THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) 1/2
(Nth Viewing)

Driving through the backwoods of Texas, five youths pick up a traumatized hitchhiker, who shoots herself in their van. Shaken by the suicide, the group seeks help from the locals, but their situation becomes even more surreal when they knock on the door of a remote homestead. It's quickly apparent the residents are a family of inbred psychopaths, and the unlucky youths suddenly find themselves running for their lives. In hot pursuit is a disfigured, chainsaw-wielding cannibal known as Leatherface.

In my opinion, this and THE BEGINNING are probably the two most realistic films in this franchise. Everything before this film, with the exception of maybe the original, seemed too phony. However, the last two sucked me into a reality where I felt I was in danger like the characters. A good cast of young actors including Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour, and Jonathan Tucker. As is the case in THE BEGINNING, R. Lee Ermey easily steals the show with his hilarious, yet everyday kind of comments. I can't believe director Marcus Nispel turned out PATHFINDER after this