Some Guy's Short Rant ~ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

      So...... This is a thing. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is a mixed bag that just falls short. I like the story and some of the characters are fairly disturbing, mainly Sheriff Hoyt played by the one and only R. Lee Ermey. But I feel the overall end product is just blah. Nothing about this movie really sticks out in my mind, its more suited for background noise. The gore is fairly decent. And the Leatherface character wasn't a memorable one. This film could have, and I feel should have, focused more on Leatherface as opposed to the other family members. The film feels like it could have been more about a crazed family in general, I think they just threw the Hewitt family in there in order to cash in on the TCSM fame. Sheriff Hoyt had a much bigger role in this film than Thomas Hewitt aka Leatherface. It might have been better in my eyes if it was simply about Hoyt. The acting was good as was the overall production value. It just wasn't really a good way to try and tell the background story of Leatherface. The only real background given was that he was born disfigured, thrown in a dumpster and picked up by a member of the Hewitt's and worked in a slaughter house.... THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE!!!!! Give me more personal experiences of Thomas while he was growing up if you want to call it 'The Beginning'!
      This is a mediocre film that could have been decent had they not steered it in the TCSM direction. So only see this for curiosity and don't hope too much for a real origin story. 2/5 from Some Guy.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition

      40 years ago director Tobe Hooper set out to make the most horrific film (for the time) ever put out. Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the few films that still holds up today. With its atmospheric and gritty film style, lack of on screen deaths and very little blood, its a huge testament to how truly terrifying of a film was created way back in 1974. Now for those of you who have never seen TCSM, let me start off by asking what in the blue go damn fuck is wrong with you??? Go and see it! No matter what version, just go and see it..... NOW! Its truly a horror movie classic. I wont go in to great detail about the story line, but for those who havent seen it or just need a refresher here goes: Five friends visiting their grandfather's house in the country are hunted and terrorized by a chain-saw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals. Most notably of the crazed family is the notorious Leatherface. The character who was created with the inspiration of the well known serial killer, Ed Gein, who would rob graves and use pieces of the bodies he dug up to make macabre furniture and even used the skin of some of the people to make a 'skin suit'.

      Now the main focus of this review is to talk about the restoration and commentaries that accompany the 40th anniversary edition. The edition comes in a 4 disc set. 2 Blu-Ray discs and 2 DVD's. Disc 1 is the feature film that has been restored in 4k and presented in 1.78:1 widescreen format. And it looks fucking fantastic. Its doesn't look like a crisp brand new film, but it was never meant to. It supposed to look grainy and have a gurrilla-esque look to it. But it looks very good. Very good. It has the original mono as well as a 7.1, 5.1 and 2.0 audio. The 7.1 sounds incredible. You can hear every foot step as clear as a scream, and there are plenty of screams. The 7.1 alone would be reason enough to purchase this edition. They took extreme care in restoring both the audio and video on this, and it shows in every second of the film.

      Now for the commentaries. There are 4 of them including 2 brand new ones exclusive to this edition. The first two are 1. writer-producer-director Tobe Hooper, actor (Leatherface) Gunnar Hansen, cinematographer Daniel Pearl. 2. Actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, and Paul A. Partain, production designer Robert Burns.
      The two new commentaries are 1. writer-producer-director Tobe Hooper. 2. cinematographer Daniel Pearl, editor J. Larry Carroll and sound recordist Ted Nicolau.
      As far as commentaries go, you either love them or you hate them. They are all very intersting and informative as well as entertaining to listen to. My personal favorite is the new Tobe Hooper commentary. I like hearing him go through his memories of making this film 40 years ago. You can tell he really cared about making this movie.

      Now for the second disc in the collection. The Collector's Edition Bonus Disc includes a lot of goodies! The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth is a documentary made about the filming of TCSM and includes interviews with everyone from Tobe to the actors to the production designer. It is a VERY fun little documentary and you'll learn a lot about what they went through during the filming.  Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw is basically more of the same. Interviews with members of the film discussing their time on set during the filming. A tour of the TCSM house with Gunnar Hansen the actor who played Leatherface, its cool seeing him go through the house, which is now a bed and breakfast, and showing you where things took place during the film. Off The Hook with Teri McMinn, the actress tells you how she was hung on the meat hook. The Business of Chain Saw: An interview with production manager Ron Bozman. Tells the story of getting the film released and distributed, and its a pretty crazy story! There is also the usual suspects such as a blooper reel, trailers, still gallery, TV spots and radio spots. There is also Outtakes from The Shocking Truth, the 40th anniversary trailer, the making of Granpa featurette and Horror's hallowed Ground's episode focusing on TCSM.

       The DVDs are the exact same, just not with the Blu-Ray specs and such. All and all this is an amazing release. They did a terrific job of restoring it and adding lots of features that make buying this feel like buying a new movie. Well worth your money and time. So whether your an old fan of the film such as me or a new fan the 40th Annivsary Collector's Edition is a wise choice. Trust me, I'm Some Guy.