Picked up
Texas Chainsaw on DVD yesterday, and wanted to spew some quick thoughts about the disc. I already reviewed the movie at length back in January, when it hit theaters, so I'll spare you a long winded re-hash of that, and instead direct you over to
my original review.
To make a whole lot of text short, in the event that you don't care to read a whole review, I'm one of the few horror fans who actually dug Texas Chainsaw, a film that admittedly has several glaring flaws (most notably the timeline issue), but nevertheless is another unique entry in a franchise full of them, which is why it worked for me. I mentioned in my review that this movie very much feels like a sequel to the franchise that would've been made back in the day, and I firmly believe that if it had been made in a different decade, there would be more of an appreciation for it. If nothing else, Texas Chainsaw is interesting and totally ballsy in its attempt to make a direct sequel to the original, all these years later, and for that I appreciate it....even if you don't!
I've been cutting back on buying DVDs in the past year or so, to spend what little money I have on more essential things, but one of the main reasons I felt compelled to pick up Texas Chainsaw was because of the extensive special features package, which looked to have some pretty cool content on it. If it weren't for those features, I honestly was planning on just waiting to get a used copy for dirt cheap in a few months.
So let's crack into those special features and see if they do indeed make the disc worth a purchase, shall we?
Oh and first off, in case you didn't hear, the unrated cut of the film is ONLY AVAILABLE when you
purchase or rent the film On Demand. Both the
DVD and
Blu-ray discs have the 92 minute theatrical cut on them, and the 93 minute unrated version cannot be physically owned. An absurd decision on the part of Lionsgate, presumably to push the On Demand platform, in favor of physical media. I don't like it. Not one bit.
That being said,
the differences between the two cuts are fairly minimal, so fans of physical media like myself aren't missing too much here. But still, I hate the idea of only being able to buy a censored disc, which is a trend that I hope does not continue. Even though I know it very much is going to continue. Sigh.
But there's nothing we can do about that. So let's proceed as we were, and take a closer look at the special features on the DVD and Blu-ray discs!
Texas Chainsaw boasts three feature length commentaries, which are probably the biggest treat on the discs. And you'll see why, once you see who's involved in them!
COMMENTARY #1 - DIRECTOR JOHN LUESSENHOP & DAN "LEATHERFACE" YEAGER
COMMENTARY #2 - PRODUCER CARL MAZZOCONE & TOBE HOOPER
COMMENTARY #3 - "CHAINSAW ALUMNI" COMMENTARY, FEATURING BILL MOSELEY, GUNNAR HANSEN, MARILYN BURNS & JOHN DUGAN
I was so happy to see that stars from the original were invited to be a part of this movie, and even happier that they were given so much love in the bonus features. Such a brilliant idea to allow Tobe Hooper and folks like Gunnar and Marilyn Burns a chance to tell some stories from the original, as well as comment on this sequel. In fact, it was that third commentary that really sold me on picking up this disc, when the bonus content was first announced.
Since I just bought this yesterday, I haven't had a chance to listen to all the commentaries, but I did check out the second one earlier this morning, because I was eager to know how Tobe Hooper felt about some of the choices made in this movie. All I can say is, thank god Mazzocone is a talkative guy, because Hooper is quite dull in the commentary, oftentimes stumbling over words, saying odd things and cutting off thoughts mid sentence. Pretty lifeless and uninteresting on his part, but Mazzocone has a lot of behind the scenes stuff to offer up. That said, Hooper does seem to genuinely dig the movie, which was cool to hear.
Perhaps most interestingly of all, Mazzocone gets into the whole timeline issue, which is something I was hoping to hear addressed on the disc. He talks about the fact that they were completely aware that the timeline of events does not in the least add up, and that a conscious effort was made to not refer to the year the events from the original took place, so that the audience could assume that stuff happened somewhere in the 80s/90s. One of several instances in the film where they decided to cater to the average Joe moviegoer, rather than the diehard Chainsaw fan, which is odd given the film seems to have been tailor made for the latter group.
