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Wednesday,
October 18,
2006
s\©A| .REEL
S®#) DEAL
k / with George Hawkins
"The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre: The Beginning ”
MPA A Rating: R
Running Time: VI minutes
Starring: Jordana Brewster,
Andrew Bryniarski, R. Lee
Ermey,
Taylor Handley , Diora
Baird and Matthew Bonier
Prequels are definitely
hard to do well; especially
over thirty years after the
original film left the box
office. The most recent
attempt is “The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre: The
Beginning,” which isdirected
by Jonathan Liebesman
(the man in charge of the
hugely successful "Rings”
franchise).
In “The Beginning,”
audiences are supposed to
be introduced to some of the
situations that created one of
the most terrifying villains
in Hollywood slasher film
history.
According to the
One of the hottest
national tours at the
moment features three up
and coming bands—Time
Again, The Briggs and
Blood or Whiskey.
The West Georgian
had a chance to sit down
and interview Blood or
Whiskey last Tuesday
when the tour made a stop
in Auburn, Ala.
Blood or Whiskey is
one of many Irish folk punk
bands on the scene, and
they are one of the few that
are actually from Ireland.
After 12 years of
touring, three albums and
multiple line-up changes,
Blood or Whiskey find
themselves on Punkcore,
an American record label.
This, along with anew
album called “Cashed Out
on Culture”, has given them
the opportunity to finally
start breaking through in
the US.
The interview was
conducted with both of the
bands’ original members:
lead singer Dugs and
drummer Chris O’Meara.
WG: Your latest album
came out on an American
label, do you feel like it you
have been better received on
this tour because more fans
have access to the album?
ArLtSbMmum
opening sequence of the
new' film, Thomas Hewitt
(aka Leatherface) was
appropriately bom in the
late 1930’s on the Moor of a
Texas slaughterhouse.
As his unconscious
mother lies in the Moor,
young Thomas shows his
hideously disfigured face
for the first time among a
mess of bloody afterbirth.
Left for dead in a dumpster
full of meat scraps, the
baby is retrieved by a local
dumpster diver and carried
tothe instantly recognizable
dilapidated mansion owned
by the Hewitt clan.
As the opening credits
role, the early years of the
killing machine are exposed,
with quick stills of dead
animals and school photos
where young Thomas hides
his face.
The last series of
shots brings the audience
to the current day. The
small town is dying, with
all of its industries closing,
including the condemned
slaughterhouse where Hewitt
(Andrew Bryniarski), now a
hulking adult, works.
It’s after telling Hewitt
that he has to go home
for good, that Leatherface
makes his first kill, bashing
his kindly elderly boss
w ith a* sledgehammer. As
he leaves the building, he
lays his hands one of the
most famous movie killing
t0015...a chainsaw.
Chris: Definitely, with
an American label it is easier
to get the albums out to
American audiences.
WG: Is this your first
time playing in the South?
Dugs: Yeah, and I’ve
enjoyed it so far.
WG: Did you go out
of your way to play this
region or are you here
because you are riding in
a van and have to make a
daily stop?
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Photo courtesy ofwww.punkcore.com
Punkcore recording stars Blood or Whiskey are finally breaking through in America thanks to their new album.
The last bit of law and
order in the desolate small
town is the lanky sheriff
(Lew Temple),who travels
to the Hewitt homestead to
inform Uncle Hoyt (R. Lee
Ermey) that his “retarded
nephew really messed up
this time.”
When the sheriff and
W ~ ’ '
Photo courtesy of Rottentomatoes.com
Chrissies (Jordana Brewster) likely vain attempt at hiding under a car from a youthful
Leatherface. Note for readers: This never, ever, helps.
Hoyt, driving along in
the squad car, come upon
Leatherface, carrying the
chainsaw, the sheriff exits
the car to try to apprehend
him. With the sheriff's back
to him. Hoyt grabs a shotgun
and proves by killing the cop
that he is just as bloodthirsty
as his adopted nephew.
Once back at the house,
Hoyt changes into the blood
spattered sheriff 's uniform
and sits down to a nice home
cooked meal of "sheriff
stew" with his nauseating
inbred family and proclaims
"we ain't never gonna go
hungry again.”
It's at this point that
Chris: Well, we’re on
tour with The Briggs and
Time Again and we are
going to the stops that they
mapped out. They’ve been
helping us out all the way
and it has been a blast. The
object is to play as many
different venues as we can.
WG: How' would you
compare playing the different
regions of the country?
Dugs: If you are a
punk kid in Los Angeles or
Alabama, it’s no different.
