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I am sure Pioneer is very happy right now -- due to the popularity of the remake in the theaters, the brand new 30th anniversary DVD of the original that just came out last week is selling like hotcakes. Virgin was sold out, Best Buy was sold out, and the only reason I snagged one at FYE was because someone had just returned one unopened only a few minutes before I walked in the store. So how is it?
Well, the movie looks about as good as it is ever going to look. Let's face it, it was shot deliberately with a very grainy, almost newsreel quality film with a mono soundtrack. But that really works in the movie's favor. The movie is broken into three very distinct acts; the first third is mostly character establishment, the second act is all Leatherface, and the third act is where the rest of the family gets together for dinner. Really this is a movie all about family values, with dad making sure both sons are at the table for dinner time and grandpa is treated with honor and respect. Sadly, grandpa just can't swing hammer like he used to.
Interestingly, the movie features virtually no graphic violence. Everything is either implied or obscured by shadow. It does contain a *lot* of screaming, however. The lead actress must have been sucking down herbal tea and throat lozenges between takes, because 90% of her dialogue is something like "Aaaaaagggghghhhhhh!!!!!!" Also interestingly, the narration at the begining of the movie is done by, you guessed it, John Larroquette. I did not know this (a piece of horror trivia that you would think I would have heard long ago), and using him for the narration in the remake now makes perfect sense to me. There was at least one major difference in the narration text, so I don't think they re-used his original voice over for the remake although it is entirely possible. I will be curious to check on that.
So what do I think of the original and the remake now? I like them both. The final act of the original is just as horrifying today as it was 30 years ago, and in any case it was certainly the movie that created the entire "slasher flick" genre. Halloween and Friday the 13th came along a few years later to cement the notion into American film history, but this was truly the watershed film. As for the remake, the writer took so individual elements from the original, tossed them in a blender, and re-arranged them in a surprisingly different-but-the-same way. Leatherface, chainsaw, meat hook, van, hitchhiker, semi, accidental self-inflicted leg cut, slamming metal door, and several others -- they all went into the quisinart and came out as a very familiar and yet happily different dish.
Cool.
Well, the movie looks about as good as it is ever going to look. Let's face it, it was shot deliberately with a very grainy, almost newsreel quality film with a mono soundtrack. But that really works in the movie's favor. The movie is broken into three very distinct acts; the first third is mostly character establishment, the second act is all Leatherface, and the third act is where the rest of the family gets together for dinner. Really this is a movie all about family values, with dad making sure both sons are at the table for dinner time and grandpa is treated with honor and respect. Sadly, grandpa just can't swing hammer like he used to.
Interestingly, the movie features virtually no graphic violence. Everything is either implied or obscured by shadow. It does contain a *lot* of screaming, however. The lead actress must have been sucking down herbal tea and throat lozenges between takes, because 90% of her dialogue is something like "Aaaaaagggghghhhhhh!!!!!!" Also interestingly, the narration at the begining of the movie is done by, you guessed it, John Larroquette. I did not know this (a piece of horror trivia that you would think I would have heard long ago), and using him for the narration in the remake now makes perfect sense to me. There was at least one major difference in the narration text, so I don't think they re-used his original voice over for the remake although it is entirely possible. I will be curious to check on that.
So what do I think of the original and the remake now? I like them both. The final act of the original is just as horrifying today as it was 30 years ago, and in any case it was certainly the movie that created the entire "slasher flick" genre. Halloween and Friday the 13th came along a few years later to cement the notion into American film history, but this was truly the watershed film. As for the remake, the writer took so individual elements from the original, tossed them in a blender, and re-arranged them in a surprisingly different-but-the-same way. Leatherface, chainsaw, meat hook, van, hitchhiker, semi, accidental self-inflicted leg cut, slamming metal door, and several others -- they all went into the quisinart and came out as a very familiar and yet happily different dish.
Cool.