Just go in thinking this is a movie about a Boomer chainsaw killer versus gentrifying city slicker Gen Zers, and you might have a blast. Overall, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a mediocre entry, but we’ve seen worse. But the biggest upset of all is the return of Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré), who is criminally shoehorned in and wasted here. Here, he sets clever traps and even uses his chainsaw as a whirling projectile. He isn’t the whimpering man-baby as depicted in earlier sequels, either. While the Sawyer clan dynamic is sorely missed, it’s nice to see the big lug not being upstaged by any of his deranged relatives-Bill Moseley’s schizophrenic Chop Top from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 comes to mind. Among the thrills and kills, there are some poorly misguided attempts to make statements on topics such as gun control, systemic racism, cancel culture, and influencers, and these head-scratching mixed messages never quite land. As for old man Leatherface (Mark Burnham) himself, this time he’s a lone wolf. If you’re looking for anything more than the basics-Texas setting? Check. So where does this one stand? Somewhere in the middle. To be fair, that shouldn’t be too difficult. Set 50 years after the 1974 original, Netflix’s entry, directed by David Blue Garcia, acts as its direct sequel, ignoring everything from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and beyond-a bold move, putting the filmmakers in a position that demands they deliver something better than all eight sequels. Here, from worst to best, we rank every single Texas Chainsaw movie. None of the subsequent films have been able to replicate or recapture the true unflinching terror of its progenitor, but others are worthy efforts, while some (maybe most?) are downright atrocious with no regard for continuity whatsoever. Now, 48 years and a handful of star-studded sequels later, we’re getting another Leatherface entry-the ninth in the series, to be exact- for Netflix, also titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which wipes the chainsaw blade clean and follows the events of the original. After 13 years of buzzsaw silence, when the mid-1980s were largely dominated by nightmare man Freddy Krueger, Leatherface jumped back into fray, as did Hooper, who spoofed his own film and delivered 1986’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2-a ballsy and twisted black-comedy horror effort that mostly divided the original’s fans, but later became embraced as a cult classic. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre set the standard for the slasher genre and introduced us to the cannibalistic Sawyer family and their sadistic mascot, Leatherface, who undoubtedly influenced his masked maniac brethren such as Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. But more importantly, its kills aim for realism over gratuitous gore, though bloody it may be. Its lo-fi documentary feel and lack of a soundtrack only heightens its realism-you get an uneasy, dirty feeling as if you’re watching a found-footage snuff film. Watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is an unsettling experience, to say the least. While it’s true that Tobe Hooper’s landmark classic is loosely based on the grisly murders of real-life serial killer Ed Gein, the film’s frightening opening crawl alone convinced moviegoers that what they were seeing was indeed real. In 1974, movie audiences were shocked to the core by a hyper-realistic horror film that chronicled the “tragedy which befell a group of five youths.” That tragedy was, of course, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the macabre nightmare touted as “one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history," as the movie's narrator warns.
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