Review #68: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Jonathan Liebesman (Director): Darkness Falls (2003)

Jordana Brewster (Chrissie): The Faculty, The Fast & Furious 1 (2001) & 4 (2009), D.E.B.S. (2004), Annapolis (2006)

Diora Baird (Bailey): Accepted (2006) (pictured right)

Matthew Bomer (Eric): Flightplan (2005), Tru Calling T.V. series

Trailer:



Tagline:

Witness the Birth of Fear

Plot:

The story kicks off on August 7, 1939 in a Travis County meat-packing plant. We see a mother dying giving birth to a child (Leatherface). The plant boss wants nothing to do with the newborn and abandons it in the dumpster outside.

Another female, Luda Mae Hewitt, discovers the child while digging through the dumpster and takes him home. She ends up calling the kid...Thomas. TCM the Beginning then shows a montage of pictures of Thomas growing up and then the story settles in with Thomas as an adult working at the meat packing plant.

The health department strolls into the plant and closes it due to bad conditions. Thomas continues working and the boss yells at him, but Thomas doesn't want to leave. In the end, Thomas ends up killing the owner with a meat clever.

The Hewitt family learns that Thomas has killed the owner and his uncle Charlie accompanies Sheriff Winston Hoyt over to the plant. The two meet up with Thomas on the road and Sheriff Hoyt is about to arrest Thomas when Charlie ends up shooting the sheriff and taking over his identity. Maybe he was listening to Eric Clapton's ♫ "I Shot the Sheriff" ♫.

Charlie...now under the identity of Sheriff Hoyt...arrives back home and vows to the rest of the family that they will defend each other and never leave the home. Basically he went further off the deep end, and the only way to be free is to kill anyone they come in contact with.

In July of 1969, two brothers, Eric and Dean are driving across the country with their girlfriends (Chrissy and Bailey)for the last time before they enlist into the army and get shipped out to the Vietnam War. It's their last weekend of freedom...they assume as we would...they're gonna die in Vietnam.

Dean is reluctant to go in the army so he has secretly burned his draft card and is waiting for the right time to tell his brother that he is thinking about running to Mexico. Eric on the other hand is gun-ho with the situation and believes that his brother is on board with him.

The four run into a gang of bikers which leads to them being pissed off and chased by one of them. While being pursued by a female biker, the group crashes into a stray cow in the middle of the road...causing a wreck...totaling their Jeep and the chick's bike.

Sheriff Hoyt (Charlie) arrives on the scene and shoots the female biker and takes three of them (Eric, Dean and Bailey) hostage and back to the Hewitt residence as Chrissy hides in a nearby cornfield. Hoyt finds the burned draft card and uses that as leverage to screw with the group.

Once at the Hewitt residence the typical physical and psychological torture ensues that we have already gotten used to in the Texas Chainsaw movies. Chrissy meets up with the female biker's boyfriend and the two of them decide to "storm" the Hewitt residence with out any help. Chainsaw sparks, murder, mayhem and fun follows!

The remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre has a sequel and the sequel is a prequel. That just sounded cool. In this movie, we get to learn the origins of the famous Hewitt family and Leatherface himself. As for the rest of the movie, it’s kind of the same plot as the rest. A group of kids run across the evil clutches of the Hewitt family, while one, two or maybe even three of them meet their maker by the end of a buzzing chainsaw. Will Jordana Brewster meet her end? (Pictured Right)

Is this movie any different from the others? No. Not really. Like I said, we get to learn how the family becomes the sadistic cannibal bunch they are. And that’s where the beauty of the movie lies. The other 75-80 % of the movie is just the same old act with a new cast. What else would you expect from a movie that has "The Beginning" in its title and "Witness the Birth of Fear" as its tag line? If you didn't expect that then, pack your bags, swipe daddy's credit card, load up with condoms and grab the mini fridge, because it is off to college to learn Texas Chainsaw Massacre 101!

Hewitt Family History 101 (TCM101)
3 Credit Course
Prerequisite: None
Must register for a Recitation Course (TCM102)

Classes offered:
MWF: 9:00 -10:00 am Michael Bay Bldg Room C106
MWF: 7:00 - 8:00 pm Liebesman Hall Room D203

Recitation Courses (TCM102)
M: 3:00 – 4:00 pm Hansen Hall Room A74
T: 11:15 – 12:15 pm Hooper Hall Room B19
W: 6:00 – 7:00 pm Hansen Hall Room A74
R: 11:15 – 12:15 pm Hansen Hall Room B54

Course Objectives:
- Discovering the origin, psychology and childhood of Thomas Hewitt

- Qualifications to becoming a Travis County Sheriff

- Nutritional values from cannibalism

- Proper job firing etiquette

- Use of power tools in the mid 20th century

- How to make a Halloween mask using human flesh

- Properly restraining your hostages

- The anatomy of Jordanna Brewster’s belly and lower back (Pictured Below)

- And how NOT to escape a life and death situation

This course is required for TCM 1974, TCM 1986, TCM 1990, TCM 1994, and TCM 2003.

Once you've registered head on below!

Although it was somewhat of a carbon copy of the 2003 version, it was still an enjoyable movie to watch. Sheriff Hoyt obviously was the best character in the film. He had great one liners and truly depicted a demented soul. Bravo! While Leatherface gets all the credit, Sheriff Hoyt steals the show as the mastermind of the operation...and Diora Baird (Pictured Below) looks damn yummy!

I was a little disappointed because this was supposed to be the “beginning” of the franchise, and I felt that not much time was spent exploring their roots and how they got the way they were. Don't get me wrong, the film dipped into it a little bit, but the film felt like they “rushed” through it just to get to the kills/action sequences. I would have liked to have seen more back story. But that would mean the movie pace would suck for the studios.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened October 6, 2006 and made $39.5 million at the box office ($18.5 million opening weekend)
-17 Scenes were edited to avoid the NC-17 rating
-1st movie to receive Iceland’s 18 rating
-Mostly filmed at the identical locations as the remake, and all in Texas