When word of a remake to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre hit the press, it was met with its share of criticism but it was also announced during a time when news like this wasn’t the norm. There had been some remakes in the horror genre (most notably the shot for shot remake debacle of 1998’s Psycho) but studios weren’t cranking them out on the assembly line. The concept of the remake was pretty fresh and new and even though many didn’t want anyone to touch the 1974 classic, there really wasn’t a lot to compare it to in terms of what direction it could go.
In many ways, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the perfect choice to kick off this craze. The original film is considered a classic among critics and horror fans alike but the subsequent sequels had done their own part in burying the franchise in terms of mainstream appeal. Some might remember The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 but you might find most scratching their heads trying to recall Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III or Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. The latter film became known in some circles because it starred Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger before they made their big breaks in A Time To Kill and Jerry Maguire, respectively.
The Chainsaw franchise was largely dormant after the release of The Next Generation. New Line Cinema had the rights to the franchise but there didn’t seem to be much interest in another film, especially after the poor performance of the last film. It wasn’t until 2001 that new life was breathed back into the franchise. It was announced on December 5, 2001, that Michael Bay, the man known famously for blowing things up, was interested in remaking the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre through his newly created company, Platinum Dunes. The company would put its focus on producing lower budget films much in the way that Blumhouse Productions has found major success with today. Talks moved much faster when it was also announced that the story would be told in flashback with actress Marilyn Burns who starred in the original film would reprise her role as an aged Sally Hardesty recounting the events in the film.
Early reports indicated that Tobe Hooper, the director of the original film, and Kim Henkel, would be writing the script for the remake. Somewhere down the line, Scott Kosar signed on as the film’s official screenwriter and the script that Hooper and Henkel started would be re-worked or not used at all. As in the original 1974 version, Kosar’s script is loosely inspired by the real-life crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, which also inspired Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs.
The film was Kosar’s first professional job as a screenwriter, with the writer later recalling feeling both thrilled and honored at the prospect of writing the screenplay for the remake. Kosar also realized early on that he was dealing with “one of the seminal works of the genre” and one that could not be bettered. When discussing with the film’s producers, Kosar felt that the new film shouldn’t try to compete with the original film, as he felt that it was made under different circumstances. It was clear then that the film should feel more like an homage rather than a straight remake.
In June 2002, it was announced that Marcus Nispel had been chosen to direct the project. Before getting this film, Nispel was known more for directing television commercials and music videos so this would be his feature film directorial debut. Producers felt Nispel was a good choice because of his visual detail in music videos could translate well to creating the look for the film. Nispel said that he was initially against the idea of remaking the film, calling it “blasphemy” to his longtime director of photography, Daniel Pearl, who had shot the original film. Pearl, however, encouraged Nispel to join the project, as he wanted to bookend his career with Chainsaw films.
Now that a writer and director was in place, it was time to cast the film. Jessica Biel, famous than for her role on 7th Heaven, was cast as Erin, the lead in the film. Biel hadn’t starred in a box office hit before being cast in Chainsaw but they felt she could capture the vulnerability and ultimately the strength of the character. The rest of the young cast was appointed mostly around her and chosen based on their ultimate chemistry with each other. Rounding out the main cast for the younger set was Eric Balfour as Kemper, Mike Vogel as Andy, Erica Leerhsen as Pepper and Jonathan Tucker as Morgan.
Actor Andrew Bryniarski, who starred in Bay’s Pearl Harbor and stayed friends with him afterward, personally met with producer Bay and asked him for the role of Leatherface. Another actor was cast for the role before Bryniarski, but, on the first day, the actor was hospitalized and fired for lying about his physical abilities. Without an actor for the film’s main antagonist, the filmmakers called and asked if Bryniarski still wanted the role, which he accepted. To prepare for the role, Bryniarski ate a diet of brisket and white bread in order to get his weight to nearly 300 pounds. Many on set talked about his dedication to the role and his ability to tap into a mindset to lose himself in it while also being incredibly cautious of his co-stars. Many of them have said during and after the film, that they felt extremely safe working with him and never felt as if they were in any danger during any physical scenes with the actor.
The role of Sheriff Hoyt went to R. Lee Ermey and it has been said that the actor immediately got what they needed from him in the role. His character is loosely based on the “Old Man” role played by Jim Siedow in the original film but Ermey brought his signature no holds barred approach to the character and he made many feel that he was even more frightening than Leatherface in several scenes.
