And the oscar goes to...Jessica Biels

This is significantly better than it has any reason or right to be. Gorgeous cinematography, attention to details (I loved the Eric Balfour face mask), somewhat believable characters, and a nice sense of dread. Looks like the makers have taken the time to assimilate lessons from countless worthless remakes, and striven to come up with something of value rather than another cash grab. There's a loving homage to great (horror) movies, but with a contemporary sensibility. Full disclosure: the original TCM didn't really work for me. I've watched and appreciated many horror movies, but for some reason that one didn't click (same with Cannibal Holocaust, of which the most horrific scene is the one with the turtle, but that's another story). This here version however got me more involved. Which is saying something, because I found even The Pact boring, whereas countless fans go on about how great it is (don't get me started on Begotten). Tetsuo the Iron Man was fun, though, in an artsy way. But I digress. Anyway -- this is a good/great version, the main _and secondary_ characters are well fleshed out (if not believable), and of course Jessica Biel in a wet shirt is all we can ask for, can't we ? Marcus, you did good on that one.

I had to give this one a pretty high rating just because it's in my own backyard in central Texas. I've taken plenty of pictures of both the "Cele Store" (where the initially stop and the old woman calls the sheriff); also taken plenty of photos of "the old Crawford Mill" along with the house itself where the family lived. (Always thought it was amusing how they edited the old mill and the house to look like they're walking distance apart; in reality, they're in the same county, but MILES apart.) In addition to being in my own neighborhood, I thought the acting, the violence, and the overall "fear factor" was just all-around better in this reboot. Plus, R. Lee Ermey as the sheriff...well, he was just sort of the icing on the cake, really. With a creepy chainsaw-wielding family around, you needed an equally creepy sheriff and he played it to the hilt. Great movie!

This is a solid outing in the franchise. Though you can't feel the heat or smell the sets like the original, it's still an entertaining watch. It's so nihilistic and brutal, following a very similar pattern to the original as you would expect but it does so in an engaging way due to some added twists throughout that deviate from the previous four films. It really knows that it cannot replicate the style of the original so it provides a fresh look along with some decent improvements over the original whilst maintaining a solid standard of filmmaking throughout. The opening & ending crime scene bit works very well as it manages to spook me a little. Decent performances all around but R. Lee Ermey is undoubtedly the best part of this film. His character is written in such a way that some dark comedy is weaved into his dialogue and he delightfully comes off as unhinged and unpredictable. Also the scene where the fingernails breaking off in the basement wall really got to me.

haven't seen the original but i liked this. it's such a trip to revisit movies from this era though, i'm glad we've moved on from girls being naked or in wet clothes as a plot device. mostly. (jessica biel did look real good tho.)