Texas Chainsaw Massacre review by Bobby Blakey
Throughout the years there have been a select few of film killers that have become iconic like Freddy, Jason and Chucky. One of the biggest, baddest and nastiest is Leatherface who was unleashed in the 1974 Tobe Hooper horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Since its release there have been numerous sequels and reboots like most of these franchises. Now Don’t Breath and Evil Dead (2013) director Fede Alvarez is stepping up as producer and writer alongside Kim Henkel (co-writer of the 1974 film), Ian Henkel and Pat Cassidy for the next chapter aptly titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre from director David Blue Garcia. Could this next chapter offer up more buzzing bloody fun or will it fail to get the chainsaw started?
Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows Melody, her teenage sister Lila, and their friends Dante and Ruth, who head to the remote town of Harlow, Texas to start an idealistic new business venture. But their dream soon turns into a waking nightmare when they accidentally disrupt the home of Leatherface, the deranged serial killer whose blood-soaked legacy continues to haunt the area’s residents — including Sally Hardesty, the sole survivor of his infamous 1973 massacre who’s hell-bent on seeking revenge.
This latest chapter stars Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Jacob Latimore, Nell Hudson, Olwen Fouéré taking on the role of original film survivor Sally Hardesty originally played by the late Marilyn Burns and Mark Burnham as the latest Leatherface. Despite the flaws with many of the films in this franchise I still love them all so was excited to dive into this one to see where it was headed. It seemed as though they were taking a page out of the Halloween playbook bringing back the final girl and making a direct sequel, but was hoping it might offer something more to stand out.
As I feared on the story of Sally while it does take a different direction with it, it’s still pretty much the same idea. I am actually ok with it because why not give the character a chance to get some payback. Stepping away from that rehash idea the rest of the film is pretty straight forward in its plot. I actually like where it picks up in regards to where Leatherface is and why he gets pissed once again. I was not a big fan of a lot of the characters, but none of them annoyed me enough to top my hatred of Franklin in the original. Most of the characters in these kinds of films are disposable anyway so never expect too much from them except to be set up to be killed and it does not disappoint.
In regards to the kills there are plenty of them and they are beautifully horrific. Most notably a great mass kill sequence that is a splatter fest that will please any gore hound. This is a pissed off Leatherface and with good reason this time around. The previous outings he was just a crazed maniac and still is here as well, but it’s the fault of these people that set him off and he is an unstoppable force I loved watching.
I know this film may not be getting the praise people had hoped for and I agree on some elements that this isn’t the direction I wanted either, but still worked for me. Some might find it preachy, but I thought it was a clever use of a real topic as well for the story without ever pushing the agenda too far. This is not a deep movie nor is it meant to be. It’s a blood soaked massacre that brings all the fun and gore that I was hoping for and I am not ashamed to admit I really liked it especially the ending.
I suggest re-watching the original back to back with this one to make for a better experience. Be sure to stay through the to the end of the credits for a great sequence that promises fun things to come should this do well and I am crossing my fingers it does. Decide for yourself and check out Texas Chainsaw Massacre streaming now on Netflix.