately it doesn't quite live up to its potential because it disappears by the end of the second act. Needless to say, there is a plausible explanation wedged behind the cannibalism element, and it has to do with the horrors of war (though it is a past war). Again, this would have been great fodder for exploration, but it's quickly tucked away.
One other thing that makes 'The Beginning' better than the remake is how far it actually goes while still remaining true to implied violence. While the bodycount doesn't go beyond the bodycount from the first film, our unfortunate protagonists are subjected to elongated torture sequences and far more gruesome deaths this time around. Plasma galore. Whereas the remake was a striptease, you get to see a bit more than you would expect (which brings me to wonder what they cut from the final print that was worse; there's an additional 17 minutes of material that would have given this an NC-17 rating). However, it wasn't the violence that intrigued me but rather the backstory hiding beneath the action. Trust me, the story and the violence go hand-in-hand, so you can't strip away one layer without having to sacrifice the other.
To sum it all up, I was truly satisfied with this film. I don't know where they can go beyond this point without becoming redundant, but I am not afraid to say that this is an excellent prequel and I would pay to see it again. In fact, I will pay to see it again very soon. Devan out.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Texas Hold 'em...Then Kill 'em, January 22, 2007
When you talk about the TV shows Desperate Housewives, 7th Heaven, CSI, The OC and even The Guiding Light wouldn't you think it strange to mention The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the same breath? Similarly, when you say R. Lee Ermey you're usually not talking about 2003 and 2006's Texas Chainsaw Massacre films, right?
The main actors in both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beinning (2006) were plucked right out TV. And R. Lee Ermey?...He starred in both Texas 2003 and 2006, but we all know what we really associate that guy with...the colorful Full Metal Jacket (1987) boot camp sergeant, of course.
Ah, and let's not forget the up and coming Jessica Beil (2006's The Illusionist); while the 2003 remake of Texas Chainsaw was one of her first big screen films, I expect that we'll see a lot more leading roles from this fine young talent in the future.
I was lucky enough to find a very inexpensive 2 pack on sale at Amazon for the price that just one of the disks is selling for today. Unfortunately, as of this writing I see that Amazon isn't offering the same deal, but the two pack is still available.
Enough trivia. About the movies.
Might as well start at The Beginning (2006). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was perhaps one of the top 5 most shockingly brutal movies that I have ever seen. Torture. Brutal murder. Intense violence. All acted out superbly by a cast that mostly made you believe that this horrible stuff was happening.
The Beginning was directed by short-resumed Horror vet Jonathan Liebesman, and he mostly kept it real. He made his actors take their rolls seriously, unlike so many Horror movies that throw in teenage camp to dumb down the shock. Liebsman had only a few "oh c'mon that would never happen" scenes versus almost an "oh my God" ever 5 minutes throughout the 96 minute Horror gala (that's like 25 'oh-my-Gods').
The over the top and stretch the imagination scenes are enough to bring the film down a notch, but I was out of breath after exposure to so much shock and awe by the time the credits rolled. So The Beginning was affectively above average.
The thing about The Beginning is that you know it's not the end. No happy ending expectations here; just a sense of dread for all who come in contact with Sheriff Hoyt's family of degenerates. The Beginning is the prequel that plays right into The Texas Chainsaw 2003 remake of the original 1974 Tobe Hooper cult classic that shocked the nation. Hooper had oversight as a producer in both Texas 2003 and 2006.
2003's remake was probably about 1/2 as brutal as the 2006 (unrated version) story of The Beginning, so that should speak volumes as to how to set your expectations. Texas 2003 continues the murderous story of the unfortunate that ventured to close to Sheriff Hoyt's jurisdiction.
Shock and awe (or should I say shock and gore) should not be confused with greatness. Both Texas 2003 and 2006 were good Horror movies. They were better gross-out movies. So all in all, if you're into Horror, these moves do indeed epitomize the genre. They are good...not great. If you are rating these on shock these two are at the top of the list. If you're looking for other impressionable films to have crossed the screen in the past 25 years or so, click on my name above and check out my Amazon Listmania List of 15 Flicks Guaranteed to Leave A Permanent Impression.
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