TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
(director: David Blue Garcia; screenwriter: Chris Thomas Devlin/story by Fede Alvarez & Rodo Savagues/based on the characters of Tobe Hooper & Kim Henkel; cinematographer: Ricardo Diaz; editor: Christopher S. Capp ; music:Colin Stetson; cast: Sarah Yarkin (Melody), Elsie Fisher (Lila), Jacob Latimore(Dante), Nell Hudson (Ruth), Olwen Fouéré (Sally Hardesty), Moe Dunford (Richter), Mark Burnham (Leatherface), Alice Krige (Mrs. MC), William Hope (Sheriff), Jolyon Coy (Deputy), Sam Douglas (Herb the proprietor), John Larroquette (Narrator); Runtime: 73; MPAA Rating: R; producers; Fede Alvarez, Kim Henkel, Ian Henkel, Pat Cassidy: Netflix; 2022)
“Another lousy sequel to the original 1974 film.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Another lousy sequel to the original 1974 film, one marked by production problems, a mid-film change of directors and bad marks when shown to test audiences.The ninth entry in this trashy series, shot in Bulgaria subbing for Texas, is directed with a bloody appetite for gore by David Blue Garcia(“Tejano”), who conforms to the other repulsive sequel films by coming up with another worthless version (but thankfully at only 73 minutes). This story is by Fede Alvarez & Rodo Savagues, and is written by Chris Thomas Devlin, and follows the bloody path of Tobe Hooper’s original.
In case you missed all the “The Chainsaw Massacre” horror pics, it’s about this psychopath called Leatherface (Mark Burnham), a homicidal maniac and serial killer who makes masks from the skin of his victims.
Four young yuppie entrepreneurs (Sarah Yarkin, Nell Hudson, Elsie Fisher and Jacob Latimore), city folks from Austin, arrive at a deserted small town in Texas– the Red part of the state, in town known only for a place where fifty years ago there was a bloody murder spree by some loony wielding a chainsaw. The idea of the business folks, a damn stupid one, is to bring gentrification to the ghost town of Harlow by auctioning off the town they just bought to investors (who they will bus into town later in the day). The investors will turn the empty storefronts into chic restaurants, hip expresso places, boutiques and specialty shops.
When the slick town owners walk the streets, they find on one town property a Confederate flag flying, where lives a stubborn old lady (Alice Krige) who refuses to leave town even after receiving an eviction notice. On the street, they come across a hostile rough-neck gun-toting local (Moe Dunford), who has no love for liberal city folks. Another resident is Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré), who was a child when the massacre occurred.
It turns out Leatherface is still alive, hiding out all those years, and now returning to Harlow to do more damage with his chainsaw, as his visit brings about spilled blood everywhere. What a film!
REVIEWED ON 3/1/2022 GRADE: D