The Remake (or reimagining, as the marketing preferred) of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), released in 2003. It was the first horror film remake produced by Platinum Dunes.
On August 18th, 1973, five teenagers are on a road trip through rural Texas, including Erin, her boyfriend Kemper, and their friends Andy, Morgan and Pepper, on their way back from a concert in Mexico. The trip takes a terrifying turn when the group stumbles across a severly traumatized young woman stumbling down the road, who committs suicide with a hidden handgun in their van after incoherently muttering about her suffering at the hands of "a bad man". Looking for help, the group soon find themselves caught in their own nightmare as they uncover the horrific secrets of the rural area and the atrocities committed by the monstrous Hewitt family...
A Prequel was released in 2006.
This film provides examples of:
- Abandoned Area: Where the entire movie takes place, and where the Hewitts live. It apparently used to be a fairly active town once, as the Hewitt's "hunting ground" includes both an abandoned mill and a slaughterhouse (the Prequel reveals Leatherface was born in the slaughterhouse when it was still active).
- Adapted Out: The entire Hewitt family got an overhaul for this movie - aside from Leatherface, all the other characters are replaced with new ones, though a character called The Cook, based on Sawyer Hewitt from the original, does appear in the comic expansion by Wildstorm.
- Ambiguously Related: It's not entirerly clear how Jededeiah is related to the rest of the Hewitts, though he's generally treated as a grandson.
Word of God states that he might have been the child of one of the Hewitts previous victims that the deranged family decided to spare and raise as their own. - An Arm and a Leg: Erin chops off Leatherface's arm during the chase through the slaughterhouse. It barely even slows him down.
- Apocalyptic Log: The police tape shown at the start of the film is revealed to be one of these when it plays in full at the end, and the officers filming the tape are attacked by Leatherface.
- Artistic License – History: In the opening scene, the characters are listening to "Sweet Home Alabama", even though the film is set in 1973 and the song wasn't released until 1974.
- Asshole Victim:
- Sheriff Hoyt.
- Subverted with Morgan, whose death counts as a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Big Bad: Sheriff Hoyt
- Bittersweet Ending: Erin cripples Leatherface, rescues an abducted baby, kills Sheriff Hoyt, and lives to report the Hewitts' crimes to the authorities. However, all of her friends are dead, she's mentally damaged by the experience, and Leatherface is still at large.
- Broken Heel: At one point, it's Leatherface who trips during the chase.
- The Cameo:
- Harry Jay Knowles shows up as a severed head in the Hewitts' basement.
- John Larroquette, who did the narration featured in the original, returns to provide the beginning and ending narration for this film.
- Cannibal Clan: The Hewitts, as usual, feeding on whatever hapless travellers are unlucky enough to stray into the area. Hoyt uses his authority to flag down victims.
- Cannibal Larder: The old farmhouse the Hewitts live in has both a kitchen full of preserved human remains, and a "butchershop" for Leatherface to practice his monstrous trade in.
- Car Fu: Erin runs over Sheriff Hoyt repeatedly.
- Cat Scare: The possum jumping out at the protagonists
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Monty has a small dog that, after his introduction, never appears again, in either the films or comics.
- Creepy Child: Jedidiah. Thankfully, he turns out to be the only member of the Hewitt family who isn't a monster.
- Darker and Edgier: The original was already a bleak, grimy movie, but this take on the story increases the explicit gore and torture... as well as being quite literally much darker than the sun-soaked original.
- Deadly Road Trip: When you're taking a road trip through Texas, never make a stop at the Hewitt's house.
- Determinator: Even after getting one of his arms cut off, Leatherface still tries to kill Erin.
- Dirty Old Man: Monty.
- The Dragon: Leatherface
- Driven to Suicide: The hitchhiker, who was the Final Girl of another story, is so traumatized by whatever fate befell her and her family that she kills herself rather than risk running into the Hewitts again.
- Evil Cripple: Monty is an amputee with both his legs as mere stumps. The Prequel, novelization and comic book series differ on how he lost them.
- Evil Matriarch: Luda Mae Hewitt, the mother of Hoyt and Leatherface (adopted), and the leader of the family, though her sons provide most of the muscle.
- Face-Revealing Turn: After killing Pepper, Leatherface turns to face Erin, revealing that he's wearing her boyfriend's face.
- Final Girl: Erin escapes after being picked up by a trucker.
- Fingore: The fingernail ripping scene.
- Gilligan Cut:Pepper: Well, I'll tell you this much. There is no possible way I'm ever getting back in that van.
- Gorn: The movie is a shameless, grim, depressing, endless bloodbath.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Despite the brutality on display, there are a surprising number of these, Morgan being bisected by Leatherface being the most notable example - the camera cuts away just as the chainsaw hits, and stays on Leatherface, so we don't get to actually see the carve-up itself.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Hoyt breaks a bottle into Morgan's face.
- Groin Attack:
- Morgan is killed when Leatherface hangs him from a chandelier and saws him in half from the crotch upward.
- When Leatherface takes a swing at her in the meat locker later on, Erin manages to kick him in the balls.
- Harbinger of Impending Doom: The rambling traumatized hitchhiker, who commits suicide shortly after being found by the protagonists.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Averted, shockingly. Despite being a crucial part of the series, there's no references to cannibalism in the remake.
- Impersonating an Officer: "Sherrif" Hoyt at first appears to be simply a Dirty Cop, but the prequel reveals that not only is he a leading member of the Cannibal Clan, he murdered the original Sheriff when he tried to take in Leatherface after his first murders and stole the lawman's uniform to lure in more victims.
- Jerkass: Sheriff Hoyt is pretty much one of R. Lee Ermey's usual Drill Sergeant Nasty roles turned up to eleven, with some sadism sprinkled in.
- Karma Houdini: Leatherface manages to escape, albeit missing an arm, and evade the police after murdering a few cops, and the epilogue mentions he is still at large.
- Mercy Kill: Missing a leg and left hanging on a meat hook, Andy convinces Erin to mercy kill him.
- Meaningful Echo: When Erin is picked by the trucker near the end of the remake, she repeats nearly everything babbled by the deranged girl she and her friends had picked up earlier in the film.
- Ms. Fanservice:
- Jessica Biel in a wet tanktop.
- Erica Leerhsen as well in little clothing.
- Not His Sled:
- Like the original, the film opens with the main characters picking up a hitchhiker on the side of the road. He's a creepy guy who antagonizes them, gets kicked out, and later turns out to be one of the cannibals, right? Nope- she's a traumatized escaped victim of the clan, who breaks down and shoots herself in the head.
- The one scene this movie just needs to have is an adaptation of the famous "dinner scene", right? Again, nope. The Final Girl is never taken by Leatherface or any of the Hewitts, and the climax takes place in a meat factory instead.
- Novelization: By Stephen Hand.
- Redemption Equals Death:
- Hewitt family member Jedidiah was originally supposed to be killed by Leatherface for helping Erin and Morgan escape, but the scene was scrapped for being "too intense".
- Morgan sacrifices himself to save Erin
- Sex Equals Death: Morgan mentions this to Pepper and Andy, citing high STD rates.
- Someone to Remember Him By: According to deleted scenes, it was to be revealed that Erin is pregnant with Kemper's child.
- The Stoner: Morgan uses weed fairly regularly before things go From Bad to Worse
- Torture Cellar: A large portion of the Hewitt's household has cutting tools and meat hooks for Leatherface to use.
- Trouser Space: The hitchhiker pulls a gun from her crotch and blows her brains out.
