As the ninth film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, the aptly-titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre, heading straight to Netflix, won’t win any points for originality, keeping in line with the recent trend of legacyquels such as Halloween, Scream and Candyman, but it does deliver just enough slasher goodness to make the endeavor worthwhile.
Disregarding all other entires in the franchise, this Massacre is a direct sequel to the original film. A group of influencers arrive to the (mostly) abandoned ghost town of Harlow, Texas, in hopes of a making their own gentrified suburb. When they arrive, they find an abandoned orphanage — hanging a confederate flag no less — still occupied by an elderly woman (the great, Alice Krige) and her “boy” (Mark Burnham). After the old women dies, her “boy” turns out to be Leatherface, who has been in hiding since the events of the original, who is ready to slaughter anyone in his sights. With a charter bus full of investors on the way, our heroes must fight the iconic villain to stay alive.
At a scant 81 minutes, this is a slasher stripped to its barest essentials. We get a quick introduction to our cast of characters that, while a likable cast featuring the talents of Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade) and Jacob Latimore (Detroit), are largely unlikable fodder. These characters also make some of the most illogical decisions I’ve seen in a horror film in quite some time. When Leatherface is butchering your friend downstairs, why run upstairs and hide in a closet as opposed to running out the front door?
Rumor has it production on this was a bit troubled, and it does occasionally feel like it. There are baffling character decisions that are undone within the next minute and motivations that feel largely slapdash.
Taking over in the role first inhabited by the late, Gunnar Hansen, Mark Burnham makes for a formidable presence as Leatherface. Despite the characters being in his 70’s, Burnham does an effective job at keeping the iconic character frightening after nine films and nearly 50 years.
Director David Blue Garcia does an amicable job staging some thrillingly brutal sequences of carnage. The much buzzed-about (sorry) bus sequence is a cavalcade of top-notch splatter that wisely emphasizes practical effects when possible. There’s a brutal shot of a pool of blood coming in underneath a closed door like it’s water pooling in a room of the sinking Titanic.
This is a good looking, often strikingly shot film. Cinematographer Ricardo Diaz composes some beautiful looking shots, particularly a sequence set in a field. That said, this Texas Chainsaw Massacre lacks the grit of all other entries in the franchise, feeling too polished for its own sake.
Being a sequel to the original film, the character of Sally Hardesty, makes a return. Originally played by the late, Marilyn Burns, the role is now played by Olwen Fouere (Mandy, The Survivalist). Unfortunately, the entire Sally sub-plot is extremely forced and underdeveloped, feeling like an unnecessary bait-and-switch.
The score by Colin Stetson (Hereditary, Color Out of Space) is mighty effective, as is the films closing moments, giving a nasty little kick to leave audiences hanging on to.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre certainly won’t be remembered alongside Tobe Hooper’s original masterpiece, but it also isn’t among the worst in the franchise, that dishonor goes to Texas Chainsaw 3D. This is a quick, briskly-paced slasher that delivers on the simplest of expectations.
I’m personally a big fan of 2. Reason being is it still holds in my heart one of the greatest lines in cinema history-
Dennis Hopper duel wielding chainsaws and yelling;
“I am the lord of the harvest”
And also an entire sequence of an underground tunnel lit purely by a dizzying amount of practical lamps that for all intents and purposes makes no fucking sense at all in any conceivable way… but is simply – fucking cool.
I submit therefor; for these reasons- a score for this sequel that transcends the typical rating system, and goes right into the category of movies that sort of suck, but are still awesome, and are outside the classical sense of rating a film. A fine category to be in.
Great review!
I enjoyed every entry in the Chainsaw series. Some are just nostalgic while others feel like cash grabs. My reasoning of liking all the entries is do to the tag line of the 3rd original entry, The Saw is Family. So, in a weird way the family structure of the massacre family, though being unerving and at times hard to watch, is strongly shown across most of the films. Making the 3D entry a strong likable sequel.
This new entry is by far not the best in series. That for me, a Friday the 13th fan, is going to the original and the remake with Beil as the final girl.
My absolute favorite scene is when Leatherface has just returned back to Harlow and nobody knows he’s there. There’s a shot with a swinging door that I would love to pull off in a future project. Then the end result of that attack is awesome! It’s no frozen head smash or sleeping bag kill, but im a sucker for some gnarly practical effects.
The new film is short and cluttered at times. I enjoyed it none the less. Camera work and practical effects were a great addition. The music was fun too.
The character arc of the lead is a nice change of pace. From a slasher perspective, us fans don’t get a lot of character development for a body count movie.
Now for my gripes. The bus scene, though I chuckled and loved the half body effects, was just out of place for the series and the character. Leatherface could have been brought into modern day differently. As for the acting, a lot of it is not on par with us, the audience, as to wanting us to feel for these characters. That being said, the balance of strong characters we love and those that are there for a body count could have been better executed. Like, why bring back a character from the original just to do what was done. It felt like a lazy reach to be what Halloween Kills is.
This entry is watchable and enjoyable for fans and non leather heads alike. Just keep in mind that it’s a sequel to a series that marked the world with fear and slashers. If you love fun and gory extravaganzas, then this entry is for you.