There is a HUGE danger of building up a movie before you see it, because 99% of the time you'll be left a wee bit disappointed.  Now if you've been reading my blog, you know I LOVE horror movies and have been looking very forward to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre:  The Beginning" pretty much since the remake came out in 2003.  I honestly woke up like a kid on Christmas morning Saturday...yeah...I know...pathetic...but I don't care.  The plan was to meet Don, my fellow band-mate in NoiseCult, at noon to see this movie.  Why didn't I go Friday night?  Because I've presented many times in the past why I hate going to the theater so much, and ESPECIALLY going to see something on opening day.  So I waited until Saturday at noon, arrived at the theater and said "one of the noon showing of Texas Chainsaw"...then I turned to Don and said "man I've been waiting three years to say that"...again...I'm a dork but I really don't care.  So I go in, get my large Diet Coke and a bag of peanut M&M's and sit down terrified the movie would not live up to my expectations.  The previews run, and I'm like "enough already...let's see the friggin' movie!!!"  I didn't say that, only thought it because you should all know by now my disdain for those who talk in theaters.  The lights go down, the into rolls, and I sit back wondering how this will live up to my expectations.  To sum it up, this movie FAR surpassed anything I hoped for.  Why?  Keep reading sportsfans....

Last year when this movie was being filmed, I read an interview over on IGN.com with Andrew Bryniarski (the dude who played Leatherface) and also one with R. Lee Ermey (Sheriff Hoyt).  In case you didn't know, Andrew was not originally cast to play Leatherface in the 2003 remake, but wanted to VERY badly.  When the person originally cast for it had a problem playing the role, Andrew was called.  In the interview I remember reading, he was talking about spending time in his trailer playing guitar to Slayer music.  Ok, that's a HUGE plus right there.  So you couple the fact a dude loves playing guitar to Slayer along with this same guy almost begging to play the role of Leatherface and having creative input to this newest movie, and you already know it should kick some major ass.  Plus, if you've ever seen any other movies this guy is in, he's a quite intense individual, and I couldn't imagine another guy playing Leatherface.  When I read the interview with Ermey, he was talking about writing a lot of his own dialogue which had me excited to no end.  I love this guy.  All you have to do is watch his portrayal of of Drill Sgt. Hartman in "Full Metal Jacket" to know he is one intense man, and can come up with some of the most colorful dialogue you can hear in a movie.  In his interview he also said that he would have a lot more screen time then he had in the 2003 movie, and I was salivating.  Maybe now you can get a taste of the anticipation I had while awaiting this movie.

Now I am not going to give anything away...I hate it when people put *spoiler alert* in their write-up, because most of the time you catch a glimpse of what they say and I don't want to ever ruin anything about a movie for someone who hasn't seen it.  At first I was a little concerned by the running time I saw of 83 minutes...but I have to say...it's one of the LONGEST 83 minutes I've ever sat through and in a very good way.  This movie honestly felt like a journey, and not in some lame "Lord of the Rings" kind of way...every second of it had purpose.  The thing I LOVED about the 2003 movie was that it was the first time in a LONG time I actually cared about the "victims"...that makes a huge impact when watching a horror movie.  I hate the newer ones that put these spoiled brats as victims because when one of them gets killed I'm usually like "eh...they got what was coming to them".  The 2003 TCM made the victims out to be regular people...friends you might have...and this new one did the same thing.  Yes, as much as I love to see people being eaten in zombie movies and things like that, I really felt bad for the victims in this new TCM which only adds to the horror.  This TCM put the victims in positions where you start thinking "they didn't do anything to deserve this" and that's what makes horror movies scary.  That's what I loved about this one, and that's what I loved about the remake in 2003.  I swear, Ermey deserves an Oscar for his performance.  In the last movie, he just seemed mean with a tinge of crazy, but in this one he seemed equal parts insane and angry, and pulled it off as only he could.  The weirdest thing was the acting that Bryniarski did.  What I mean by that is, what does it take to play a character who doesn't talk and who's face you don't see?  You might think it wouldn't take much, but it does.  How was this accomplished?  It's really hard to describe, but it was little things like the way he would check out the face of one of the victims before making a new mask, or the slow turn when told he needed to go home because the meat-packing plant was closed.  Just the body language spoke volumes...it was almost like you knew what the character was thinking just by his reactions.  We get to see the origin of the chainsaw being used, the creation of the first mask, how Hoyt became sheriff....all of it.  And I swear, every side character (the Hewitt family) was played to perfection.

I have seen many disturbing things in movies because I have this quest to always find horror movies that really scare me.  I just get such a rush out of it.  I can sit through just about any horror movie scene with ease because I've seen so much of it.  Well let me just say that this movie actually had parts where I was like "oh man..." while starting to squirm a little bit.  This one is definitely not for the faint of heart, but I do have to say that any gore you see is not just gratuitous splatter for effect...it all is an integral part of the story.  There really wasn't anything done for some cheap shock value.  I've read some reviews by critics, and the bad reviews usually say that the movie was too bleak, dark, and depressing.  Ummm....yeah....exactly...it's supposed to be that way you idiots.  It's a HORROR movie, it's not the latest Pixar creation.

I will now make a very bold statement - This was one of the GREATEST horror movies I have ever seen.  The best horror movies have some kind of roots in reality, and the way the story unfolds seems like it is actually something that could have happened, and that's what makes it so great.  I'll never forget when I met Ed Neal (the hitch-hiker from the original TCM) and he called the 2003 remake the "90210 version".  I would really like to know what he thought of this one.  As much as I love the original, I can honestly say I think the 2003 remake and ESPECIALLY this new one are actually scarier because they seem more normal.  I catch myself laughing at some of the stuff in the original (I know, I'm a little demented), but there was NOTHING to laugh at in TCM - The Beginning.  The only time I did was one of the lines Ermey had, and it was more of a nervous laugh.

I know some will disagree, but this movie is exactly what the horror genre needed.  This movie showed that there can be great horror movies without resorting to cheap and campy "BOO!" moments, or the typical "the ghost still haunts the area because the body has never been found" crap.  Let me put it this way, and I think this will speak VOLUMES considering how much I hate theaters, I will definitely be seeing this one again in the next week or so.  Yeah, that should really tell you something.  Go see this movie if you like horror movies.  And if you don't like it, then you don't like horror movies.  If you're one of those geeks that will cling to the original and not give this one a chance, then don't bother emailing me about it.  To sum up "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre:  The Beginning", I would have to say this - Absolute masterpiece.