WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT FEAR… DOESN’T EVEN COME CLOSE.
This fitfully amusing remake is a celebration of the 1974 original, employing the same kind of nasty, sadistic atmosphere. A picture is painted of the Texas countryside as utterly degenerate, and R. Lee Ermey in particular seems to enjoy a part that is so right for him, that of a repugnant figure of authority. The leads (who in this story pick up a hitcher that subsequently blows her brains out in their van) are played by attractive boys and girls, but the first film had the benefit of an original touch and the chase near the ending becomes too drawn out.
2003-U.S. 98 min. Color. Directed by Marcus Nispel. Cast: Jessica Biel (Erin), Jonathan Tucker (Morgan), Erica Leerhsen (Pepper), Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, Andrew Bryniarski… R. Lee Ermey. Narrated by John Larroquette.
Trivia: Co-produced by Michael Bay. Followed by a prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006).
