On August 18, 1973, five young adults, Erin (Jessica Biel), her boyfriend Kemper (Eric Balfour) and their friends Morgan (Jonathan Tucker), Andy (Mike Vogel), and Pepper (Erica Leerhsen), are on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert after returning from Mexico to buy marijuana. While driving through Texas, they pick up a distraught hitchhiker (Lauren German) they see walking in the middle of the road. After trying to talk to the hitchhiker, who speaks incoherently about “a bad man”, she pulls out a .357 Magnum and shoots herself in the mouth.
The group goes to a nearby eatery to contact the police where a woman named Luda Mae (Marietta Marich) tells them to meet the sheriff at the mill. Instead of the sheriff, they find a little boy named Jedidiah (David Dorfman), who tells them that the sheriff is at home. Erin and Kemper go through the woods to find his house, leaving Morgan, Andy, and Pepper at the mill with the boy.
They come across a plantation house and Erin is allowed inside by an amputee named Monty to phone for help. When Erin finishes, the old man asks her for help. Kemper goes inside to look for Erin, and is killed with a sledgehammer by Thomas Hewitt, also known as “Leatherface” (Andrew Bryniarski). Leatherface drags Kemper’s body into the basement to make a new mask, and discovers an engagement ring meant for Erin.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey) arrives at the mill and disposes of the hitchhiker’s body, wrapping her in cellophane and putting her in his trunk. When Erin returns she finds that Kemper is still missing. Andy and Erin go back to Monty’s house, and Erin distracts him while Andy searches for Kemper. Monty realizes Andy is inside and summons Leatherface, who attacks him with his chainsaw. Erin escapes and heads towards the woods, but Leatherface slices Andy’s leg off and carries him to the basement, where he is impaled on a meat hook, and his stump is covered in salt and wrapped in butcher paper.
Erin makes it back to the mill, but before she can leave the sheriff shows up. After finding marijuana he orders Erin, Morgan, and Pepper to get out of the van and lay on the ground. The sheriff forces Morgan back into the van, and gives im the gun he took from the hitchhiker, forcing him to reenact how she killed herself. Morgan, scared and disturbed by the sheriff’s demands, attempts to shoot him only to find the gun is unloaded. Sheriff Hoyt handcuffs Morgan and drives him to the Hewitt house (a drive which includes a brutal beating), taking the van’s key with him. Erin manages to hot wire the truck but the wheels fall off. Leatherface arrives shortly after and starts hacking through the roof.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 2003 American slasher film and a remake of the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The fifth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, the film was directed by Marcus Nispel, written by Scott Kosar, and produced by Michael Bay. It was also co-produced by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper, co-creators of the original film.
The film is the first of many horror remakes to come from Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company which also released the remakes The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The film was released in the United States on October 17, 2003. It grossed $107 million against a $9 million budget. It has a 36% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which called it “an unnecessary remake”. A prequel was released in 2006, titled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
Nispel favored shooting the film in California, but Nispel suggested Texas, where he had previously shot three films. Principal photography began in Austin in July 2002 and lasted 40 days. The original film was shot in a style more reminiscent of a documentary. Nispel intentionally shot in a different style, using more traditionally narrative elements, as he did not want to make a shot-for-shot remake, as in Gus van Sant’s Psycho remake. The remake includes references to the previous film, including John Larroquette, who returns in his role as the film’s narrator.
The weather during filming was very hot and humid. Bryniarski, who portrays Leatherface in the film, did all his own stunts and was forced to wear a “fat suit”, which increased his near-300 lbs to 420 lbs. The suit also heated up quickly so that the actor had to ensure that he drank a lot of fluids before a shoot. Leatherface’s mask was also a problem; the mask was made out of Silicone and was difficult for the actor to breathe through. The crew had many prop chainsaws for actor Bryniarski to use, such as chainsaws that put out smoke, and live chainsaws.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released in North America on October 17, 2003, in 3,018 theaters. It grossed $10,620,000 on its opening day and concluded its North America opening weekend with $28,094,014, ranking No. 1 at the box office. The film opened in various other countries and grossed $26,500,000, while the North American gross stands at $80,571,655, bringing the worldwide gross to $107,071,655. The film’s budget was $9.5 million.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Directed by: Marcus Nispel
Starring: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, R. Lee Ermey, Heather Kafka, Lauren German, Andrew Bryniarski, Kathy Lamkin, Mamie Meek
Screenplay by: Scott Kosar
Production Design by: Greg Blair
Cinematography by: Daniel Pearl
Film Editing by: Glen Scantlebury
Costume Design by: Bobbie Mannix
Set Decoration by: Randy Huke
Music by: Steve Jablonsky
MPAA Rating: R for strong horror violence / gore, language and drug content.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: October 17, 2003
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