‘Jason Goes To Hell’ Director Co-Writing New ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Film
Here’s a not-so tasty little tidbit that I’ll drop on your desk before scurrying off for the beginning of the Halloween weekend. Twisted Pictures, aka the folks behindSaw, haven’t forgotten that they were trying to make a newTexas Chainsaw Massacrefilm. I’d hoped they might forget but alas, someone wrote it on a post-it at the office. Now that the seventh and (probably not) finalSawfilm is out, it’s time to recall the story that really preached that “the saw is family.”
Two new writers have been brought on board:Adam MarcusandDebra Sullivan. The former directedJason Goes to Hellfor New Line almost twenty years ago, and the pair worked together on the Val Kilmer movieConspiracy. What will they do to Leatherface?
Reportedly the same basic approach is being retained that we’d heard about a while back. To wit: the film will pick up right at the end ofTobe Hooper’s originalThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then flash-forward thirty-five years. Or, as producer Mark Burg said last year,
It’s 35 years later, there’s a relative going back. Why is he going back? I don’t want to set it in a dusty town. How do we make it more urban but keep that feel. There will be some relatives, some new people. There’s still the subtext of ‘are they eating these people?’ The whole idea of cannibalism, we’re bringing it back.
There might be a cult involved, and there might not.Stephen Suscohadwritten a draftat one point, but the new reports aren’t clear on whether this is a rewrite from his draft, or a page-one new beginning.
I love Tobe Hooper’s original movie. Love it. The picture has a grimy, awful feel, but also some truly inspired shooting and editing. It’s both a fun movie and an uncomfortable, ugly one. There are many dull imitators (and a few, likeThe Devil’s Rejects, that are actually good) but nothing quite like the original. Watch it this weekend if you’re never seen it. No remake or wrong-headed sequel can ever diminish the effect of the original, but all the same it is hard to be forgiving to any new pretender. [BDandSTYD]
