The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) - Movie Review

Official Score = 3 Devils

You know what, I will admit that I am probably very similar in context to most horror fans with the fact that I more often then not generally tend to be much of a fan of remake movies... I mean as stand alones I have seen some decent enough remake movies, but if you look at them as remakes of classic movies... Well I hate to say it, but most of the time, these movies generally tend not to be as good as the original!

I mean there are some generally pretty awful remakes, and there is one or two that I have seen that I would consider to be actually better then the original... (Yeah I know, I was surprised to!)

But generally speaking those movies that should have been made as stand alone movies, are that way in my opinion because they oft times just don't pay the type of homage to the original movies in the right way (A goode example of this being, A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)!)

There are some though that really pay homage properly to those that made the classic... In my opinion, a great example of this is the movie, Halloween (2007)... This movie in my opinion did a great job in paying homage to John Carpenter's classic, while also adding a couple of elements to the movie, that made it just fantastic!

Another great one is, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)!

One of the few truly awesome horror movie remakes!

Written By: Scott Kosar (The Machinist) & Directed by: Marcus Nispel (Friday The 13th). Starring: Jessica Biel (The Illusionist), Erica Leerhsen (Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2), Mike Vogel (Under The Dome), Eric Balfour (Skyline), Andrew Brynarski (Batman Returns) & R. Lee Ermey (The Frightners).

Now the truth is, is I can go in to how everything is great... The truth is, is that all of the cast did their jobs great, and they were all fun!

The story... Well, this story of how after picking up a traumatized hitchhicker, who kills herself, starts off a chain of events that leads them to become the next up on Leatherface's chopping block... Starting with contacting the, 'Sheriff'... Who turns out to be a deranged member of Leatherface's family that goes by, 'Sheriff Hoyt' (R. Lee Ermey) and leading to each of the initial 5 friends who had just wanted to do a good deed, being stalked and killed off one by one!

These teens wanted to do a good deed, but picking up this hitchhiker gives new meaning to the reason why you should never, 'pick up a hitchhiker'

Well I could say this story is great... It is!

But the truth is, is the best part of this movie is R. Lee Ermey, his portrayal as Sheriff Hoyt was both disturbing, and hilarious... But was also made to look so real that you could almost imagine that all of this could happen in real life!

In the end... Is everything great in this movie? For a remake? Yes... It is extremely fun, and well worth checking out!

The Many Faces Of, 'Leatherface' And The Men Who Played Him

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] 'Leatherface' with his family as they are about to sit down for dinner in, 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'![/caption]

Believe it or not, with the exception of Freddy Krueger (who has uptil the recent remake has been played by: Robert Englund), and Norman Bates, (who til it's remake had always been played by: Anthony Perklins,) most long standing horror movie villains have been played by several different actors.

A good example of this is, 'Kane Hodder' (Hatchet)... Now Kane Hodder had up until recently been kind of universally recognized as the actor who played, 'Jason Voorhees' in the, 'Friday The 13th' movies... The only thing is, is that he didn't start playing the role till around part 7, and there were at least a couple of actors who played the role before him, and played them after him!

Well I got to thinking that you guys might enjoy a look back at the many looks of ,'Leatherface' over the years, (another role that has been played by many actors,) and the actors that played him!

So with out further adieu:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): Gunnar Hansen as, 'Leatherface':

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Gunnar Hansen played the role of, 'Leatherface' first, when he did, 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974)![/caption]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986): Bill Johnson as, 'Leatherface':

[caption id="attachment_2953" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Bill Johnson would go on to take over the role in 1986's, ' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'[/caption]

Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990): R.A. Mihailoff as, 'Leatherface':

[caption id="attachment_2954" align="aligncenter" width="640"] R.A. Mihailoff would go on to be the first person to play the role in the 90s with, 'Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3' (1990)[/caption]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994): Robert Jacks as, 'Leatherface':

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="416"] Robert Jacks would be the final person to play the role in the 90s, having taken over for, 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation' (1994)[/caption]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) & The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006): Andrew Bryniarski as, 'Leatherface':

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="442"] Andrew Bryniarski would not only go on to be the first person to play the role in the new millennium, but he would be the first person in the history of the franchise to have played the role more then once![/caption]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D (2013): Dan Yeager as, 'Leatherface':

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="543"] To date... Dan Yeager is the most recent person to take over the role, but not only has he taken over the role, but in my opinion, helped bring the original series back to prominence, what with helping reboot the original franchise![/caption]

In the end, this series is pretty awesome, and if you are like me, then you are really looking forward to what comes next!

