Horror fans are bracing themselves for the prequel to one of the most legendary horror films of all times. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
is about to hit theatres, but moviegoers won't see all of the scenes originally intended for the film. Luckily, we got our hands on the notes studio executives sent to writer Sheldon Turner on the first draft of his script.
Sheldon, great script! You really fill in the holes and answer a lot of the questions fans have been asking for decades. However, we have a few issues we need you to address before we can green light this one:
Page 7
While it is interesting to show how negative influences during childhood helped to shape Leatherface into a killer, we think that having him sitting in the same second grade classroom as Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers, Pin Head, Count Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, Godzilla, Boo Berry, Skeletor, Gargamel, The Blair Witch, The "guy who knows what you did last summer," Scarecrow, Dick Cheney and Ann Coulter is going a little overboard.
Page 16
In the original film, it is assumed that since Leatherface' family members are homicidal cannibals, they made the furniture crafted out of human body limbs themselves from their victims. It seems inconsistent that you have them, in this scene, purchasing the furniture on six months same as cash from Ikea.
Page 21 - 81
Let' get rid of the scene where it is revealed that Leatherface' weapon of choice before the chainsaw was the salad spinner. It is confusing how such a device could be used as an effective weapon, even though you've devoted the next 60 pages of the script here trying to explain it.
Page 94
Leatherface is just a name. He shouldn't be so concerned about getting his face wet.
Page 101
Okay, here you have a teenaged Leatherface on his first date and the movie he takes his girlfriend to see is
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is baffling on many levels.
Page 130
This is the third time Leatherface' chainsaw has crapped out just before a kill and he' kicked himself for "not buying a Black & Decker." First of all, if these must be the first instances in which Leatherface has ever talked, it seems the words should be much more monumental. Second, while it' obvious you're going for product placement dollars, we doubt that Black & Decker is going to be happy with its products being touted for their killing effectiveness.
Page 147
You've taken great pains to show how primary and secondary influences shaped Leatherface into a killer, so why in this scene, do we find out that Leatherface has a rare optical condition where he can't tell the difference between people and overgrown trees?