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!

Total Recall (2012) - Movie Review

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

When I was a kid, one of the first Science Fiction movies that I ever remember seeing in the Theater was, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), with Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator)…

But since before that though, I was a huge fan of Arnold’s starting with movies such as Commando (1985), and even The Terminator (1984)…

Now you might be wondering why I mention this… well simply put there is another movie of Arnold’s that I really liked when I was a kid, (and had to see the recently released remake for), of course that movie is Total Recall!

Written by: Kurt Wimmer (Salt), Mark Bomback (Unstoppable) and Directed by: Len Wiseman (Underworld). Starring: Colin Farrell (Minority Report), Kate Beckinsale (Underword: Awakening), Jessica Biel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Bokeem Woodbine (Devil), Bill Nighy (Shaun Of The Dead), and Bryan Cranston (John Carter).

Now this movie which is based on the original story by Dan O'Bannon (Alien) and Ronald Shusett (Phobia), I wasn't to happy to hear they were remaking (the truth is, is although there are some good remakes out there, I think Hollywood relies to heavily on them and I thought of this one as one of them!)

But the truth is, is this movie, which tells the story of a captured double agent by the name of Carl Hauser (Farrell), and whom is living with a woman by the name of Lori Quaid (Beckinsale) that he believes is his wife in a world that had been created for him (as his own so-called prison).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Colin Farell as Carl Hauser/Douglas Quad as he is about to make his life turn upside down![/caption]

It turns out though that his old life comes out in bits and pieces in the same recurring dream of when he got captured and the woman he loves, who works with the resistance escapes!

But when he discovers the, 'Rekall Lounge' he goes to get some memories that he thinks he will would never forget.... The only problem is that after going to, 'Rekall' he begins to remember things that he had been forced to forget... memories that Chancellor Cohagen (Cranston) will send wave after wave of robot militia to stop from coming back!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Carl Hauser as he is beginning to realize that his wife as, 'Douglas Quaid' isn't exactly the woman he married![/caption]

I have to admit that I did like Arnold's, 'Total Recall' better then Farrell's, 'Total Recall' for the following reasons:

1. I thought that the chemistry between Farrell and Biel was forced, (which considering that Jessica Biel was supposed to be the love interest, just seemed a little far fetched,) but oddly enough, the chemistry between Farrell and Beckinsale (whom Beckinsale is trying to kill Farrell in the movie) was better!

2. I also thought the makeup affects were way off... I mean Kate Beckinsale looked different in a lot of the scenes, especially those where continuity needed to be constant! (which I doubt was the way it was supposed to be.)

3. Also I thought the ending was completely unnecessary and pointless!

Now that is the bad side, the good side!

1. The special effects were so well made that I could believe that stuff like those hover cars being the wave of the future.

2. I also thought that the story for this movie, although similar to Arnold's, was also different, and fun! (I mean Arnold's took place on Mars, and this one took place on Earth!)

3. I also thought that the strongest person in this movie was Jessica Biel, because she seemed to have the strongest presence, and as a matter of fact I actually kind of thought that if she had the starring role in this movie, then on the strength of what she brought to the role, it would have made for a great movie!

I am definitely glad I saw this at least once, and would be willing to watch it again (just not in the theater!)

http://youtu.be/8vO8cAHnVbY