WG: Did you guys
play the Wasted Festival?
Dugs: Oh yeah, in
Blackpool.
WG: This is kind
of a stupid question, but
how does that compare to
the obligatory nubile young
people enter the story. Two
brothers. Dean (Taylor
Handley) and Eric (Matthew
Bomer), tire on their way
to enlist for Vietnam and
are accompanied by their
girlfriends Chrissie (Jordana
Brewster) and Bailey (Diora
Baird).
As they were passing
through the abandoned tow n,
a twist of fate in the form of
a female biker attempting to
commit highway robbery,
forces them to rip through
a cow in the middle of the
road and thoroughly trash
their Jeep.
With impeccable
timing, the newly appointed
Sheriff Hoyt comes upon
the scene, promptly kills
the biker and loads the
injured teens up in his
squad car. As they arrive
back at the Hoyt mansion,
it’s obvious they're not in
the custody of a real law
enforcement official. So
playing at a small venue?
Chris: It s how it goes
for a band of our size. Some
nights you play in front
of hundreds of people and
some nights there’s more.
Dugs: But we do the
same show everywhere we
play. Wasted is a different
vibe than playing in front
of 50 people, though.
Chris: Last night
in Mobile, Ala, about 50
people came out. I was
wild and they ran amok.
It was great because you
can relax more in front of a
small crowd.
Dugs: It is more
intimate and you have
more of a connection with
the audience.
the terror begins.
There’s not really a
risk of mining the ending,
because (as is always the
case with a prequel) anyone
with half a brain can usually
guess it.
That’s really the only
problem with this film; the
audience knows no one is
going to escape, because if
they did there could be no
original “Texas Chainsaw
Massacre.”
The 2003 remake of
the original was absolutely
dreadful. There were so
many teeny bopper stars in
it. that many probably felt
they were watching some
horror sitcom on the WB.
This new remake, under
the competent direction of
Liebesman, has a lot of the
true f right of the original as
well as lesser known actors
that makes it fall more in
line with a cult classic.
The gore is a little over
the top, but is basically
WG: When you play
big festivals like Wasted
you get to play with legends
like The Damned. What is it
like to play with the bands
you grew up listening to?
Dugs: Well, we’ve
done Wasted for about four
or five years now. The first
time, we were like wow we
are sharing the stage with
The Damned and Cock
Sparrer. But now we are
sort of used to it.
Chris: The great thing is
you get to watch them from
the side of the stage. That’s
one of the perks you get.
Dugs: The Damned
are just there to do their
job. They don’t have rock
star attitudes.
just enough to keep the
film from being campy
and unwittingly humorous.
Also a plus are the constant
references to cannibalism,
which carries in and of
itself a natural repugnancy
and produces the effect of
constant nausea.
Many are saying that
this film doesn’t deliver the
gore and brutality that it
should.
In this critic’s opinion,
there’s just enough. Those
same people are also saying
that this movie doesn’t
produce enough background
on why Leatherface is the
way he is.
If they would just pay
attention to the opening
credits, they would see a
childhood full of ridicule
and animal brutality. There
are also references to his
childhood throughout the
film that allow the audience
to paint their own mental
image of his suffering.
Personally, this
moviegoer would rather
not watch an hour of a
disfigured child, but rather
get right to the killing!
Overall, this prequel
is relatively well done.
It doesn't drag on or get
caught up in background
information.
There’s just enough
gore to satisfy anyone who’s
not a psychopath and the nice
thing is, if one can get over
the obvious technological
production differences, this
film and the original "Texas
Chainsaw Massacre” could
be watched back to back.
GRADE: A-
WG: Are the
American fans into it as
much as European fans?
Dugs: Oh yeah. The
kids get up and jump
around. They don’t always
do that in Europe. That
might be because it is
colder.
WG: You may not
follow other bands, but
The Dropkick Murphys
are fairly popular right
now and Flogging Molly
is becoming almost
mainstream. Does that
benefit you in America
since you play Irish
inspired music?
Chris: Definitely. The
Dropkicks are good friends
of ours and we’ve done
lots of shows with them.
The Mollies are a band we
haven’t graced the stage
with yet but we know some
of them and they are great
people.
WG: Do you hope you
can ease in behind them
and ride their momentum?
Dugs: This Irish so
called folk is a music
anyone can play now, kind
of like ska. There are lots
of bands playing that style.
Chris: It’s unavoidable
that we are going to be
compared to those bands,
but we’d like to be respected
for what we do instead of
follow behind other bands
since we have been at ’• for
14 years.
Silence
continued on page 8