db7833

This movie had everything a good horror/slasher movie should have: plenty of blood, guts, tension, strong acting, excellent lighting and effects, no cheesy dialog, and an unhappy ending! I like that the movie picks up quicker than most movies. Being that it has a short run time, this is sort of unavoidable to get everything into the film. The actors all do an above-average job, especially Ermey, one of my all time favorites. Even the "no-name" actors hold their own in this. Leatherface is cast as a great hulking figure and I love that he has no dialog, only physical actions and strong violent tendencies. The sex scenes and over the top (yet appropriate) gore make this possibly too much for a younger, less mature audience. This is a good teen and 20 to 30 somethings type of movie. Older viewers will likely dismiss this as "hollywood trash", much as they did with the remake...and Dawn of the Dead...and many other great films of recent years.

This is a classic tale of "outsider goes to a strange foreign country and makes a difference". I originally had to watch this as part of a college assignment but found myself actually enjoying the movie a lot more than I thought I would. It is roughly 2 1/2 hours long, which is fairly common for historical movies of this type. It is well acted and the costumes and set design are amazing. Foster is perfect as always and even though I like Chow-Yun Fat I had never seen him do anything amazing before this. He is very good in this film however and deserves to be given appropriate credit. There is a bit of graphic violence which may be a bit much for the younger audience. Other than that, I recommend this to anyone liking epic historical films.