In the light of new horror film revivals, Netflix takes a stab at one of the most revised horror franchises of all time, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film is a direct sequel to the 1974 film of the same name, bringing back one of the most iconic horror villains of all time, Leatherface. Half reboot, half sequel, this “requel” does not live up to its name, making it another unnecessary revival.
In this go-around, a group of young influencers makes their way to ghost town Harlow, Texas, in an effort to gentrify the town. Its plot, which is noticeably dull, doesn’t seem to match its original at all, and it certainly does not add anything new to the franchise.
The new adaptation brought back its original final girl, Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré). Her addition was underused, giving her barely any screen time or buildup. The film honestly could have done without her character due to her sparse appearances to further the nonexistent plot. Using her character could have improved the movie if done right, but sadly the writers used her in the most disappointing way possible.
The film is contributing to the trend in recent horror films like Scream (2022) and Halloween Kills, where directors brought back characters from the original, titular films. Although this trope seems fitting for some horror films, it does not work in this new reboot. Now that it is a popular trend in recent horror films, it is already starting to become overused pretty quickly. Since the horror genre is the least evolved genre, more films will probably follow the trend, leading to more disappointing horror films.
The new characters established in the film are overwhelmingly unlikeable, making it hard to root for them. They articulated so many dumb decisions, they partially deserved what was coming to them. As the film continued, it became easier and easier to sympathize with Leatherface.
The writing was extremely underdeveloped; so many plot points were pointless and the characters lacked nuance. There was simply no originality and the film focused too hard on trying to be modern with some of its political messages. Establishing that a character had been a victim in a school shooting was promising, but it manages to not be as crucial to the film as it should have been. Her character managed to be the final girl, but she wasn’t even the one tortured the most by Leatherface.
Leatherface works on his own in this “requel”, which is the opposite of the original’s inclusion of his psychotic cannibal family. His new motive is slightly understandable, having lost the only person he had left, making him go on a rampant killing spree. It’s not applied that much in the film, so his character is just another one of the many in this movie that is underdeveloped.
The runtime was exceedingly short, running about 81 minutes long, making its pace too fast to handle. There is no time for plot points to land or characters to develop in the way they need to. If the film really wanted to succeed it would have slowed down its pace and included the details it so desperately tried to include in the first place.
The use of gore was excessive, which is the complete opposite from its predecessor. The original didn’t rely on gore to make a horror statement, that’s what made the film so iconic in the first place. The first kill in the original was unexpected and didn’t show the full kill, giving viewers that element of surprise and terror. The new reboot manages to really lack suspense, which the original provided so much of. Its scare factor is too reliable on the gore, creating a mess with all the blood being shed.
The kills managed to be so gruesome that it could make anyone squirm. Especially with how much gore and blood is presented, it’s more gross than scary. Some of them were interesting, and if you enjoy horror movies with ghastly kills, then this film fulfills that desire.
The ending, which is supposed to be shockingly scary, is genuinely hilarious. It tries to replicate the iconic ending of the original but the execution was entirely lame. As heinous as the film was, an absurd ending like that purely makes sense.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) is essentially a massacre in the sense that it fails to evolve from its brilliant original, making it a complete disappointment, especially to horror fans. More gross than scary, there is an extreme lack of suspense and terror and the underdeveloped writing helped drag it nowhere. In no way does it relay back to its roots, making it clearly obvious that this messy reboot did not deserve the same title as one of the most brilliant horror films ever made.