Obviously, for fans of the original, this explanation doesn't work in the least, given we know all that shit went down in the 70s. So yea. The timeline still doesn't work out, but it's at least nice to hear the producer talk about it, and not just avoid the issue. Again, the timeline is one of the biggest problems with the film, and there's quite frankly no explanation that could be provided that would make it any less of a serious issue. My mind is still boggled as to why the bulk of the film didn't just take place in the 90s, which wouldn't have hurt the story at all (so you couldn't have the iPhone scene...big whoop) and would've avoided any timeline issues. But what can ya do.
Aside from the three commentaries, there are just about 2 hours of additional special features, the bulk of which is made up by seven main featurettes, covering the following topics; the legacy of the original and the impact it had on the people involved in this sequel, how the film came about, recreating the iconic house from the original, the casting of the film, the creation of the new Leatherface and his various masks and weapons, the filming of a few key scenes and a look at the (mostly practical) effects.
The highlight of these featurettes for me was "The Old Homestead", the one about recreating the house from the original, for the opening sequence. Really cool to see the stars of the original walking into the house for the first time, all these years later. Marilyn Burns, John Dugan and Gunnar Hansen are all interviewed in this segment, and give their views on what it's like to essentially come home, and step foot inside a house they haven't been inside for so long.
It's amazing how much work went into creating an exact replica of the original house, and this featurette definitely made me wish that the entire film was set right after the original film, rather than jumping so far ahead in time. Kind of a shame that so much work went into such a short sequence. Also kind of a shame that they worked so hard on making that opening feel like a direct follow up to the original, for the fans, and yet went ahead and threw so many other random characters in the house, which make it feel a lot less authentic. But I suppose that was really the only way for them to tell the story they wanted to tell, so again, what can ya do.
The other thing I wanted to mention about these featurettes pertains to the "Resurrecting The Saw" one, about the genesis and writing of the film. Writer Adam Marcus makes a great point that pretty much sums up my feelings about the movie, where he says that we as fans should be applauding fillmakers who try doing different things with sequels and reboots, even if we don't exactly care for the finished product. That's the one thing I've tried to impart on the people that didn't like this movie; that you should at least appreciate it for trying something new. As Marcus says, if we don't applaud people for trying to swing for the fences and bring something new to the table, then no one will ever want to try new things in the future. 100% agree with that sentiment.
In addition to those main featurettes, there are also five mini-featurettes, dubbed "On-Set Short Subjects: Five Minute Massacres." In these we see more behind the scenes footage of some scenes, like the burning down of the original house and the killing of Kenny. A lot of this stuff covers the same ground as stuff from the other featurettes, and in fact a lot of the footage is even the same. Kinda boring if you've already watched everything else, but the first one is pretty cool, because it has some interesting conversations between Gunnar Hansen and John Luessenhop, as well as Gunnar and Bill Moseley.
We round the package out with an alternate opening, which is pretty similar to the one in the film, aside from one cool little addition. As you can see above, there's a brief shot of the dead Hitchhiker and even the truck driver (on a meat hook!) from the first film, which was unfortunately cut out by Lionsgate, who felt that having those bodies in there would confuse viewers (there's also
a better look at Grandpa, who was barely seen in the film). Another example of them thinking too much about the average Joe, and less about who they should've been thinking about; us, the real fans.
Keeping those bodies in there would not only give the opening even more of a connection to the original, but it also helps sell the idea that the burning down of the house takes place a bit after the ending of the original, as Leatherface would've had to have the time to bring those bodies back to the house. This would've better explained how the other members of the Sawyer family had time to gather at the house, whereas in the finished film it feels like they had been at the house the whole time, which of course is contradictory to the original
Chainsaw. Besides, if we're worried about confusing average moviegoers here, then wouldn't the entire beginning be confusing to anyone who wasn't familiar with the original? Another silly decision, that I wish they hadn't made. Glad we at least got to finally learn the fate of the truck driver though, even if only in a deleted scene!
Given the plethora of special features, this disc is a definite must buy for all fans of the film. For all others, well, there's nothing on here that's gonna change your mind, but you can at least delight in the fact that there's a commentary track on here with the original stars, and a lot of involvement from them throughout the disc. Besides, you bought Next Generation so your Chainsaw DVD collection would be complete, so ya can't skip out on this one!
Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing this reboot story expanded on, in the impending future installments. After a second viewing, I still dig the hell out of this movie, and I look forward to more fans embracing it, as time goes on. I truly believe that will indeed happen. Only time will tell!
