In the latest “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” installment, Leatherface had no mercy on any character, new or old.
After slaughtering a group of teenagers in the 1974 Tobe Hooper horror classic “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and nearly 50 years of hiding later, Leatherface (Mark Burnham) emerged to terrorize a group of influencers looking to revitalize a small town outside of Austin.
The 80-minute movie follows a geriatric Leatherface as he targets the teenagers in a gruesome rampage for overtaking his deserted town. And it doesn’t stop there, as he also encounters his only original survivor, Sally Hardesty.
This new installment is a sloppy mess and doesn’t do the original justice, which was a groundbreaking feat in the world of slasher films. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974) is the mother of gore and weapon-wielding maniacs, and Leatherface deserves a better revival outside of 2022 commentary and a tacky mask. This movie felt like a pathetic insult to the true master of evil.
The Gen Z characters at the center of Leatherface’s rage were forgettable from the start of their Lone Star State road trip and added no value to the franchise.
The dialogue was dull, and tried too hard to connect the violence in the movie to school shootings and gun control when in reality, there is no real connection between the two subjects. This franchise is not the right place to be “woke” and the filmmakers were trying too hard to make this a point.
The characters were all so flat and unlikeable compared to the original movie that you won’t even find yourself sympathizing with them and pleading for their survival when under Leatherface’s wrath.
It was entertaining seeing them getting picked off by Leatherface one by one, with torsos cut in half, throats slashed and faces peeled off.
Perhaps the most entertaining scene was when Leatherface emerges onto a party bus the teens set up and they all whip out their phones and start recording his rampage. One male character even says “try anything and you’re canceled, bro” – apparently even Leatherface can’t escape cancel culture. But with delight, he butchers all the unsuspecting partygoers, and viewers will be glad that these annoying teens won’t be boring them any longer..
What makes the 1974 film special is the level at which Sally communicates her terror. If you’ve seen the original movie, the final shot of Sally drenched in blood screaming in the back of a pickup truck is burned in your mind. Sally is a victim, but also a survivor. Marilyn Burns who played the original scream queen, died in 2014, and will forever be remembered as one of the most prominent final girls in horror.
However, Sally in 2022’s version, played by Irish-actress Olwen Fouéré, is a difficult role to play and one Fouéré doesn’t excel at. The director, David Blue Garcia, should have left Sally’s story alone. It felt like he was trying to copy Jamie Lee Curtis’s character in “Halloween Kills” and make Sally into a hardy revenge killer just like Laurie Strode. Some things are left better undisturbed.
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is no stranger to sequels, but 2022’s version is by far the worst. Slasher has had a bit of a revival in recent years with a new “Scream” movie and multiple present-day “Halloween” sequels, as well as original movies like “Happy Death Day.”
That being said, it’s time to stop making sequels to classic horror movies when the plot is ridiculous and lackluster. Garcia even referenced “The Shining” and 1978’s “Halloween” in some shots, but it still felt uninspired. Leatherface does not belong in the 2020s and it’s best to leave him in the past.
Hopefully, this new sequel is forgotten about and “killed” as quickly as Leatherface murdered the teenagers in the bus.
Follow Sarah on Twitter @thesarahdipity.
