The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Rent & Buy
After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a chainsaw-wielding killer and his family of equally psychopathic killers.
What critics thought
DivisiveCritics largely dismissed this remake as slick, punishing, and hollow — more interested in gore than dread, and never justifying its existence alongside Tobe Hooper's original. A handful of reviewers found it effectively frightening on its own terms, but the dominant complaint was that polish replaced menace: the film looks expensive and feels soulless. The central fault line was whether craft alone could redeem a picture that most felt had nothing to say.
“A contemptible film: Vile, ugly and brutal. There is not a shred of reason to see it. Those who defend it will have to dance through mental hoops of their own devising, defining its meanness and despair as 'style' or 'vision' or 'a commentary on our world'.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“The remake moves faster and sounds louder, but comes off as callous rather than creepy.”
Manohla Dargis·Los Angeles Times
“You'll have to overcome resentment towards this unnecessary remake before you can be properly terrorised but, on its own terms, it plays well.”
William Thomas·Empire
“a gory, stylish, and occasionally scary push-button factory of shocks and shrieks remarkably better than anyone had the right to expect.”
BBC
“Hooper went for primitive, Nispel goes for slick. Hooper went easy on the gore, Nispel pours it on”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
Genres
Horror
Cast & Crew
Marcus NispelDirector
Jessica BielErin Hardesty
Jonathan TuckerMorgan
Andrew BryniarskiThomas Hewitt (Leatherface)
Erica LeerhsenPepper
Eric BalfourKemper
Mike VogelAndy
R. Lee ErmeySheriff Hoyt
David DorfmanJedidiah
Lauren GermanThe Hitchhiker
Heather KafkaHenrietta
Terrence EvansMonty Hewitt
Marietta MarichLuda Mae Hewitt
Steve JablonskyComposer
Daniel PearlCinematographyFrom the studio
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a chainsaw-wielding killer and his family of equally psychopathic killers.
What critics thought
DivisiveCritics largely dismissed this remake as slick, punishing, and hollow — more interested in gore than dread, and never justifying its existence alongside Tobe Hooper's original. A handful of reviewers found it effectively frightening on its own terms, but the dominant complaint was that polish replaced menace: the film looks expensive and feels soulless. The central fault line was whether craft alone could redeem a picture that most felt had nothing to say.
“A contemptible film: Vile, ugly and brutal. There is not a shred of reason to see it. Those who defend it will have to dance through mental hoops of their own devising, defining its meanness and despair as 'style' or 'vision' or 'a commentary on our world'.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“The remake moves faster and sounds louder, but comes off as callous rather than creepy.”
Manohla Dargis·Los Angeles Times
“You'll have to overcome resentment towards this unnecessary remake before you can be properly terrorised but, on its own terms, it plays well.”
William Thomas·Empire
“a gory, stylish, and occasionally scary push-button factory of shocks and shrieks remarkably better than anyone had the right to expect.”
BBC
“Hooper went for primitive, Nispel goes for slick. Hooper went easy on the gore, Nispel pours it on”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
Genres
Horror
Cast & Crew
Marcus NispelDirectorJessica BielErin HardestyJonathan TuckerMorganAndrew BryniarskiThomas Hewitt (Leatherface)Erica LeerhsenPepperEric BalfourKemperMike VogelAndyR. Lee ErmeySheriff HoytDavid DorfmanJedidiahLauren GermanThe HitchhikerHeather KafkaHenriettaTerrence EvansMonty HewittMarietta MarichLuda Mae HewittSteve JablonskyComposerDaniel PearlCinematographyFrom the studio
Rent & Buy