That could be a good thing or that could be bad thing, depending on how you look at it. Â Me? Â I donât see that as, nor am I using it, as a compliment.
Like a fan film, Texas Chainsawâs heart is in the right place and it goes through some the motions of what weâve seen before. Â It painstakingly scrutinizes the minute details of its predecessor (this entry ignores everything after Tobe Hooperâs Texas Chainsaw Massacre) to be âfamiliarâ and âtrueâ to the series canon. Â But itâs a lunk-headed, often silly (like many fan films), effort that lacks logic and makes the crucial mistake of misfiring in its depiction of Leatherface. Â It earns points for steering the series into new, potentially interesting territory, but boy, did they screw up in its execution.
The most devout Texas Chainsaw Massacre fans will commence their wincing during the filmâs prologue in which clips from Hooperâs TCM play out (post-converted in 3D, of course, to match the rest of the movie).  This is all well and good to re-acquaint the audience, however, when a shot of the late Jim Siedowâs Drayton Sawyer is called for, they cut in Bill Moseley (taking over for Drayton) into the originalâs footage.  Itâs a fleeting, blink-and-youâll-miss-it moment, but it left me a bit raw, considering Siedowâs involvement in TCM and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (also starring Bill Moseley).  Thatâs not to say Moseley (or any other franchise vet who make a cameo) is terrible â in fact, he does just fine for the brief time heâs on screen slipping into Draytonâs skin.
With the âgreatest hitsâ introduction over, Texas Chainsaw 3D carries on, picking up where TCM left off. Â The Sawyer family home is under siege shortly after Sally Hardesty escapes. Â The local sheriff isnât happy, nor is the townâs residents who have turned vigilante. Â Oh, and there are more members of the Sawyer family now. Â I donât know where they were hiding throughout the original TCM, but thereâs a whole clan. Â Without this plot detail, we would not have the rest of the movie, obviously, because a Sawyer infant â following the whole âsiege on the Sawyer house incidentâ â is later adopted and becomes our leading lady, Heather (Alexandra Daddario).
When we first find Heather, sheâs making bizarre artwork at home that involves paint and bone, suggesting the Sawyer familyâs fascination with grotesque displays of flesh and bone (seen in TCM) is genetic (groan).  She receives word that a relative has passed away and that she has inherited a home.  So, she packs her bags, her boyfriend (Trey Songz) and her pals (Tania Raymonde and Keram Malicki-SĂĄnchez, whose character dresses like he belongs in a band like Smashmouth) and heads to her new abode in Texas.  There, she finds not just trouble lurking within the recesses of her inherited mansion (hello, Leatherface!) but friction with the townies and local mayor as well.
Texas Chainsaw 3Dâs themes of family are welcome and progressive, but not entirely well thought out and itâs difficult to go into why without delving into spoiler territory. Â
I do have to wonder, however, how Heather appears to be in her early to mid-20s even though the events of Texas Chainsaw Massacre â in her infancy â took place in â73/â74.  And while Iâm questioning things, I have to also wonder why there is a certain plot detail involving something that occurs between Raymonde and Songzâs characters that doesnât pay off.  Like, at all.  They do something together and thereâs really no reason for them to do it; there are no repurcussions as far as Heather is concerned.  Itâs sloppy storytelling and Texas Chainsaw 3D is filled with plenty of rubbish â that includes a modern take on the âhitchhiker scenarioâ as well as a scene in which the mayor and sheriff watch, via computer, a police deputy, using Facetime on his goddamn iPhone, roam the dark corridors of Heatherâs mansion.  Itâs a bafflingly bad scene rife with terrible reaction shots from the mayor and sheriff.
The scenes, meanwhile, with Leatherface are serviceable.  I think an opportunity to âgo biggerâ during a chase at a carnival (look for a cameo!) was missed, but this Leatherface certainly doesnât hold back.  He carries with him a sense of fatigue, which is a nice touch, however, what I didnât particularly care for is the empathy youâre asked to feel for this clearly lost, chainsaw-wielding brute.  Heâs not Frankenstein.  Heâs not King Kong.  Heâs Leatherface, yet the team behind the film clearly attempt to make him out to be like those other icons of the genre Iâve mentioned.
Texas Chainsaw 3D has a set-up for a potentially good story and thereâs an interesting character arc for Heather in place, but this film is bereft of intelligence, atmosphere, moreover, scares.  Itâs still not the worst film of the franchise (that award still goes to The Next Generation), so I guess you all can be thankful for that, but I canât imagine revisiting this film again.
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