It’s difficult to know where to begin when talking about this movie. Whilst I would say that it was entertaining to watch (as entertaining as it can be to see innocent people getting mutilated), there were serious flaws in Texas Chainsaw 3D. Serious flaws. I cannot emphasize this enough.
I won’t even bother mentioning the extremely obvious fact about the timeline being ruined (because Tobe Hooper’s original film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, took place in 1974 yet this sequel fast-forwarded to 2012 and the main character who was a baby in the 70s was in her early twenties for this one when she should have really been about 40), as everyone and their dog has moaned on about this error. I’m not at all defending it by the way, it is an exceedingly silly filmmaking mistake, but it’s quite trivial in the grand scheme of things. So many little details like this were wrong in this film, and it makes me wonder whether the scriptwriter actually saw the original. Didn’t he/she know what avid horror films are like and how fussy they are?
Texas Chainsaw 3D was pretty average really. None of the characters were overly likeable and didn’t seem to serve any other purpose than chainsaw fodder. This is fine – a whole bunch of horror films do this, in fact, most of them do – but it really should have been better than that. The 3D aspect of the movie fell flat on its face as well (not that I’ve ever been much of a 3D fan), but there were only a couple of moments where this was put to good use and it wasn’t really worth the extra money. Although be prepared for plenty of midriff (from Alexandra Daddario) and ass shots (from Tania Raymonde), two very hot young women. No ‘proper’ nudity involved here I’m afraid, but we are treated to some side-boob for anyone who’s that desperate!
The storyline itself was rather weak. I didn’t really like where they went with it. Why try and elicit sympathy for Leatherface? I hated this. I thought it absolutely stunk. Leatherface has long been an icon of fear and disgust, don’t give Leatherface emotions or a tragic back-story! We watched this movie because we want blood and gore and chasing and screaming. We want that visceral horror that we know and love, I don’t know why on earth they attempted to ruin the usual formula with some kind of twisted family reunion. I simply will not feel sorry for Leatherface, no matter how much they force it upon me. Indeed, I am extremely surprised that even the head honcho policeman gave into it. What kind of regime is allowed to take place in Texas? I’m aware that it has far more executions than any other state, but surely that would mean a harsher police force.
Just take this movie with a pinch of salt, and I don’t recommend analysing it too closely. The details are definitely where Texas Chainsaw 3D starts to fall apart. Enjoy the violence despite the feeble storyline, and try and look at it as more of a light-hearted romp than a serious attempt at following the legendary, classic that was the original movie. The best section for me would be the middle bit where the main lot of action takes place. It is this that everyone wanted to see, a continuation of the glorious tradition that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre started – a crazy man who attacks people with a chainsaw!
