The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Rather surprising this didn't have its own thread already, but whatever!

The license to make new movies of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre got picked up some time back by Legendary Pictures.

They've already got a very effective teaser poster and release year of 2021 (assuming the pandemic doesn't get in the way).

Oh, and they got a teaser website too!

Don't forget to turn on your sound!

So, is this a forum for the entire franchise? Or just the new movie?

It can be both!

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old fart, I admit to really not seeing the point of this remake/reboot. I know that the money men don't care about the artistic value in the least but it still seems pretty pointless.

That feeling extends to all the reboots for this franchise, since the original movie is great enough as a standalone movie.

Well it has been a good few years since the last TCM movie. It's like the Halloween reboot, I'd say it's gotten enough time and hopefully enough good people on it that it can recapture the..."magic"? of the series again.

It's only been three years since the last movie, but that was dumped on VOD and hardly anyone saw it.

Which is a shame. That one's probably my favorite besides the original.

It was better than expected. I didn't think the mystery as to which character became Leatherface really worked, though. It felt like they went with the least logical option just to be surprising.

I thought Leatherface was a decent horror movie, but a lousy prequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It doesn't help that most of the prequel aspects tie into one of the absolute worst entries in the series in its immediate predecessor.

As for this, it just sounds like another retread of the original in a series that's mostly populated by them. I'm curious about why the original directors were fired after a week, though. The world probably won't ever know.

The fact that they even tried to build on the Chainsaw 3D continuity was insane. And it only further highlighted how little sense the timeline made.

And I really don't know about the knew one. I'm very concerned about how they're trying to sell it on the producer's name, feels very much like they want people to think Alvarez is making it himself.

Wow. This looks idiotic.

This film was lambasted a while back in previews for the bone-headed "lol woke millenials" messaging some people said it would have. The trailer seems to be sadly confirming these fears.

Honestly, I kinda hate this trend of lazy reboots that are just soft remakes of the original in premise except with some meta commentary and returning, aged characters (Halloween and Scream both having done this). In this case it's even stupider given the actress for the original Sally's actress (Marilyn Burn) passed away nearly a decade before this film (2014).

This feels like Wrong Turn (2021), complete with asshole millennial stereotypes, but much worse.

Plus, if they really want us to think this is the same Leatherface he's going to be an octogenarian by now. And if its NOT, then the whole "returning final girl" thing is even more pointless than it first seems.

Edited by jakobitis on Jan 31st 2022 at 10:05:20 AM

On top of it just blatantly ripping off Halloween (2018), I'd argue that Sally from the first movie doesn't' nearly have the level of popularity of Laurie Strode. Her return (And as mentioned above the original actress passed away, so its a new actress in the role) doesn't nearly have the punch that having JLC returning did.

, I agree wholeheartedly.

Sally is really only important as a pair of (initially) sane eyes and ears viewing the madness. She's not like Laurie, she never even really tries to fight in any way, she just runs like hell. Not nearly as dynamic.

Hell, they should have brought back the truck driver who swings a wrench at Leatherface (giving Sally a chance to escape) if you want to repeat this formula of "old hero from the original faces horror once again". To my understanding his actor (Ed Guinn) is still alive and it'd be moderately more inventive to go the full Ascended Extra route by taking this brief-but-memorable character and giving him the full spotlight.

Hell the fact he's black gives you a interesting opportunity to tackle some modern themes of racism if you want to go that way.

Edited by Gaon on Jan 31st 2022 at 11:35:46 AM

Bringing back the truck driver would have been a much better idea.

The fact the Truck Driver's name is Ed Guinn shouldn't make me giggle as much as it does.

But given the Texas Chainsaw Massacre's inspiration...

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 31st 2022 at 3:25:06 AM

Is it wrong that I laughed at the bus scene? Seriously that sold me on this movie.

Here's hoping they make him as human as Michael though!

This is a very dumb movie that remembers the original enough to assure you the people who made this also watched it while perhaps not realizing where its power came from. It remembers Leatherface is human as long as it's convenient, but when it's moreso for him to be a superhumanly strong brute, it decides he's that instead. The characters are only serviceable at best, and one of our heroines has a very ill-advised backstory that contributes little to the film but a bit of texture, while taking away some potential fun. It's as slickly fake as any of the other Hollywood Texas Chainsaw Massacre films, and instead of the legitimate grit, madness and queasiness of the original, it sprays blood, gore, and in one memorable shot, other nasty bodily fluids.

And you know what? I actually had a very good time watching it. Sue me. As ridiculous as it is, it's paced like a rocket so one never has time to dwell on its flaws. We're never too far from another chainsaw or hammer-wielding set piece, and the death scenes are some of the most vivid in the series.

This is no more a true sequel to the original than almost any of the others, but on its own terms, between the rowdy mean-spiritedness and the gross-outs, it's an entertaining "big rampaging silent killer" slasher.

Edited by Prowler on Feb 18th 2022 at 10:01:25 AM

After having just watched the movie, I'm really not sure what the "influencer" crowd actually was planning to do to the town. I get they were getting properties super cheap, but were they all planning to move there? Its a dead town in the middle of nowhere, what was their long term plan once they opened up shop?

I know in reality the writers just needed an excuse to have a bunch of victims arrive in Harlow, but it bothered me during the first half of the movie.

Edited by Hawkeye86 on Feb 21st 2022 at 9:30:43 AM

The influencers were very clearly idiots who did not think this whole thing out.

I mean, Dante bumbled into the old woman's home, acted like a prick to her, set the whole movie in motion and didn't even have the freaking deed with him.

Not to mention the bus scene.

Edited by Guy01 on Feb 21st 2022 at 1:20:57 AM

For all we know it could have been a Fyre Festival type town or something, or maybe some kind of trendy hangout location.