Whether you're a fan or
not, you have to admit; the original THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a milestone
of modern American cinema. It's gotten the remake treatment, (twice!) multiple
sequels, and a prequel, not to mention numerous imitations. Having now found
its way into the hands of Lionsgate, the production company that brought us the
SAW series, the franchise is getting the 3D treatment.
Due for release in
January, this latest murderous adventure of the series' unique main character
are teased in a trailer that arrived just last week, which can be viewed here:
I'm not a reflexive hater
of the remake trend; some decent ones have come along and the originals get a
little attention during the cycle, so it's all good in my eyes. I don't have to
watch the remakes of PULSE or BLACK CHRISTMAS, films that are already damn near
perfect-and I haven't. TC3D, as I'm sure it will come to be known, appears to
fall into the re-boot category -as opposed to a full-on remake or sequel; which
means our friends at Lionsgate would have had to walk a line at some point
between staying true to the expectations held by fans of the original, and
crossing over into the expectations of today's casual horror moviegoer. Success
is based on ticket sales, after all, and not the opinions of hardcore fans.
As one of the
aforementioned hardcore fans of the original -and yes, some of the other
entries- I have certain expectations of my own; cherished notions of what a TCM
movie should be, you might say. Looking at the trailer, I mostly like what I
see--mostly.
Tobe Hooper's "Bubba
Sawyer" Leatherface, whose first appearance in the original is easily one
of the most intensely terrifying moments in horror history, is a different kind
of slasher, if he can even be called that. There are characters who kill
because they enjoy it, and there are killers who kill because they have to-that
voice in their heads you know, or that compulsion from a sinister source
outside themselves. Leatherface -in his truest incarnation- kills because he
sees it as a job. In his childish mind, he seems to have no more interest in
what his victims are experiencing than any other butcher. We are food,
ingredients for the chili and sausages and whatever other meat-based recipes
his family might be cooking. Witness the dementedly poignant scene in TCM 3, in
which a frustrated Bubba, engaging, perhaps, in some homeschooling on
his See-and Spell, tries again and again to identify a picture of a boy ,
hunting and pecking the little keypad with his meaty fingers to spell F-U-D,
over and over.
Even the 2003 remake and
its prequel, with Leatherface pointedly made over as a different character with
a new name (Thomas Hewitt) and different family, kept those elements of his
personality that made us feel an odd sympathy for him--as though he was a
hopelessly rabid dog who should be put down as a matter of mercy.
The TC3D trailer seems to
paint a different picture. One telling scene has Ol' Leathy coming up behind a
bound and seated captive, resting his chainsaw across her shoulder as if to
mock her and instill terror, like one of the torture-happy villains of the
Hostel films. Hardly something a butcher just putting in his daily hours would
do with the unfortunate livestock sent to the slaughter on his watch. Perhaps I
am reading the scene wrong. Time will tell. But the trailer, together with its
synopsis, implies that our old meat-loving monster is sort of squatting in the
film's requisite mansion, unattended by the also deranged but more functional
family members who both cared for and manipulated the old Bubba--a manchild so
unstable that it's doubtful he could have made it for long on his own; another
reason he was of the "tragic monster" ilk, like so many classic
horrors.
Now I have no problem
with the notion that Leatherface could change, grow--even become more
self-reliant to some degree. In TCM 2, we find our favorite hulking cannibal
smitten with the film's Final Girl, even gifting her with the freshly-removed
face of her dear friend, and coming to realize on some level that his beloved
power tool is a surrogate phallus. If that's not character maturation I don't know
what is.
However, reducing
Leatherface to a silent, lumbering thrill killer seems a bit...generic,
considering all that's come before.
Lionsgate has almost
always been good to horror fans. Let's hope the film is so packed with amazing
characterization that a brief trailer simply cannot do it justice-or that
director John Luessenhop and the
numerous writers have come up with a delicious twist that fits perfectly with
Tobe Hooper's vision.
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