DVD Review HTF REVIEW---The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) (1 Viewer)

[NeilK]

.

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Neil,

I agree with you there... I truly think Monica Keena deserved the 2003 Razzie award... She sucked at the role... One of the worst heroines ever of any genre... She also put no effort into it, admits this, and seems proud of it... I guess thats what makes me even hate her more...

If she just sucked, but attempted to do something, I would have more respect for her...

When someone says they put no effort into a role, I loose all respect for them... Too many young actors work their a**es off for a chance at even the smallest of a role... Then some gal comes along and mentions she had no respect for the role anyways??? Why do it???

I dont care if you have a role in The Hobogoblins Part 2... I believe any worthwhile actor should give it their best shot no matter what role they are in... Thats how one improves and moves on to bigger and better things...

She was definately deserving of a Razzie IMO...

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I know. In fifty years she'll probably be pissing on the role. There are actors in NOES movies who truly value their time, and respect the movies they were in.

Lisa Wilcox (Alice, NOES 4 & 5) was even willing to come back for FVJ, but New Line decided not to go in that direction with the film. I think it was a poor choice...

To this day, she's proud of her work on those films, and still talks about them.

I can see Monica Keena "Oh.. FVJ? I think I might have... Yes, I believe I was involved..."

 

[NeilK]

There was a day when being dubbed 'scream queen' actually possessed merit i.e. Jamie Lee Curtis. That is, perhaps only because Halloween had class and taste unlike TCM'04 and Freddy Vs. Jason, which are utterly embarrasing to those of us who have any respect for the genre and its potential. Can't wait to see CGI zombies jumb six feet in the air in the Dawn remake. Go Ving!!!

 

[Jack Johnson]

I think Monica Keena was fine in Freddy Vs. Jason; she made for a saucy, spirited, buxom heroine to do battle with Freddy (don't think she ever tangled much with Jason). Really, did FVJ really call for the level of performance from her that some of you think it did? This is one of those roles I think it's safe to phone in; you need to deliver an earnest performance, be reasonably competent...and look good doing it. So, Keena delivered.

Playing the cross-pollination game with these disparate bogeyman franchises--Elm St. and Friday the 13th--is an inherently silly idea, so it makes sense that the first order of business in FVJ seemed to be that everyone had a good time with it. The difference is that the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre called for a more naturalistic, higher order of acting (a higher order of everything, really)...so when the remake serves up bland, cliche'd characterizations that are more suited to Wrong Turn II, it's a shame they didn't end up calling the remake just that...'cept that might even prove insulting to Wrong Turn (a very lousy, but thoroughly enjoyable film to watch)! Speaking of Wrong Turn, I'd put the TCM remake on exactly the same level of invention; there was none. Not a bit in either film, and each owed its existence to Tobe Hooper's original 'Chainsaw'.

That said, even with tongue planted firmly in cheek, there was twenty times the cleverness and invention in Freddy Vs. Jason as there was in the TCM remake. They actually had to come up with a serviceable premise to graft these two franchises on to one another and get the whole thing to hang together as a reasonably coherent story. The fact that they got it to work while offering a faithful taste of the sensiblity of both the Elm Street and Friday worlds was some kind of off the wall achievement that deserves a Rube Goldberg award for conceptualization. Hey, c'mon, this film was born to be trash...and it wound up being better than it had any right to be. And Ms. Keena was right there, lending all her considerable lung power to a part that would've been simply laughable had someone tried to "Meryl Streep" her way through it. I mean, this film was called Freddy Vs. Jason, not the Texas Chainsaw Massacre... But what's in a title these days?

 

[Marvin Richardson]

For crying out loud, are we still calling women "chicks"?

 

[Justin_S]

You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you? Just because someone likes TCM 2003, they have no respect for the genre? Haha, that's a true laugh. I've been a horror fan since the age of 4 when I saw my first horror film, and have been a horror nut ever since. I have more respect for the genre than you could possibly imagine, but guess what, I liked the remake. As I've said time after time, it can't touch the original, but it is an intense, well done little film. As for Halloween, sure it has class, and its a definite classic, but it can't touch Black Christmas, which came first, and is the best film of its kind.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I thought Keena was just fine in FvsJ. Of course, not Oscar worthy but F13 worthy.

Sorry to take this off topic but for you die-hard horror fans. Is acting something you look for in horror movies? Good acting certainly isn't going to hurt anything IMO but bad acting isn't either. As I stated earlier, it seems that the bad acting was overlooked because of the nudity and gore involved with the actoress. Also, do you think the SCREAM "crowd" is really any worse than what we were seeing throughout the 1980's or even the drive-in stuff from the 1970's?