When it came down to choosing locations, Texas wasn’t immediately on Nispel’s radar. Nispel favored shooting the film in California, but Bay suggested Texas, where he had previously shot three films and where the original was shot. Principal photography began in Austin, Texas in July 2002 and lasted 40 days. The weather and conditions played a role here much like it did on the production of the original. The weather during filming was very hot and humid. Bryniarski, who portrays Leatherface in the film, did all his own stunts and was forced to wear a “fat suit”, which increased his near-300 lbs to 420 lbs. The suit also heated up quickly so that the actor had to ensure that he drank a lot of fluids before a shoot. Leatherface’s mask was also a problem; the mask was made out of silicone and was difficult for the actor to breathe through.
Nispel intentionally shot the film in a different style, using more traditionally narrative elements, as he did not want to make a shot-for-shot remake replicating the original film’s documentary-like style. Cinematographer Daniel Pearl explained from an on-set interview: “People ask me, ‘Is it going to be as gritty and grainy as the last one I did?’ No. I did that. There’s no point in making the exact same film with the exact same look.”
Now that the film was done and in the can, Michael Bay knew that proper marketing would be key to the film’s success. There was an awareness that horror fans were still apprehensive of a remake of the 1974 film so something needed to be done to show them that this would be the real deal. Michael Bay worked closely with editors to cut the right trailer for the film and what we got before the film’s release, definitely hyped up horror fans and got them excited for the film.
Most of us saw the trailer attached to Freddy Vs. Jason, which was released in August of 2003. Featuring “Song of the Siren” by This Mortal Coil, the trailer is everything you want to see in the teasing of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film — let alone a remake of the immortal original. Refusing to modernize the time period, we see the family is expanding but as bloodthirsty as ever. One of the best things about the trailer, which can also be said about the movie, is modernizing the tale while keeping it set in the ’70s. Many remakes that followed, including The Last House on the Left, Fright Night and Halloween, set the film in present day. But 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre keeps the action and carnage strickly in the 70s which allows it to pay proper homage to the original.
The trailer assures viewers while modern technology may be being used, this is still an old-school story with simplistic story beats. It’s about one group of people surviving against another. The remake also grabs the die-hard fans with things like, in addition to the setting, the infamous camera sound/screech which was cut effectively into the trailer. The trailer also teased Leatherface just enough to let audiences know what they were getting but not too much to ruin the effect. The last shot of him slamming the door, a nod to a scene in the original film, was the perfect way to end a truly great trailer. I remember the crowd cheering after it was over and, 15 years later, I still think it’s one of the best horror movie trailers out there, remake or otherwise.
The trailer and subsequent TV spots that aired frequently before the film’s release ensured that fans would show up on opening night. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre opened on October 17, 2003, and grossed $10.6 million on its opening day. With a budget of $9.5 million, the film had already recouped that by the end of Friday night. The opening day led to a number one finish and an opening of $29.1 million. The film ultimately grossed $80.5 million at the domestic box office and $107 million worldwide.
What I can remember around that time was that horror fans loved what they saw. Speaking for myself, I loved that it wasn’t a straight remake but it paid proper homage to the source material. A lot of the success comes down to the film’s look and I think having original Director of Photography, Daniel Pearl, helped a lot. He managed to make you recall the original film while also giving the film a fresh look of its own. I also loved the cast and Jessica Biel proved to be a capable lead in the role and proved that she could take on physical driven roles. Then there was Leatherface, who hadn’t been frightening since the original but thanks to Andrew Bryniarski, the character became an imposing presence again. He approached the role as an actor and not as a stuntman which paid off in the end.
Despite how horror fans felt about the film, critics were a different story. Some praised the look of the film but many critics weren’t too kind. Roger Ebert gave it a rare 0 out of 4 stars calling the project “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 has been all over the place about horror films, especially ones that revel in violence. It’s interesting he calls this vile and disgusting but he gave 1972’s The Last House on the Left 3 and a half stars out of 4. I could make a strong argument that film is much more”brutal” and “ugly”. At the end of the day the film holds a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 36% but the film’s CinemaScore, which consists of only moviegoers, was a solid “B+”, a strong showing for a horror film. There is sometimes a disconnect between moviegoers and critics and this is yet another example.
The success of the film not only led to another installment in this franchise (in 2006, a prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, was released) but you could argue that this film opened the door for the modern horror movie remake. After this film was successful a slew of remakes was released including The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween to name a few. It almost started its own sub-genre of horror that proved to be quite successful to varying degrees after the release of this film.
In the industry, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was definitely imitated. It set the tone for how to do horror remakes right and even though the films that followed didn’t always get it right, the success of this film showed that there were ample opportunities to do so. 15 years later, I still think this is the best remake of the bunch and definitely deserves a claim as one of the better modern slasher films to be released in the last 15 years.
