The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
New Line Cinema | Release Date: October 17, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
15
Negative:
13
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
What a superb job director Marcus Nispel has done re-creating, yet also revising, 1974's grisly, gristly, protein-centric masterpiece. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneRobert 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. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Adding R. Lee Ermey to the Leatherface clan was a masterful move. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames 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. Read full review
63
PremiereAddison MacDonald
Manages to pull off an adequate amount of scares, when compared to most horror flicks in theaters this Halloween season. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterMichael 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. Read full review
60
EmpireKim 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. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen 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. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid 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. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike 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. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack 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. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
While it’s far from bad, it also falls far short of the icy frissons produced by the original. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
As the eviscerations ensue, the truth becomes undeniable: This is easily the most gruesome, most pointless, episode of "Scooby Doo" ever. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Gruesome enough; what it lacks is a distinctive revolting personality of its own. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
The remaining twisted population that likes this kind of movie will enjoy a horror film that is surprisingly stylish. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter 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? Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Seems to understand its source material, but has no idea how to improve on it. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
There's nothing wrong with remakes, but as this movie amply proves, there's often nothing right about them, either Read full review
40
Film ThreatKevin Carr
Everything that made the original Chainsaw a classic is ground into the dirt in this new version. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyRon 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. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Simply go out and rent the original. In the thin ranks of killer-power-tool flicks, it's still the standard to beat. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
This new, presumably improved Chainsaw is just as humorless as the original, but it's also slicker, glossier and resoundingly artificial. Read full review
33
Portland OregonianKim 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. Read full review
30
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Rather than exhilaration, this bilious film offers only entrapment and despair. It's about as much fun as sitting in on an autopsy. Read full review
30
VarietyScott Foundas
Initially promising, but quickly disappointing. Read full review
30
Washington PostRichard Harrington
Weakens, dilutes, disinfects and otherwise undermines the legacy of Tobe Hooper's 1974 original. Read full review
30
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
An overproduced, video-director remake, slick and grue-marinated and loud as a sonic boom. Read full review
25
Charlotte ObserverLawrence 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. Read full review
25
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam 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. Read full review
25
New York PostLou 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. Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineMaitland 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. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Offers the same crudely effective variation on the hatred and fear of hillbillies in "Deliverance." Read full review
0
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A contemptible film: Vile, ugly and brutal. There is not a shred of a reason to see it. Read full review
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