Street Fighter (1994) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

In the 1990s there was a video game that was extremely popular among my friends and I, a game that in a lot of respects would end up dominating our gaming style through out that decade... That game of course being, 'Street Fighter 2' (1991)!

This game I have to say was truly an amazing fun time, I mean as far as competitive fighting games go, it was a lot of fun being able to not only beat up your opponent, but to beat them up using all sorts of fire balls and the like... So when the movie came out, you know I had to see it!

Don't get me wrong, this movie was not the best that could have come out, but besides the fact that this movie was a fun action extravaganza (the likes of which aren't really seen anymore), they also had that James Bondian style use of, 'science'... Or in the movie form, 'Science Fiction' and that, I have to admit made this movie great!

You see, this movie, which was Written & Directed by: Steven E. de Souza (Commando). Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme (Time Cop), Raul Julia (The Addams Family), Ming-Na Wen (Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Damian Chapa (Under Siege), Kylie Minogue (Holy Motors), Roshan Seth (Ghandi), Wes Studi (Heat), Byron Mann (Red Corner), Grand L. Bush (Demolition Man), Peter Navy Tuiasosopo (Batman & Robin), Jay Tavare (Adaption), Andrew Bryniarski (Dracula Guest), Gregg Rainwater (Ocean Tribe), Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (Lethal Weapon 3), Robert Mammone (Mystery Road) tells the story of General M Bison (Raul Julia), his organization, 'Shadaloo' and the war that he is waging against the forces of the, 'Allied Nations' (This movie's version of the U.N.)...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="608"] Colonel Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme), with Lieutenant Cammy (Kylie Minogue) along with another soldier at, 'AN' HQ![/caption]

You see General Bison is kind of the worst of the worst of slime and villainy... He is holding Dr. Dhalsim (Roshan Seth) hostage, and is forcing him to create a new drone super soldier out of a soldier that he had kidnapped by the name of, 'Carlos Blanka'...

With all of this in mind, a group of the most classic of heroes has come to fight against the rising tide that General Bison represents, including: Colonel William F. Guile (Van Damme), who is the commander of the, 'AN' forces, and is itching to take down General Bison and find out what happened to his friend, 'Blanka' (Robert Mammone).

Chun-Li Zang (Ming-Na-Wen) & E. Honda (Peter Navy Tuiasosopo) have come in to take down Bison as revenge for General Bison having killed her father...

And heck, even Ken Masters (Damian Chapa), & Ryu Hoshi (Mann), who are literally in the wrong place, at the wrong time and end up being forced to go up against General Bison... And that is just to name a few!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="470"] Guile Vs. M. Bison... Begin![/caption]

In the end, it will be up to these, 'Street Fighters' to take down General Bison and the rest of his goons, because let's be honest... In the end, if they can't then no one can!

As for the bad stuff... The truth is, is this movie was meant I think largely for kids, and so it has a very high, 'cheese' factor, I also thought it was kind of weird that they didn't give the cast their fireball throwing capability, but they practically turned Blanka in to the character from the Video game...

Also I have to admit that I thought that the way the character of, 'M. Bison' was way to over the top... I mean I can understand why they got Raul Julia for the role... Considering that he was as flamboyant in this movie as he was in, The Addams Family (1991)....

As a side note though, this was Raul Julia's final movie (he had actually died during the making of this movie.)

In the end despite the fact that this movie was not one of the better ones, it does have it's moments, and if you get a chance, check it out... I mean you almost kind of have to if you liked the video game!

http://youtu.be/HsTKoGcFS78