 

[NeilK]

At least those actors seemed more genuine. And I don't recall there being any pop vocalists either.
Also, the fact that Black Christmas is considered Justin's fave horror film speaks a lot for his argument, but not in the way he had hoped; that film was even worse than TCM'03.I cannot have an intelligable argument with someone who's fave horror flick is Bob Clark's Black Stinkin Christmas. Did I hear someone say kitsch.

 

[Justin_S]

I never said it was my favorite horror film. I said it was the best film of it kind, and the kind of movie it is is clearly a slasher film. Say what you want, but this film is far more effective than Halloween in the fear department, from the unnerving phone calls that show the killer's utter insanity, to the chilling piano score. Also, Halloween aped several of the tactics used in this film, only it did it with less impact. Halloween is a film full of impact and style, but that doesn't make it better, as BC has more impact, and is just a more effective film. Also, this film is a very well respected film in the genre, and rightfully so. I find it funny how you find people who like films you don't unintelligent. You're the unintelligent one for having such an attitude as far as I'm concerned.

 

[NeilK]

It is truly blasphemous for one to equate Black Christmas to the original Halloween, let alone qualify it as superior in any department. Call me arrogant, but I am under the belief that this is definitively so.
Halloween is a pioneering achievement technically, aesthetically and thematically. Perhaps I need to watch more lame eighties slasher films to adjust my appeal (as IMO they follow the same monotonous trend, aesthetically as well as thematically), or perhaps you need to do your homework.

 

[Malcolm R]

That's not arrogance, it's delusion.

 

[Justin_S]

No need to do homework here. I've seen Halloween many times, and while it is definitely a better shot film, it is not the better film overall IMO. It is a film full of greatness, there's no denying that, but Black Christmas is a far more effective horror film. Also, Black Christmas had many of the ideas of Halloween before Halloween. Its obvious Carpenter got some inspiration from this film. I also think the ideas were pulled off more effectively in BC. Comparing BC to the slashers that followed in Halloween's wake is not a good comparison at all, as there simply is no comparison. I am a huge slasher fan (there's no horror subgenre I don't love), but none of them come close to standing up to BC or Halloween. Think of it as blasphemous if you wish, but I find Black Christmas to be the superior, and definitely more frightening film.

 

[Marvin Richardson]

What exactly do "lame eighties slasher films" have to do with "Black Christmas" (1974)?
Personally, I like "Halloween" more, but to each his own. Its not like Justin is saying he likes "Return to Horror High" better than "Halloween".

 

[Christopher*KH]

I agree with all the comments regarding the high dollar cost on the 2 disk version...
But here in the Atlanta area at the B Buy you get the 2 disc version you can get the Original TCM free.....
Now I already have it but to get it free...I can trade it at a used dvd store here..... So

take care, chris

 

[Zen Butler]

Thank you for the review.

I received an advanced copy(s). I felt it was not all void of merit. I think we're being a bit hard on Biel. I thought she did a fine job, in addition to being quite stellar to look at.

I was very impressed with the audio. Some head twisting action in the surrounds. I'm getting a bit weary though of this trendy washed out, quick(jumpy) forward edits ala The Ring and other titles.

 

[Mike~Sileck]

I'm personally excited to pick this up tomorrow. I hear the 6.1 is amazing sounding, and I can't wait to see how it sounds in my system.

Do you know if the Best Buy deal is for every best buy in the county?

Mike

 

[GeoffBr]

The Best Buy deal is in their national ads and on their website so you're safe... $29.95 gets you both the remake and the original. I'll definitely be picking it up -- it wasn't brilliant but it was the first movie to disturb me in a while.

 

[Mike~Sileck]

I just ordered off the website. I don't know how Best Buy does it but I got an [msrp $40] dvd, along with a [msrp $15] dvd, for $32.18 shipped. I don't get it.

I just hope they don't screw it up, and I get them in pristine condition!

Mike

(ps thank you so much for the hint!)

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Damn,

I just watched his movie again on DVD... I thought it was ok the first time I saw it, but the second time it is so horribly boring I had to keep from falling asleep...

Not as dreadful or painful to sit through as Freddy vs Jason a second time, but pretty close... The characters arent as mind numbing as those in FVJ (Monice Keena still remains one of the worst heroines ever to exist in my book), but this movie is just too boring... I should have stopped the first time and kept the memories...