Letterboxd Recap: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Edition!

In anticipation of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film streaming on Netflix, I watched the few TCM movies available on streaming services in February. Here are my thoughts…

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

This was actually my first taste of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. This remake disturbed me so much so that it took me a very long time to actually watch the original version. 17 years to be exact. The whole “everyone is in on it” aspect of films like this and House of 1,000 Corpses really puts me on edge, and I just hate the anxiety it gives me. In my opinion, this is one the few well done horror remakes. In fact, I find this version more horrifying than the classic. It managed to modernize the original TCM, making it even more grittier and darker than the original story.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

This was my first time seeing the prequel to the remake. It’s not that much different from the remake, in terms, of the story and aesthetic, but it is still a fun watch nonetheless. I actually think Leatherface is more menacing in this film, in comparison, to its successor.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

I finally watched this back in 2020, which is ludicrous for someone like me who’s consumed most classic horror films, but the remake scared the shit out of me as a teenager. I was convinced this film was going to be more insane and anxiety inducing than the remake. It’s actually NOT that bad. Looking back on my second watch of the original, I think this film is starting to grow on me finally…

This leads me to the latest installment of this very CONFUSING franchise. I would say the films I just mentioned are the best of the series. Thus, I wasn’t expecting much as this was supposed to be yet another sequel to the 1974 classic. I think most horror fans prepare themselves of going through the mental torture of filmmakers butchering (bun intended) their beloved horror favorites. So, here is my rant on TCM in full essay form… LOL.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

First off, I hate how all these classics are following in the footsteps of Halloween. These formulaic direct sequels (which don’t even differentiate their titles from the original even though it’s a SEQUEL) erase every storyline that took place before just to bring back the original final girl for the ultimate showdown.

The problem is it only works for Halloween because Laurie Strode was always more than a final girl. She’s become an integral part in Michael Myer’s story. Sally was just in the wrong place at the wrong time all those years ago. She has no connection to Leatherface or his psychotic, cannablistic family. They were just looking to butcher some people up.

My major complain: When did Leatherface become Michael Myers? Leatherface is more cunning and deliberate in this film. In the original installment of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it was hinted that Leatherface was less intellectually developed than the average person. Furthermore, he exhibits a rather silent demeanor, super human strength, and the inability to be killed in this sequel. This Leatherface is not true to character, which contributes to the list of plot holes within this film.

I’m not one to complain about plot holes, but I have so many unanswered questions. What happened to Leatherface these past 50 years? Why is he in an orphanage with this elderly woman? Why hasn’t he aged properly? Why does he seem more like a person taking on the legacy of Leatherface than Leatherface himself?

It also seems to borrow from Halloween Kills by adding elements of extreme gore and social commentary that makes little sense in the context of the story. Lila, one of the main characters of the film, was a victim of a school shooting. She ends up in an abandoned town in Texas, where her sister, Melody, intends to gentrify with a young crowd of Californians. It is here that she meets Leatherface. Can you imagine surviving a traumatic school massacre, only to come face-to-face with a psychotic killer? As if this girl didn’t have enough PTSD.… let’s make it 100% worse!

Towards the end of the film, Lila has to face her fear, and take down Leatherface with the very thing that traumatized her, a gun. I don’t know why they felt the need to put this story into the plot. Are filmmakers trying to convey to people that you shouldn’t be anti-gun because there may be a time, in which, you’d have to defend yourself with a gun? Basically, implying the age old argument against gun control, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” So now, this poor fucking girl is a victim of both a school shooting and a mass murder because of whatever point the writers were trying to make.

It just doesn’t feel like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. It seems to borrow from other classic slasher franchises, instead of just enforcing the core elements of TCM that made it so unique and a head of its time back in 1974. I’ve been comparing this film to Halloween, but you can also see the story’s resemblance to the Friday the 13th franchise. I mean, doesn’t a big monster running around his old stomping grounds, seeking revenge for the death of his “mother,” sound familiar to you? Furthermore, Leatherface “dies” in a pool of water to only come back to life at the end of the film for the classic Jason Voorhees jump scare.

If you can ignore the fact that this is supposed to be a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel, it’s a decent gory slasher. The cinematography in this film is stunning, and I loved the symbolic nature of the dead sunflower field. I know there are horror fans who will tell you it’s a fun movie that shouldn’t be taken that seriously. I do agree to some extent, but I also have an issue with this statement at the same time. Sure, I watch plenty of bad slasher films for fun (Friday the 13th has a whole arsenal of them lol), BUT all TCM affirms is that I’m tired of these reboots and sequels. I want new slasher films. I want new horror villains… it’s 2022!

It’s always the casual horror fans who only consume commercial horror that tell you to be grateful for whatever we get in the horror genre too. First of all, no. There are plenty of great horror films out there that you are just ignorantly unaware of. I mean, you don’t have to look that hard for new horror movies… there’s a whole streaming service dedicated to them. Your seemingly low expectations for the horror industry is no excuse for the lack of new, innovative slasher films within the last two decades.

Casual horror fans are also the same assholes, who condescendingly ask you why you were expecting an Oscar-worthy film from the horror industry. I wasn’t asking for an Academy award winning film, but why are you acting like great horror films can’t be produced? I don’t have a high attachment to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it is a very important film in the horror genre. I hate when people can’t comprehend that horror films CAN have substance and evoke high emotion. Many classic horror franchises MEAN something to fans. If filmmakers are going to continue to remake and reboot these franchises, then they could at least stay true to the story and do it right.

Well, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk…