abbylee519

First off, I must swim against the tide and say I was not incredibly impressed with the original. I wasn't scared, and thought the last half hour was boring and repetitive, and the heroine's constant shrieking wore on my nerves.

I went to see this movie hoping I would at least be scared by it, and the trailer looked pretty good. It started out pretty decent, and I think the female survivor hitchhiker was much cooler than the original male hitchhiker who was part of Leatherface's clan.

However, soon it got so boring, with constant chase scenes and screaming, and looking at everyone's runny nose got kind of disgusting. While I will admit to jumping several times, that doesn't really mean anything--anyone can make a movie where they startle the hell out of the audience. My 5 year old nephew can do that. Make a movie that really scares me and makes me afraid to fall asleep, not just jump once or twice then roll my eyes at myself.

The only part I really liked (which was missing from the original and a great addition, very creepy) was the scene where Jessica Biel takes refuge in the trailer. Wow, that thinner one was scary looking. That was the only scene where I was really freaked out and filled with dread.

After that, unfortunately, was just chase scene after chase scene. Jessica narrowly escapes from the basement. Then she narrowly escapes from the old abandoned house. Then she barely escapes from the meat place. Then she narrowly escapes into the truck. Then she narrowly escapes the evil sheriff and drives off. And of course, there has to be one last time Leatherface jumps out at her. Keep in mind, this is the last half hour of the movie. Nothing but one escape after another. I was almost in tears I was so bored.

I would give this film a 3 out of 10, and that's generous.

When I first saw this movie, I hated it. I was outraged by how the Prince chose someone else over her (the mermaid rescued the Prince from drowning, but ducked away when she saw the other human girl coming, and the other girl sat with him until he fully regained consciousness). He assumed that girl saved his life, and she apparently never had the grace to admit that someone else had done the dirty work of hauling him out of the ocean--she just happened to be hanging out sunbathing, waiting for him to wake up.

So, I was pretty mad at this movie, but then I read the Hans Christian Andersen story years later, when I'd experienced my own first love and loss. I gained a new appreciation for this movie, as it depicts a desperate love, and this mermaid is willing to give up everything to be close to him. The only thing that sucks is that the object of her obsession truly does not deserve it, and the chick he chooses over her does not deserve his love either; he fell in love with her only because he thought she had saved him, but the mermaid was unable to tell him that.

It's sad, and frustrating, but still a good movie overall.