Film Review

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) • Netflix

Leatherface returns to terrorise a group of idealistic young friends who disrupt his carefully shielded world in a remote Texas town.

“Officially, on the records, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre never happened”, the opening crawl to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) rung in my mind as a new legacy sequel appeared from nowhere. Followers of major horror outlets had some warning, but other than a trailer Netflix has discarded this horror juggernaut out in the Texas sun like Sally’s grandpa. Halloween (1978) and Scream (1996) are slasher franchises promoted like blockbusters by their studios, which makes the treatment of ol’ Leatherface all the more concerning. Firing the original filmmakers and pulling this from theatrical release suggests a story ominous enough to be narrated by John Larroquette.

Nearly 50 years after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and everyone is talking about Halloween (2018), but the returning Final Girls of Laurie Strode or Sally Hardesty serve as reminders that modern victims are no longer the naïve, relatable rank and file of…