Review by Jon Donnis
I am a big fan of your classic slasher films from the 80s, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a bit before my time, and I never really got into the franchise, I was more of a Friday the 13th fan. Well, we have a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this one is a direct sequel to the original 1974 film, and the 9th film in the franchise. I thought I would check out this new version to see what all the fuss is about.
50 years have passed since the original mass murders of the mid 1970s, Melody (played by Sarah Yarkin) her sister Lila (Played by Elsie Fisher), Dante (Played by Jacob Latimore) and his girlfriend Ruth (Played by Nell Hudson) have travelled to Harlow, a town in Texas, they plan to auction off old properties, so that the area can be modernised with new businesses, and turn what is a somewhat abandoned town, into a new trendy place to live.
One of the first places they go to look at is an old orphanage, the orphanage is supposed to be empty, but they find out that an old woman called Ginny (Alice Krige) is living there, they point out to her that the house has been sold and she shouldn't be there, but Ginny claims to have proof she is still the owner, a towering figure appears in silhouette at the top of the stairs, while an argument breaks out between Ginny and our protagonists. Ginny collapses with a heart attack, the police arrive, and say they will take her to hospital, the man comes downstairs to help, the police say that he is "her boy" as he picks her up and puts her in the ambulance (Police wagon).
On the way to the hospital Ginny dies, as soon as she dies the man goes berserk, kills the cops, and then cuts off Ginny's face and put's it over his own. Yes, you guessed it; the man is Leatherface.
And now it is time for your typical killing spree. Different methods of killing people, all done in horrific and gruesome manners, until eventually Leatherface gets hold of a Chainsaw.
This is your typical slasher, the story is threadbare, the characters are all very cliché, everything is predictable, and we even get a little post credits scene. Leatherface is sadly not that scary, and there is a lack of tension in any of the build ups to the kills.
The effects used are convincing, the "kills" are all varied, the film is relatively short, just about 80 minutes. It is pretty fair to say that this film is not going to bring any new fans to the genre or the franchise. After watching, I feel no interest to go back and watch any of the other films. I think for me the problem is that Leatherface is not particularly impressive. He is not supernatural, he is not immortal as far as I can tell, he is just a big strong serial killer, and when you have enjoyed Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, Leatherface just pales in comparison. I put him in the same spot as Michael Myers. Just not very impressive.
The Good
As a slasher film it ticks all the boxes, and delivers on what it promises.
The Bad
Doesn't offer anything new to the genre. No one liners, no original kills. There is nothing here you won't have seen before in any other slasher film.
Leatherface others nothing special in this as a character, he is easily replaceable, you couldn't say that about Freddy Krueger or Jason could you?
Overall
If you are a huge fan of the genre, then I am sure you will enjoy this, it is a short film, and as I said ticks all the boxes for horror fans.
I score Texas Chainsaw Massacre an unfortunate 5/10
Out now on Netflix
Or you can watch the original at https://amzn.to/37PxopS
