Kelsi, Jonna and I went to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning today. Kelsi had never seen the original, so this was a brand new experience for her. Her choices were to either see this with Jonna and I, or to attend a fine viewing of Employee of the Month (the Dane Cook movie) with the boys. She picked this one, and paid dearly.

Despite the pretty bad ratings the movie is getting on Rotten Tomatoes, I actually enjoyed it. I’m sure Kelsi would have too, if she could have kept her head out from under my jacket, which I generously loaned to her during one of the first “hard to watch” scenes in the movie.

This time around, you see the origin of the Hewitt family, along with the first group of kids they wound up killing. R. Lee Ermey reprises his role as “Sherriff Hoyt” and is, once again, excellent. That “Full Metal Jacket” feel to his character fits perfectly into this story. Kudos to the casting folks for getting him to play this part.

I enjoyed this movie much more than the Exorcist prequel that came out a while back. There was obviously some thought that went into this one and it winds up complementing 2003 remake very well. The thing I enjoyed the most is that the filmmakers successfully answered the biggest questions I had about the original movie ‘lo those many years ago:

• Is Sheriff Hoyt really a sheriff?
• How did he lose his front teeth?
• What was Leatherface’s career before becoming the most feared serial killer in movie history?
• How did Uncle Monty lose his legs?
• What do these guys DO with the bodies of their victims (aside from wear their faces)?

All of these questions and more are answered in what amounts to 84 minutes of absolute gore. If you get queasy at graphic violence, you might want to sit this one out. I found this one to be actually less gory than the 2003 remake of the original, but it’s still pretty hard core and there were a few areas of the movie which made me uncomfortable. When it comes down to it, as I get older I find it harder and harder to watch slasher films. None the less, it did what it set out to do and I thought it was a good way to spend an hour and a half or so on my day off.