If it weren't a remake, i think I would have been bored with this movie. The only real interest I had was seeing what they kept and changed from the original.
As a remake of a classic horror film, it makes a good try but falls a tad short. For one, it's much too "slick" looking. The first one works because it seems real - like a documentary. This one comes across as "See? Here's where leatherface makes his skin masks. Isn't it WEIRD?" In other words, this one is trying to be strange and unsettling where the first one just plain was.
Also, getting rid of the hitchhiker character (or changing it as they did) was a big mistake in my book. Although no one could top Ed Neal for a total whacko, I still think this movie needs that character. I guess R. Lee Ermy kind of replaced him, and they used this hitchhiker to set up their slightly different (and admittedly less coincidental than the original) storyline.
Overall, just OK. Some shocks along the way, but by the end its all kind of numbing and your like "enough with the saw already." It has none of the creepy atmosphere that makes the first so compelling. This was just another slick horror film made for teenagers.
As a remake of a classic horror film, it makes a good try but falls a tad short. For one, it's much too "slick" looking. The first one works because it seems real - like a documentary. This one comes across as "See? Here's where leatherface makes his skin masks. Isn't it WEIRD?" In other words, this one is trying to be strange and unsettling where the first one just plain was.
Also, getting rid of the hitchhiker character (or changing it as they did) was a big mistake in my book. Although no one could top Ed Neal for a total whacko, I still think this movie needs that character. I guess R. Lee Ermy kind of replaced him, and they used this hitchhiker to set up their slightly different (and admittedly less coincidental than the original) storyline.
Overall, just OK. Some shocks along the way, but by the end its all kind of numbing and your like "enough with the saw already." It has none of the creepy atmosphere that makes the first so compelling. This was just another slick horror film made for teenagers.