When The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was released 20 years ago, it was widely considered a flop, grossing less than half of the previous movie in the series ($52 million versus $107 million) and being almost universally panned with descriptions like “oppressive, mean-spirited and sadistic” (Time Out) and “putridly written, directed and acted” (Rolling Stone).

I would never have predicted any of...