TEXAS CHAINSAW : THE BUZZ IS BACK

In 1974 a film was released that became legendary. When it was made no one could foresee the future of this film or of its main character. But it not only became famous it became a cash cow for many films that followed as well as numerous marketing options. Surprisingly this horror film contained very little blood, but it was so well made that to this day it stands the test of time and can cause reactions from intense fear to gut wrenching nausea.  Believe it or not this was 39 years ago. So it's time once again for another sequel except this time it's done a tad different than most.

TEXAS CHAINSAW (or add 3-D if you have that at home) begins with the end of the original film. Not only that it encapsulates that film in a montage of clips that lead to a sheriff coming to the house shortly after the end of that film as well as several other clan members of the Sawyer family. He calls for them to come out but as they're about to a local vigilante mob shows with vengeance on their mind. Ignoring the sheriff they torch the house and kill all inside. The lone survivor, a baby girl, is taken away by one of the vigilantes to be raised as his own.

Fast forward to the present and we find the young baby all grown up. The young woman, Heather, receives a letter from an attorney and discovers who she really is and that she has an inheritance to collect from her recently deceased grandmother, Verna. Along with her boyfriend and another couple, who have planned a trip to New Orleans, they veer off towards Texas to see what she's inherited. Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker also on his way to Louisiana.

The lawyer meets her at the gates to her property and hands her a set of keys, a package and a letter from her grandmother with instructions to open and read it first. Of course these instructions are ignored when the youngsters enter the grand old house at the end of the drive. Impressed with the posh setting, they head to town to gather supplies leaving behind their new friend the hitchhiker. Bad choice.

He quickly begins ransacking the place for things to steal and uses the key to scout out the house. A secret room in the kitchen includes a stairway to a cellar. Once there he finds a locked door and as he gets ready to open it, there we have Leatherface in all his glory. And Leatherface doesn't take kindly to a thief.

Heather and friends return to find the slight damage done and begin to get down to making dinner. Her best friend then hits on her boyfriend in the barn while that girl's date starts dinner only to also discover Leatherface. When Heather comes across him in the cellar, she's caught but escapes with Leatherface on her tail. Suffice to say that blood runs and only Heather eventually gets away.

It is here the story makes a nice twist and we find out that the mayor is none other than the leader of the vigilante mob from all those years ago. He still runs things like he did then and sets out to end this semi-Hatfield and McCoy style feud between families once and for all.

This is one well made horror film. Not only does it pay tribute to the original by starting with it, it ignores all other remakes and sequels and also includes at least 4 cast members from the very first film in minor roles. Beyond that it takes what could have been just another slasher film and gives it some meat by crafting a well done story around it. With any film made these days, it leaves room open for a sequel but it does so in a way that makes sense.

The look of the film is great with night time shots done so that you can actually tell what you're looking at. The acting is much better than one would expect in a horror film, especially by Alexandria Daddario in the role of Heather. The pacing is smooth and the film makers here made the wise choice of keeping the film at a reasonable length (92 minutes) rather than extend what remains an exploitation film with a bigger budget.

The scares are there and, since it was done in 3-D, the tossed items at the camera are seen as well but not enough to distract from the story. The jumps scenes are included and yes, you will jump. The gore is there but no more than seen weekly on THE WALKING DEAD on TV. But at its heart this sequel to the original looks back fondly and reminds us that horror isn't always about what we see but what we picture and create in our minds. What we thought we saw is often more gruesome than what we actually witnessed. This movie makes the skin crawl and the hair on your arms rise. Isn't that what a good horror film should do?

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