The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Movie, 2003, The remake, Set in 1973, retold
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is #5 of 9 in release order and #9 of 9 in chronological order in the The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
The story
After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a chainsaw-wielding killer and his family of equally psychopathic killers.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre recap
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) remakes the 1974 film, with five friends driving through Texas in 1973 who are hunted by the Hewitt family. Marcus Nispel directs, produced by Michael Bay. Erin Hardesty (Jessica Biel), her boyfriend Kemper (Eric Balfour) and friends Morgan (Jonathan Tucker), Andy (Mike Vogel) and Pepper (Erica Leerhsen) are returning from Mexico when the hitchhiker shoots herself in their van. Waiting for the police at an old mill, they meet Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey), a sadistic fraud who belongs to the family. Erin and Kemper look for help at a plantation house, where Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski), here named Thomas Hewitt, kills Kemper with a sledgehammer and later wears his face. The family also holds the dead hitchhiker's stolen baby. John Larroquette again narrates the opening. It stands alone from the original series, and The Beginning is its prequel.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ending explained
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ends with Erin cutting off Leatherface's arm with a meat cleaver in a slaughterhouse, then rescuing the baby from the family's diner and running Hoyt over repeatedly in his own car. Leatherface slashes at the car, but she gets away. A closing police film shows Leatherface killing two officers at the house days later. The Beginning goes back to 1969.
Where to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is streaming on Philo and AMC in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 37%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, before The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
- Chronological order: after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, the last.
What to watch before The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Nothing. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) doesn't continue an earlier version, so it stands on its own.
Cast
- Jessica Biel as Erin Hardesty
- Jonathan Tucker as Morgan
- Andrew Bryniarski as Thomas Hewitt (Leatherface)
- Erica Leerhsen as Pepper
- Eric Balfour as Kemper
- Mike Vogel as Andy
- R. Lee Ermey as Sheriff Hoyt
- David Dorfman as Jedidiah
- Lauren German as The Hitchhiker
- Heather Kafka as Henrietta
- Terrence Evans as Monty Hewitt
- Marietta Marich as Luda Mae Hewitt
Directed by Marcus Nispel.