Extreme Makeover: Leatherface Edition

In 1974, Tobe Hooper took a chainsaw to conventions of horror cinema. Through the iconic anti-hero Leatherface, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre assaulted the audience with innovative in-your-face gore. A blizzard of bloodlust and bizarre. More an experience than a motion picture.

Three decades later, the film was predictably remade. Surprisingly, the new polished take proved to be a frightening and worthy heir to Hooper's classic.

Shit Happens.

Just as the bumper sticker on the back of ill-fated van says. A major reason TCSM is so shocking is the realism. The original film makes a case for authenticity with shaky camerawork, eulogistic voiceover, and a lack of structure, more of an incident caught on tape than a narrative film. All of this is done make the audience believe that this could happen to them.

The reboot takes it further. In addition to the techniques borrowed from the original, we see "authentic" police footage, documents, and an epilogue. The film suggests not only that this could happen, but it already has.

Ed Gein + Folklore + Antique Effects = Truth = It could happen to you.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

In the 70's, gore flicks were underground. If you wanted to make a movie with naked beauties slaughtered by a masked maniac, you were doing it without the backing of a major studio. These rogue filmmakers soon caught the attention of mainstream distributors. I mean, how could one really ignore a six-foot speedster madman with a mask sewn from his victims.

Original films like Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were made entirely independently. Thus they strayed from conventional studio storytelling. The TCSM remake came during a second wave of studio horror films. Thus the new film took a film that broke the mold and boxed in a polished studio package.

The sun will come out tomorrow, but you'll still be missing a leg.

While maintaining the visuals from the original set, the reboot kicks it up a notch in detail. Bam! Grimy, dark, dusty, and disturbing, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre proved those who doubt a major studio could ever put together a worthwhile horror remake (usually including REELapse) wrong.

Just Keep Telling Yourself, "It's Only A Movie. It's Only a Movie..."

In the next post, we'll examine the psychology and mythology in the films. We'll also try to figure out where the hell Leatherface came from. Or maybe hell is the simple answer. Serious examination awaits.