Settle on down kiddies, it’s backstory time!
Would you believe that our boy
Along the line, Leatherface gets a lil’ brother, who is very protective of his older brother. After an unfortunate event surrounding the closing of the local slaughterhouse, lil’ brother comes to his brother’s aid by way of killing and then assuming the identity of a policeman. This leads to all sorts of opportunities throughout the film. (and also helped me to understand a lot in the remake by watching this one first.)
And here comes the irony for us viewers. Cue the usual TCM story line of kids being bad kids, and imagine our surprise when the local “policeman” comes to their aid.
Now since this one is called The Beginning, you’d expect there to be some mix-ups and missteps along the killing lines, but nope, these are all pretty polished, and for once, everybody dies.
Corey says:
When I first heard that they were making a prequel to Texas: The Re-Texasening, I felt shades of the Exorcist prequel abortion extravaganza grip my bowels. I had liked the Re-Texasening! It had ups and downs, but overall, it did really well. I really didn’t want the venerable franchise to be shitpickle-ized by sequel fever.
Turns out that my fears were unfounded. Texas: The Bit Before Texas: The Re-Texasening retains the same atmosphere and gritty realism that made the reboot work so well. All of our well cast family members are still here, and some of them still have legs! Speaking of legs, the best part of The Beginning is that it is an origin story for the whole family, not just Bubba (fuck whatever they try to call him in the reboot, that big retarded oaf is Bubba, and will always be Bubba).
This origin story mythos is the major reason we watched this film before watching the reboot. Maire had never seen either, and we thought it would be interesting to see what she thought of the cast of characters before they had become the cast of characters that we already knew. I mean, I knew that dude wasn’t gonna have legs by the end of the film, but Maire had no idea! I knew that R. Lee Ermey was gonna kill that cop and take his shit, but Maire didn’t have a clue. It was fun to do the “I totally know what’s coming so I’m gonna look at someone who hasn’t seen either of these films” game with some of the more developmental points that make their way (can they make their way if the 2nd film chronologically was released first?) into The Beginning.
Other than seeing how our friends came to be, the film follows the typical Texas tropes, with some kids stumbling on the newly cannibal-friendly family, and dying/being chased in torture-y manner. Other than a grueling scene with R. Lee Ermey and some kid who has to do pushups ‘cuz of Viet-fuckin’-nam, most of the deathy stuff just kind of feels rote.
Salty says:
Now I've never smoked meth, but I am pretty sure that watching horror movies is kind of like smoking meth. My understanding is that the first time you take meth is the best time, the most meth-y (I really don’t even know what the effect of meth is, but based on observation I assume that it makes rotting teeth feel really good in your mouth) and every time you do it after that you are just trying to relive that first time. So it is with horror: the first time you watch a movie is usually the best time and the many many many repeated viewings are attempts to relive that first time (perhaps watching it in the first place is just an attempt to relive the first horror movie you watched… that’s deep), though, to be fair, if the movie has any chutzpah (put some phlegm in it when you’re sounding it out in your head) it will be designed for additional viewings.
My point is that the first viewing is special in that it is a unique experience. Every film has its own vibe, its own surprises. I think that one of the reasons that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning doesn't do it for me is that even the first viewing is without surprise. Yeah, you don’t know exactly when things are going to happen, but right off you do know that certain things are going to happen, that certain people are going to end up maimed in a certain way and that everyone is going to die. No survivor girl, no one is going to save the day, everyone is going to get it. Bleakness prevails. How and why are rarely as fun as who and what.
Plus, I prefer to leave the origins of some things unknown. I am sure that most meth-heads would prefer not to think about the fact that they are smoking insect spray (I really don’t know what is in meth either). Combine these things with the fact that the film parrots the very distinct feel and cinematography of the remake of Texas, adding only increased viciousness, and you get an ugly baby. Do I sometimes like the bad guy(s) even though he/she is killing people? Yep! Do I like them because they are hurting others? No. Okay maybe, but in a fun way, not in a real life choke-your-child-to-death-in-front-of-you way. That’s not a fun way.
So, the question is: would the movie be good if it was not a prequel? I don’t think so, no. To me, good slasher movies are a game: you try to pick your survivor right away and then see who is going to get it when and whether or not it will be their own fault et cetera. The director’s job is to keep you guessing within the rules: will the music cue be for the killer or a red herring, can you be tricked into thinking an fake off-screen death was actually real and so on. The games that The Beginning wants to play are How long can we torture them? How grizzly can we make it? I suspect the director of the film owns a lot of porn movies with the word Gag in their titles.
| Maire | Corey | Salty |
|---|---|---|
| ☆☆ | ☆☆ | ☆ |
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