Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)


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🎥 Let’s Start with the Trailers

The trailers for this film promised something raw, nasty, and merciless. Unlike other slashers that tease a possible escape or lean into camp, The Beginning sold itself as a bleak origin story about how the Hewitt family — especially Sheriff Hoyt and Leatherface — became the monsters we know. It wasn’t trying to be fun. It was trying to be mean. And it delivered on that promise.


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🔄 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

This prequel rewinds the timeline to the early 1970s and shows the Hewitt family’s transformation into a full-on nightmare. We see how Thomas Hewitt (Leatherface) started his killing spree, how the family turned to cannibalism, and how Sheriff Hoyt took control of the household with his twisted rules.

On the flip side, we follow four unlucky young travelers — Eric, Dean, Chrissie, and Bailey — who cross paths with the Hewitts. Their road trip into Texas hell quickly spirals into a fight for survival.

This isn’t the playful horror of some TCM entries. The Beginning doubles down on bleakness, cruelty, and despair.


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👥 Character Rundown

Thomas Hewitt / Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski): A hulking, unstoppable monster. Less tragic here, more pure killing machine. This is Leatherface stripped of sympathy — just raw brutality.

Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey): The real villain. He’s not just sadistic — he’s a sadist with rules, discipline, and the force of authority. He’s scarier than Leatherface because he enjoys breaking people mentally before the chainsaw even revs. Hoyt represents order turned inside out: a lawman who uses the uniform and badge to commit atrocities. He manipulates his family, tortures strangers, and mocks soldiers while pretending to be one. Unlike Leatherface, who acts on instinct, Hoyt’s cruelty is calculated — which makes him more terrifying.

Chrissie (Jordana Brewster): The final-girl figure who tries to fight back. She’s resourceful and determined, but this movie isn’t about happy endings.

Eric (Matt Bomer): The strong, protective older brother, heading to Vietnam. His soldier background makes him a target for Hoyt’s psychological abuse.

Dean (Taylor Handley): The draft-dodging younger brother. His conflict with Eric adds some human drama, though Hoyt twists it into a tool for cruelty.

Bailey (Diora Baird): The fun-loving member of the group, who ends up with one of the most drawn-out and disturbing fates.



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🕑 Pacing / Flow

The film moves fast and never lets up. From Leatherface’s grotesque birth to the final chase, it’s non-stop cruelty and despair. The pacing is relentless, but it can also feel repetitive — torture, chase, capture, repeat. That said, the exhaustion works in the film’s favor: it makes you feel trapped in the same hopeless cycle as the victims.


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✅ Pros

Darker and nastier than most Texas Chainsaw entries.

R. Lee Ermey as Sheriff Hoyt — terrifying, magnetic, unforgettable.

Leatherface at his most monstrous.

Grimy cinematography that feels oppressive and dirty.

A true sense of hopelessness, which matches the film’s prequel intent.



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❌ Cons

Prequel curse: you know the Hewitts survive, and everyone else dies. No real surprises.

Some torture scenes cross the line from tension into sadism-for-shock.

Victims are thinly written, existing mostly to be brutalized.

Chrissie’s arc ends abruptly, leaving no real catharsis.



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😐 Final Thoughts

I’ll say it again — I actually liked The Beginning. Yeah, it’s infamous for how mean-spirited it is, but that’s also why it works. It’s not a fun slasher. It’s an ugly grindhouse nightmare. Sheriff Hoyt is the true monster here, using authority, discipline, and cruelty to manipulate everyone — his family, his victims, even Leatherface. He’s scarier than the chainsaw.

This isn’t a film I’d recommend to everyone, but as a horror fan who appreciates darker tones and nastier atmospheres, I think it earns its place.


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⭐ Rating

8/10 – One of the bleakest, most unforgiving TCM entries, carried by R. Lee Ermey’s chilling villainy.


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning!

From here on, spoilers are flying like chainsaw sparks.


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💥 Spoilers

The movie opens with Leatherface’s disturbing birth — discarded on the floor of a slaughterhouse and raised by the Hewitt family. His violent tendencies are “there from the start.”

Sheriff Hoyt (formerly Charlie Hewitt) kills the real sheriff, steals his identity, and uses the badge to control both the town and his own family. He becomes the law and the terror at the same time.

Eric and Dean’s sibling drama (soldier vs. draft dodger) is twisted by Hoyt, who forces Dean into humiliating military-style punishments like pushups, mocking both brothers in the process.

Bailey is captured and tortured, enduring one of the most drawn-out deaths in the franchise.

Eric is skinned alive by Leatherface, his face becoming one of the first masks Thomas ever wears. A horrifying origin detail.

Chrissie almost makes it out — she sneaks into a car, gets onto the road, and it looks like she’s free. But Leatherface is in the back seat. The chainsaw rips through her, killing her instantly. No survivors.

The final shot is Leatherface walking back to the Hewitt house, dragging Chrissie’s body. Sheriff Hoyt looks on proudly. The family is complete, the nightmare has begun.



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🔄 Comparison to the 2003 Remake

What makes The Beginning stand apart from the 2003 remake is the tone. The 2003 film, while brutal, still gave us glimpses of hope and some survivors. It felt like a horror movie with a chance of escape. The Beginning rips that away. There are no survivors. No hope. It’s pure despair, filmed darker, shot grimmer, and paced to exhaust you. Where the remake was stylishly nasty, The Beginning is nihilistic. It’s not about thrills — it’s about showing you how the Hewitt family became irredeemable monsters.


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👉 So in the end, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning isn’t really Leatherface’s story — it’s Hoyt’s. He’s the one who cements the family’s brutality, sets the rules, and shapes Leatherface into the weapon he becomes. That’s why he’s the true villain.