Here we are at the beginning of our Platinum Dunes marathon, leading up to April’s month-long Wes Craven coverage, in turn leading up to my April 30th review of the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Here we have the first film produced by Platinum Dunes: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the 2003 Marcus Nispel-directed horror flick based on the 1974 classic. As it will be with all further entries spread over the next few months, I’ve already gone over the original film and it’s sequels, and now it’s time to get into the remake. Is it good? Is it bad? Does it strike fear into our pitiful hearts or does it suck the paint off a Cadillac? Let’s dig in and find out…
I’m not a happy go lucky guy. When it comes to watching movies and their respective trailers, I can be pretty brutal in my opinion, much like any regular online extremist. However, what many Internet denizens lack is the ability to open their minds and judge something on its own merits, rather than those they think it should contain. This has never been more apparent than with the relatively recent trend in Hollywood to remake or “re-imagine” classic or foreign films, usually of the horror variety. For the most part I’m on the Internet’s side on this one: most remakes suck rancid ass. The Fog and One Missed Call are perfect examples of this, and do add significant weight to the “REMAKES FAIL!!11″ argument. Unfortunately, that’s about as in depth as most online critics tend to journey.