Netflix's new Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel doesn't hold back on violence, as was to be expected. It's all guts and gory, but is disappointingly short on glory.
The new film is a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. There are some homages to the original, with Easter eggs that fans will be quick to notice.
The movie follows a group of youngsters — Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her teenage sister Lila (Eighth Grade's Elsie Fisher), and their friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Neil Hudson) — who arrive in a small Texas town. They have an argument with a building owner who doesn't want to leave; when she is forced from her home and dies following a stroke, her son Leatherface (Mark Burnham) goes on a killing spree.
Horror fans are going to feast on the torture porn that this film serves in spades. There's no restraint, as heads are severed, guts are spilled and throats are slashed, adding up to a huge bodycount. If you're here for the kills, there are plenty of deeply disturbing ones, some of which are quite original.
However, the plot barely registers, and you don't feel invested in the characters as better horror films allow you to. There's none of the suspense or tension a good horror film should have. Slashing that trope was perhaps not the best survival strategy when resurrecting a franchise favourite. It's nowhere close to the 1974 grindhouse horror hit. It was nice to see Sally Hardesty, the lone survivor of the original, come back, but she too is barely memorable.
What the bloody film has going for it is the element of surprise. The movie teases you, such that you think you know who final girl will be — and then, bam, they're dead. It will leave audiences chuckling when they least expect it. Even the ending is one you will not see coming. For these reasons alone, the film is a good Saturday-night-with-friends sort of film, and nothing more.
So just a (severed) heads up: if you have an appetite for torture porn, you might just survive till the end.
The new film is a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. There are some homages to the original, with Easter eggs that fans will be quick to notice.
The movie follows a group of youngsters — Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her teenage sister Lila (Eighth Grade's Elsie Fisher), and their friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Neil Hudson) — who arrive in a small Texas town. They have an argument with a building owner who doesn't want to leave; when she is forced from her home and dies following a stroke, her son Leatherface (Mark Burnham) goes on a killing spree.
Horror fans are going to feast on the torture porn that this film serves in spades. There's no restraint, as heads are severed, guts are spilled and throats are slashed, adding up to a huge bodycount. If you're here for the kills, there are plenty of deeply disturbing ones, some of which are quite original.
However, the plot barely registers, and you don't feel invested in the characters as better horror films allow you to. There's none of the suspense or tension a good horror film should have. Slashing that trope was perhaps not the best survival strategy when resurrecting a franchise favourite. It's nowhere close to the 1974 grindhouse horror hit. It was nice to see Sally Hardesty, the lone survivor of the original, come back, but she too is barely memorable.
What the bloody film has going for it is the element of surprise. The movie teases you, such that you think you know who final girl will be — and then, bam, they're dead. It will leave audiences chuckling when they least expect it. Even the ending is one you will not see coming. For these reasons alone, the film is a good Saturday-night-with-friends sort of film, and nothing more.
So just a (severed) heads up: if you have an appetite for torture porn, you might just survive till the end.
