Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

The Gentrification Of Slasher Films

2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a sequel to the original 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre, has quite a few things going for it. It takes a number of Texas stereotypes, social issues, and specific Austin, TX stereotypes and drops them in the middle of Leatherface’s latest killing spree. The funny thing is that these issues and stereotypes are at odds with one another but are forced to join forces to battle the chainsaw wielding wild man.

The film opens with a pair of somewhat arrogant social media influencers, Melody and Dante, on the road with Melody’s sister, Lila, and Dante’s fiance, Ruth. The group is headed for the ghost town of Harlow, where Melody and Dante plan to gentrify the heck out of the deserted locale. Hot on their heels is a bus full of potential investors, all of whom are nothing more than chainsaw fodder for the film. While heading to Harlow, the foursome manage to offend a local named Richter, a big truck drivin’, gun totin’ stereotypical Texas redneck. When they arrive in Harlow, they realize that Richter is the contractor that they hired to spruce up the town a bit ahead of the arrival of the bus of investors. Melody and Dante also discover an elderly woman who is still living in the local orphanage. Dante and Melody confront the woman, telling her that she must leave the property, and the old woman, upset, has a heart attack. She dies on the way to the hospital, setting off a “chain” of revenge killings by Leatherface. Bodies begin to pile up and the influencers are forced to set aside their personal biases and ideals in order to end Leatherface’s terror tour throughout the town.

When she hears that Leatherface has returned, Sally Hardesty, the only survivor from the original film, decides to finish off her adversary and heads for Harlow. She joins up with the remaining survivors in order to kill Leatherface. Her presence in the film feels a tad unnecessary but I’m assuming that it was meant to serve as a direct link to the original film. It also reminds me of every instance where Laurie Strode pops up in the Halloween franchise.

The film is pretty good. If you are familiar at all with the state of Texas, you know that its capital, Austin, is a polar opposite of the rest of the state. It’s a highly liberal city in a primarily conservative state, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre manages to force both of them to work together. It does a great job of showing the best and worst of both stereotypes without becoming political or heavy handed. In fact, there are quite a few humorous moments (possibly unintentional) in the film such as when a self-driving car rolls away while a victim is being massacred and when a young woman decides to use a gun only to find that it’s not loaded.

The film also utilizes contemporary issues such as school shootings, gun control, and gentrification to push its story forward. It manages to do so without getting preachy or even taking a side on any of the issues. It’s one of the best aspects of this film in my opinion.

There’s also plenty of gore. Leatherface uses hammers, knives, broken bones, and his token chainsaw to take out his victims. He’s also given a motive for his mutilation. You almost feel sorry for the guy, especially when it comes to one particularly arrogant young lady in the film.

The film’s cast does a great job. Elsie Fisher portrays Lila, the only truly likeable and sympathetic character in the film. Sarah Yarkin plays Lila’s gentrifying and arrogant sister who realizes her and Dante’s mistake and tries to fix things unsuccessfully. Jacob Latimore does a great job as Dante, who comes off more business minded and visionary than Melody. His fiance Ruth is played by Nell Hudson, who has a small role in the film but seems to be a pretty decent character. The film also stars Alice Krige in an almost unrecognizable performance as Mrs. Mc, Leatherface’s elderly caretaker. Jessica Allain stars as Catherine, a banker who brings bodies….um…..investors to the town of Harlow. Leatherface is portrayed by Mark Burnham and Moe Dunford portrays Richter, the Texas-as-Texas-can-be contractor.

Much like the original film, sound plays a massive part in the movie. Colin Stetson does an amazing job using music to build up tension in the film. Director David Blue Garcia keeps things moving at a frenetic pace as one would expect and there’s a lot about this film that reminds me of the original. It isn’t a watered down misfire like Halloween Kills, but I also don’t believe that it will have a lasting impression as the original film did way back in the seventies. It’s available to stream exclusively on Netflix at the moment and I do recommend it. It’s a gory callback to the original with plenty of unlikeable victims that you’ll enjoy watching Leatherface rip to shreds.

Thanks for reading my review. Leatherface isn’t one of my favorite film killers but I really did enjoy this film. Give it a chance and let me know what you think in the comments.