DVD Review: Saw 3

So, first we see the return of Leatherface and now we have the return of Jigsaw. Saw 3 picks up right where Saw 2 left off, and boy, are we treated to some nice gore in this one! Plenty of blood, guts and body parts to go around. Whereas TCM: The Beginning lacked originality, the Saw series continues to bring a high level of quality to it's films. Well made and acted, Saw 3 is a very good film overall. Nobody can bring a film together at the end like these guys. I just love the way all the clues to the film are exposed during the final moments. In the latest (not the last) film in the series, we find Jigsaw on his deathbed, his cancer taking its toll. His protege Amanda is trying her hardest to keep the game going but can she really match Jigsaw's purity in his work? This chapter starts out fast and keeps the blood dripping up until the very end. Another successful trip into Jigsaw's game. ****1/2 out of *****.

DVD Review: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

Platinum Dunes. Love them or hate them? True: They are one of the most prolific purveyors of horror in today's cinema houses. True: They bring classic favorites and update them for today's audience. True: These movies tend to suck! TCM The Beginning starts off well enough as we find out how the Hewitt clan came to be the loving, caring cannibals that we all adore. We see the birth of Leatherface, literally and figuratively. That's all well and good, but at the end of the day, this movie had nothing new to bring to the operating table. It seems the director had a fetish for bloody hands because that's really all the gore we get to see. It doesn't hold up to the TCM standards that the original set down. Even the original's remake was a better film than this one. While not totally terrible, I just feel that the franchise deserved better. I also didn't care for how the updated version of Leatherface has the body of a bodybuilder, that's not realistic to me. I would be more frightened by a big burly round guy that's seriously demented than an adonis in a face wrap. Oh yeah, and the ending is traditional Platinum Dunes absurdity. How in the world does a guy that size get in a small car without making a sound or making the car move? Thanks Platinum Dunes. Thanks for nothing. ** out of *****.