On August 20th 1973, police were dispatched to the remote farmhouse of Thomas Hewitt, a former head-skinner at a local slaughterhouse in Travis County, Texas. What they found within the confines of his cryptic residence was the butchered remains of 33 victims, a chilling discovery that shocked and horrified a nation in what many still call the most gruesome mass murder case of all time. Brandishing a chainsaw and wearing the grotesque flesh masks of his victims, the killer became forever known as "Leatherface" when sensational headlines were splashed across newspapers throughout the state of Texas: "House of Horrors Stuns Nation - Massacre in Texas." Police and FBI eventually gunned down a man wearing a leathery mask and declared they had their killer and abruptly closed the case. However, in the years that followed, many close to the grisly murder case would come forward to level accusations that police had botched the investigation and knowingly killed the wrong man. Now, for the first time, the only known survivor of the killing spree has broken the silence and come forward to tell the real story of what happened on that deserted rural Texas highway when a group of five young kids inadvertently found themselves besieged by a chainsaw wielding madman who would leave a trail of blood and terror that would forever be known as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Lately movies have been surprising me, this is the second time in a month that I went to a movie that was in the horror genre, a genre I do not like, and for the second time I was entertained and quite pleased with the movie. I have to admit I have never seen the 1974 cult classic that this movie is a remake of and after seeing the remake, I am highly curious how good the original is. That’s another type of movie I normally avoid, that of the remake as they are usually pretty bad. Maybe had I seen the original before I saw the remake I would feel different but the remake is a very good movie in the horror genre. I was expecting tons of explicit gore and guts because of some of the reviews I had read but I did not feel the movie was that much over the top from any of the other horror movies I have seen. I think you need to expect some blood and gore if you are going to these types of movies, otherwise you just need to stay away. I was surprised at the suspense of the movie as it did convey some good drama and thrills, something I need for a horror movie to work for me. I need to be drawn into these type of movies not liking the genre to enjoy them, and this movie did that very well. I was entranced and one of my hobbies while watching these type of movies that being of me guessing who is going to die and when they are going to kick it had just enough surprise for me to not be able to guess every time. Yes, the movie is gory. Yes, the movie is not overly frightening. But all in all the movie was enjoyable and I am sure those who appreciate the genre more than me have high praise for it as well.
3.5 stars out of 5