Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a very misguided slasher sequel that splatters the screen with blood and guts while paving the way for a host of idiotic moves.
It was such an unnecessary and ill-advised decision to bring back the original film's protagonist, Sally Hardesty. The filmmakers clearly attempted what the recent Halloween "requel" did - but failed miserably. They end up turning a resilient survivor into a stupid, vengeful hillbilly who apparently had been waiting 50 years for a chance at payback? Leatherface has been doing bugger all (apparently) for decades, so you're best chance is probably to catch him off guard when he's not pissed off while his trusty chainsaw is buried behind his bedroom wall...
Also, one of the female characters has a poorly handled arc: a victim of a school shooting who understandably shudders at the mere touch of a gun suddenly (within the space of half hour) begins wielding one! Just do away with the pointless backstory. It served no purpose.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is filled with messy moments like this - from characterisation to storytelling - and it's frustrating and lazy in equal measure. Like how characters receive fatal injuries and inexplicably revive 10 minutes later (cue eye roll) only to die a few minutes after that. I'm disappointed to see the likes of Fede Álvarez involved here. He's proven he's way better than this.
Finally, the bus bloodbath is a glorious bit of chainsaw savagery when taken as an individual scene (and forgetting the lame attempt to incorporate some social media commentary), but it's an example of why this film is all gore and no horror. The original has barely any on-screen violence and is terrifying for its simplicity, but this is often sadistic for the sake of it, and severely lacking in imagination where true horror is concerned - a typical modern slasher that's a far cry from the subgenre's glory days.
4/10.
It was such an unnecessary and ill-advised decision to bring back the original film's protagonist, Sally Hardesty. The filmmakers clearly attempted what the recent Halloween "requel" did - but failed miserably. They end up turning a resilient survivor into a stupid, vengeful hillbilly who apparently had been waiting 50 years for a chance at payback? Leatherface has been doing bugger all (apparently) for decades, so you're best chance is probably to catch him off guard when he's not pissed off while his trusty chainsaw is buried behind his bedroom wall...
Also, one of the female characters has a poorly handled arc: a victim of a school shooting who understandably shudders at the mere touch of a gun suddenly (within the space of half hour) begins wielding one! Just do away with the pointless backstory. It served no purpose.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is filled with messy moments like this - from characterisation to storytelling - and it's frustrating and lazy in equal measure. Like how characters receive fatal injuries and inexplicably revive 10 minutes later (cue eye roll) only to die a few minutes after that. I'm disappointed to see the likes of Fede Álvarez involved here. He's proven he's way better than this.
Finally, the bus bloodbath is a glorious bit of chainsaw savagery when taken as an individual scene (and forgetting the lame attempt to incorporate some social media commentary), but it's an example of why this film is all gore and no horror. The original has barely any on-screen violence and is terrifying for its simplicity, but this is often sadistic for the sake of it, and severely lacking in imagination where true horror is concerned - a typical modern slasher that's a far cry from the subgenre's glory days.
4/10.