The ninth entry in the iconic horror series “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” sees the return of the cannibalistic slasher, Leatherface, as he unleashes his wrath on a new generation of unlucky youths. Written by Chris Thomas Devlin and directed by David Blue Garcia, this Netflix Exclusive film stars Mark Burnham, Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Jacob Latimore and Olwen Fouéré. Not even this franchise can produce a fresh ninth installation.
Taking place 48 years after the original film’s setting, the infamous serial killer, played by Burnham, has evaded capture and settled into a quiet life in the abandoned Texas town of Harlow. Tragically, his peace is shattered when a group of young entrepreneurs arrive with plans to gentrify the ghost town.
When their reckless ambitions result in his mother’s death, the hulking maniac retrieves his chainsaw and embarks on a frenzy of murderous violence. Along the way, Leatherface has his final confrontation with Sally Hardesty, played by Fouéré, the lone survivor of the original massacre.
The strongest point of the film is the gorgeous cinematography, courtesy of Ricardo Diaz. As producer Fede Alvarez promoted the use of “vintage lenses” in the production, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” delivers, immersing audiences in a gritty landscape that instills a creeping sense of dread from the first frame.
These superb visuals complement the shocking violence promised by the title. Even by the standards of a franchise with “massacre” in its name, this latest installment is filled with truly gruesome sequences. Garcia treats the terror and ferocity of Leatherface with a near mythical reverence. Despite the fact that the flesh-masked cannibal should be in his early-to-mid seventies, he displays superhuman strength and durability on multiple occasions.
Best of all, Garcia made the wise decision to render the gore using practical effects rather than conspicuous Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) that has dragged down some of the other installments.
Sadly, that is where the positives end because “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is an utter embarrassment to the 1974 classic. Like so many lackluster sequels, the premise plays it all too safe by rehashing its predecessor: a group of youths travel to Texas for one reason or another only to accidentally provoke Leatherface into a killing spree. It only goes further downhill when this exploitative slasher movie makes its pitiful attempt at social commentary in the vein of “Get Out” and “Us.”
The obnoxious main characters are meant to be stand-in hipsters and gentrifiers, an intriguing concept that is quickly tossed aside without any real exploration. Credit to their efforts, but Yarkin and Latimore, playing Melody and Dante respectively, simply cannot salvage their thinly written characters. With the unenviable task of replacing the late Marilyn Burns, Fouéré’s Hardesty is criminally wasted in a shameless ripoff of Jaime Lee Curtis’ return to the “Halloween” franchise.
Though Fisher succeeded in making Lila the most tolerable character, her backstory as a school shooting survivor, aside from being in unbelievably poor taste, only serves to needlessly complicate the film’s incoherent messaging on guns.
A brainless bloodbath with pretensions of commentary, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” shows that this franchise’s fall from grace has only been prolonged.
