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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The
New Line Cinema


6.8

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 75 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for strong horror violence/gore, language and drug content

Starring Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, Andrew Bryniarski, R. Lee Ermey, and David Dorfman

This thriller recounts the true story of five teenage travelers stranded in a rural Texas town, fighting for their lives against a chainsaw wielding madman and his bizarre extended family. (New Line Productions)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Scott Kosar Kim Henkel (1974 screenplay) Tobe Hooper (1974 screenplay)
DIRECTED BY:	Marcus Nispel
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 30, 2004 Video: March 30, 2004 Theatrical: October 17, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

What a superb job director Marcus Nispel has done re-creating, yet also revising, 1974's grisly, gristly, protein-centric masterpiece.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Has no pretensions about sneaking up on you -- it simply charges, motor humming and blades flying, carving the spot where masochism and entertainment meet.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Adding R. Lee Ermey to the Leatherface clan was a masterful move.

Premiere Addison MacDonald

Manages to pull off an adequate amount of scares, when compared to most horror flicks in theaters this Halloween season.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The film delivers with enough consistency to warrant a qualified recommendation for those seeking a few extra scares at this time of the year.

Empire Kim Newman

The look, created by Hooper’s cinematographer Daniel Pearl, and expert art direction is persuasively nasty… but somehow that buzzing saw doesn’t sound as scary as it used to.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

This particular reconceptualization actually does an impressive job of capturing the nasty dread of the original. It certainly is a vast improvement over those previous remakes/sequels.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The gruesomely unnecessary remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is such a smorgasbord of slimy grunge that to call the movie gross wouldn't do it justice -- it's downright sticky.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

A lot more violent and a tad less creepy than the 1974 original, the much-changed remake delivers enough gory, belligerent mayhem to keep horror fans screaming.

USA Today Mike Clark

The new version has a few jolts, some occasionally effective smoke-and-mirrors photography and a lead (7th Heaven's Jessica Biel) who could teach a grad course on walking provocatively in blue jeans.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Director Marcus Nispel, a rock video vet making his feature debut, knows how to ratchet up the tension. His remake is a far, far better-looking thing than the original. There's also more humor, especially in the over-the-top performance of drill sergeant-turned-actor R. Lee Ermey as the loudest of the inbreds.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

While it’s far from bad, it also falls far short of the icy frissons produced by the original.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

As the eviscerations ensue, the truth becomes undeniable: This is easily the most gruesome, most pointless, episode of "Scooby Doo" ever.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Gruesome enough; what it lacks is a distinctive revolting personality of its own.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

The remaining twisted population that likes this kind of movie will enjoy a horror film that is surprisingly stylish.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Chainsaw is produced by Michael Bay (Bad Boys I and II), which explains its soullessness. But nothing explains the flaw in this bad boy: How can a movie scare you when you’ve seen it all before?

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Seems to understand its source material, but has no idea how to improve on it.

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

Still and all, the makeup special effects are as over the top as anything in Hooper and L.M. Kit Carson's 1986 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and -- for those of us without the sense to steer clear of this sort of thing -- that's saying something.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

Everything that made the original Chainsaw a classic is ground into the dirt in this new version.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

There's nothing wrong with remakes, but as this movie amply proves, there's often nothing right about them, either

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Simply go out and rent the original. In the thin ranks of killer-power-tool flicks, it's still the standard to beat.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

This new, presumably improved Chainsaw is just as humorless as the original, but it's also slicker, glossier and resoundingly artificial.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

For those who've seen the original, no surprises will be unearthed other than an altered story (not for the better) and more gore.

Variety Scott Foundas

Initially promising, but quickly disappointing.

Washington Post Richard Harrington

Weakens, dilutes, disinfects and otherwise undermines the legacy of Tobe Hooper's 1974 original.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

An overproduced, video-director remake, slick and grue-marinated and loud as a sonic boom.

The New York Times Dave Kehr

Rather than exhilaration, this bilious film offers only entrapment and despair. It's about as much fun as sitting in on an autopsy.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Efforts to expand the envelope of grotesquery make the film repulsive and suspenseless, and it sorely misses original director Tobe Hooper's grisly, wily sense of humor.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

I don't know if Nispel and Scott Kosar, who make their feature film debuts here, are the worst director and writer in the world, though they might well represent the United States if anyone holds a competition. I do know they deliver a total of zero laughs, scares or surprises in this remake of the infamously creepy 1974 picture.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Significantly more gruesome and noisy than its predecessor, and boasting more nasty-looking fluids than all the works of David Fincher combined, this version leaves few corpses unturned in its unstinting campaign to please gorehounds.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This new SAW film is so utterly unimaginative it doesn't even count as hommage; it's just a smudgy copy of a still chilling original.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Offers the same crudely effective variation on the hatred and fear of hillbillies in "Deliverance."

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A contemptible film: Vile, ugly and brutal. There is not a shred of a reason to see it.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 75 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

antwian f gave it a9:
Superbly gruesome and shockingly suspenseful with a touch of humor.

Jay H. gave it a6:
Vaguely similar to the original, but it's a decent horror flick. The acting is fine, it does have some scary scenes. Good score and reasonably suspenseful. Creepy and very gory.

[Anonymous] gave it a0:
Just another stupid "teen horror" movie, they got to stop making this shit, pisses me off.

Steven R. gave it a10:
Fantastic! The way a good horror remake should be. The different approach to the story makes helps this film stand on its own. Performances were great as was the tension. Fantastic direction and camera work make it an enjoyable watch.

R D. gave it a5:
Not scary. But R Lee Ermey's performance as the Sheriff bangs you. [***SPOILERS***] Also, the slaughter-house scene where Jessica Biel cuts Leatherface's hand with a meat cleaver is good. Just the movie is too violent at times.

poker gave it an8:
A pretty solid film that is,at the same time revolting. I was on edge multiple times waiting for the next gruesome surprise. Don't get me wrong,alot of this IS uneccesery, I just thought at the same time it was well put together. Could I go without the young mental woman in the beginning of the movie pulling a hidden gun out of...(like I said "uneccesery")and blowing her skull computer to smithereens?The answer would be yes BUT at the same time I Would not have been treated to cult anti - hero,Leatherface unmercifully instinctively and,almost gleefully destroying smug,spoiled,oversexed,potheaded brats(that I am shamefully jealous of,which,coincidentally fuels a fair amount of my affinity for this film). Watch it at night, with the lights out and the volume up. I guarantee if you like horror(not the most intelligent type but horror all the same)you'll like this movie.

R Campbell gave it a7:
I am obsessed with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, and like all fans, I prefer the original. The remake is better than I expected, but it's still not as good as it's father. Although it was too hollywood for my tastes, it wasn't a 'bad' movie, and provided some entertaining scenes.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The New Line Cinema

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The
New Line Cinema