Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) (Movie Review)

The original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is a masterpiece.  It is a highwater mark in horror filmmaking.  Any film with this level of legacy and influence is going to milked every couple of years.  As of 2022 we are up to 5 sequels, 1 prequel to the original, 1 reboot, and 1 prequel to that reboot.  The maddeningly inconsistent naming convention (Chainsaw vs Chain Saw) is enough to drive anyone insane.

This brings us to Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), a direct sequel to the original.  After the required narration of John Larroquette over a television we are introduced to our main characters, sisters Melody (Sarah Yarkin) and Lila (Elsie Fisher) along with business partner Dante (Jacob Latimore).  They are on their way to a Texas ghost town they have bought and plan on selling off to other millennials.  The goal is to create their own utopia as a safe haven from “late-stage capitalism”.  They insist this is not a cult.  When they arrive it is discovered that there are some residents left.  A misunderstanding leads to tragedy and old Leatherface takes it upon himself to fight off the wanna-be gentrifiers in brutal fashion. 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is rife with subtle commentary or at least is subtle enough for us to add our own social commentary.  The most obvious is the clash between urban and rural populations.  This new incarnation runs with that theme.  There is also a subplot involving a character who was involved in a school shooting that I found intriguing.  Her run-in with Leatherface might not be the most horrific evil she has faced.  Throw in someone objecting to a confederate flag and the first act hits on quite a few themes.  It isn’t subtle but at least is trying to say something which is more than most movies in this franchise.

Leatherface (played in hulking fashion by Mark Burnham) kicks off the 2nd act in spectacularly gory fashion.  Limbs are snapped broken and bent.  Chains attached to saw rip through flesh.  The body count is easily near the top of the franchise if not the highest.  There is enough viscera to balance out the chatty first 20 minutes.  The original is praised for its implied gore but in 2022 you got to go for it.  When he gets going this Leatherface stands broad shoulder to broad shoulder with the rest.  Personally, I think that the most intriguing Leatherface moments are the quiet ones.  My favorite scene in the original is when he cowers in a corner scared and confused as to why these teenagers keep coming into his house.  In this film, he does have a few moments of sadness for someone he has lost.

The third act is the weakest.  We get the return of Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré) the sole survivor of the original.  Halloween (2018) had success bringing back Jamie Leigh Curtis to play Laurie Strode.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work here.  Sally was originally played by Marilyn Burns who passed away in 2014.  I don't know if having the original actress would have made this inclusion better but it would have helped.  The Sally character isn't fleshed out enough and does not have a meaningful impact on the plot.

On a technical level, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a breezy 81 minutes.  Compliments go out to composer Colin Stetson (Hereditary, Color Out of Space) and director of cinematography Ricardo Diaz (Stranger Things).  The film looks gorgeous and the score keeps you in the mood.  Director David Blue Garcia admirably pulls the show together after replacing the initial directors.

Legendary is releasing Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Netflix after reports of poor test screening.  The internet buzz has been pretty negative as well.  There are much worse and forgettable installments you can watch in this franchise.  Does this or any further films featuring Leatherface need to exist?  I think this corpse has been desecrated enough but you could do much worse things in 81 minutes.