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# ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ predictably fun, not so scary
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/texas-chainsaw-massacre-predictably-fun-not-so-scary-2/
- Published: 2003-10-17T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:06:36.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

This remake of Tobe Hooper’s seminal 1974 horror classic succeeds in mimicking the look and feel of the original, but it comes up a little short in generating the excruciating sense of fear that permeated TCM, Pt. 1\. Sure, you’ll scream and pop out of your seat a few times, but getting to sleep at night shouldn’t be all that difficult. Chalk it up to kill overkill. Slasher flicks were radical in the Nixon-era; today they’re old hat.

Jessica Biel (“7th Heaven”) and Eric Balfour (“Six Feet Under”) headline a cast of comely newcomers who find themselves in the middle of Nowhere, Texas, where they proceed to commit every blunder in the “Horror Movie Cliché” handbook: Hey, there’s a whacked-out hitchhiker with a gun in the middle of the road — let’s pick her up! Need some help with the dead body in the back of the van? Try knocking at that sinister-looking farmhouse. A chainsaw-wielding maniac wearing a mask made from human skin is on the loose? We’ll split up in the woods and see if that throws him off our trail.

Predictability aside, this is a fun film. Biel hits all the right high-notes when she screams, and does an impressive job remaining runway-ready-hot even while covered in blood and running for her life through a slaughterhouse. Veteran character actor R. Lee Ermey (“Full Metal Jacket”) is alternately terrifying and hilarious as the sleazy sheriff who operates way outside the law. And, of course, from the moment we hear the hair-raising buzz of the chainsaw, we’re reminded why Leatherface is one of the scariest superhuman villains of all time. (Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, language and drug content. Running time: 98 minutes)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 17, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)