WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT FEAR… DOESN’T EVEN COME CLOSE.

This fitfully amusing remake is a celebration of the 1974 original, employing the same kind of nasty, sadistic atmosphere.

A picture is painted of the Texas countryside as utterly degenerate, and R. Lee Ermey in particular seems to enjoy a part that is so right for him, that of a repugnant figure of authority.

The leads (who in this story pick up a hitcher that subsequently blows her brains out in their van) are played by attractive boys and girls, but the first film had the benefit of an original touch; also, the chase near the ending becomes too drawn out.

2003-U.S. 98 min. Color. Directed by Marcus Nispel. Cast: Jessica Biel (Erin), Jonathan Tucker (Morgan), Erica Leerhsen (Pepper), Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, Andrew Bryniarski, R. Lee Ermey. Narrated by John Larroquette. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Michael Bay. Followed by a prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006).