Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (2003)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an American horror film of the slasher sub-genre. It is a remake of the 1974 independent horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by Tobe Hooper. Directed by German director Marcus Nispel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released theatrically in the United States on October 17th, 2003. It was succeeded by the prequel film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning in 2006. The film was in broad theatrical release for 123 days, closing on February 16th, 2004. It grossed $28,094,014 over it's opening weekend, screened in 3,018 theaters in the US, averaging $9,314 per theater. Domestic lifetime grosses for the film reached $80,571,655, with $107,071,655 worldwide. Although The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is certainly not the first horror film to be re-imagined, it did prompt the trend of remaking classic slasher films that dominated the 2000s and early 2010s, many of which were produced by Michael Bay and his production company Platinum Dunes. The film takes place in the mid 1970s and follows a gang of teenagers driving across Texas from New Mexico on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. After finding a traumautized young girl stumbling about the middle of the road, they try to render assistance, but things turn grim when the girl commits suicide before their eyes. They try to alert the local authorities only to find that the unfriendly Sheriff Hoyt is actually the patriarch of the gruesome Hewitt family - a depraved cabal of murderous cannibals. Thomas Hewitt, aka, Leatherface, stalks the teenagers one by one, instigating a series of attacks that eventually come to be known as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Notes & Trivia

 * The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released to DVD by New Line Home Video on March 30th, 2004. Bonus features on the DVD include: A collectible metal plaque cover; Crime city photo cards; Deleted scenes; alternate opening and closing sequences; Chainsaw Redux documentary; Gein: The Ghoul of Plainfield documentary; an art gallery; DVD-ROM content; Script-to-screen; Audio commentaries with director Marcus Nispel and producer The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'' and released as a double feature on September 15th, 2009.


 * Principal shooting on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre began on July 22nd, 2002 and concluded in September, 2002.


 * Director Marcus Nispel is also known for directing the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th as well as the 2004 television adaptation of Dean Koontz' Frankenstein.


 * Actor John Larroquette provides the opening narration of the film, which is a paraphrased version of the original opening narrative from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Larroquette also provided the narration on the original film.


 * Includes a cameo appearance by Harry Knowles as a victim on silver platter. Knowles is best known as a movie reviewer, blogger and the creator of the "Ain't It Cool" news and film review website.