Wave goodbye to any kind of psychological examination of a once-fascinating villain. READ: ‘Uncharted’ Review: “Video Game Adaptation Makes For Rollicking Swashbuckler” Trying to find a personality on this guy is about as easy as finding a needle in a boneyard. By this point, he’s been reduced to a generic slasher villain. Speaking of Leatherface, the big lug is a massive bore. Gone are any hallmarks of the franchise really, save for Leatherface himself and the film ostensibly being set in Texas. Gone is the crazy family that represents a major component of the franchise. As investors roll in, Leatherface hunts them down one by one. Her death incurs the wrath of her “son” and caretaker: Leatherface (Mark Burnham). Our deeply morally reprehensible leads evict an elderly woman (Alice Krige) from her home, leading to her suffering a heart attack, eventually dying. None more so than the actual inciting incident. Screenwriter Chris Thomas Devlin crowbars in buzzwords to the script to attempt to make this version of Texas Chainsaw relevant in the modern age. Nothing against the actors, who do a fine job, but you’re already on the wrong foot when we have a quartet of unlikeable characters who treat the town they intend to “rejuvenate” like trash. In other words, they’re there for gentrification. Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her sister Lila (Elsie Fisher), and Melody’s friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Nell Hudson) venture to the ghost town of Harlow to clean it up for potential investors. READ: ‘Dog’ Review: “A Heartwarming Exploration Into Military Service”įor starters, the story is dead in the water. Sadly, the content lets the director down. There are some moments in here that would’ve been revered in a better movie. The pace is quick, the atmosphere (independent of the plot) is thick. Furthermore, his film looks great, thanks to no small part by cinematographer Ricardo Diaz who does his best to find the Texas grit in their shooting location of Bulgaria. Factoring in the material he acquits himself quite well. Genuinely, the largest of kudos goes to Garcia. Shortly into filming, original directors Ryan and Andy Tohill were replaced by David Blue Garcia. Fittingly, Texas Chainsaw Massacre had its fair share of production issues along the way. Texas Chainsaw Massacre ignores the entirety of the extended franchise to focus on being a sequel to strictly the original film. Distributed by Netflix, Legendary Pictures’ Texas Chainsaw Massacre lacks any sense of purpose. How about a bonkers retcon where Leatherface is an anti-hero? Boom, Texas Chainsaw 3D. Feeling in the mood for a grittier take? Marcus Nispel’s 2003 remake will do the trick. Want a comedic gorefest? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is right there. Not to mince words, it’s a mess of a franchise, yet one with something for everybody. Prequels ignored sequels, sequels ignoring prequels, prequels to the remakes, etc etc. Shot on a shoestring budget in Texas heat, pervasive rotten smells, and the like, many consider it to be the scariest film ever made, an assessment I agree with. It’s impossible to recreate the magic of 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
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