'Massacre' offers satisfactory slaughter

Tobe Hooper's 1974 film, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," is the great-grandfather of the modern horror genre. Four full years before John Carpenter's "Halloween," "Chainsaw," loosely based on the true story of serial killer Ed Gein, broke open the gates for the common hack 'n' slash flick. It is horror's holy grail.\nThat being said, a remake of this film is essentially futile. First-time director Marcus Nispel makes a valiant effort tackling the source material, but the task at hand is simply too hefty. The result is a mildly pleasing scary movie with far more style than substance. It's basically an unmuddied update of a classic film too gritty and low-budget for most younger viewers.\nThe new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" concerns a group of five young adults in the early 1970s on a road trip through rural Texas on their way to a Skynyrd concert. A few chance encounters place them in the sadistic hands of a chainsaw-wielding maniac and his deeply disturbed family. What ensues is a mish-mash of bludgeonings and dismemberments which eventually add up to a few satisfactory scares.\nOne and two disc versions are available. While the single disc skimps on extras, the double disc is jam-packed. An alternate opening and closing, a plethora of deleted scenes and a massive documentary on the making of the film are major bonuses, but the most important extra is "Gein: The Ghoul of Plainfield." A compelling doc exploring the killer on which the film is based, "Gein" is far more chilling than the feature film itself.\nIt's hardly a compliment to say that the best thing about the new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is ogling Jessica Biel in tight jeans and a midriff-bearing tank top, but I can definitely recommend this film for anyone in the mood for formulaic fright.