So this is a film I have pretty much had no faith in. I'm not a fan of the texas chainsaw franchise besides the 2003 remake and prequel to that film, what I heard they were doing felt like another weak attempt to revive the franchise, I didn't like the look of Leatherface and finding out it was being released to Netflix felt like the final nail in the coffin. Then the day it came out, I remember seeing a review state its one of the worst horror films ever made so I was prepared not to like it.
But whilst I don't think this is a particularly good film, it is far and I mean far from being one of the worst of the franchise or horror films in general. This is what I like to call an entertainingly bad film that I can happily rewatch.
Starting off with the positives, what I liked most about this film are the kills. I am a huge fan of slasher films and this gives me what I am looking for within a slasher. The kills in this film are gorey and filled with brutality. From what I could tell as well, it looked like practical effects were used for the kills as well which is always a big help for helping them feel real.
Now whilst I do have thoughts about the look of him, Leatherface is a terrifying presence and badass in this film. From the moment he appears onscreen, he just has this menacing presence throughout the film. I was sceptical about them making Leatherface an old man but it worked out really well for me.
There also a nice bit of growing tension during certain sequences throughout the film especially the scenes featuring Leatherface. Even when you know what the outcome will be, you can't help but get engrossed in certain scenes.
I also like this is a film that has Leatherface as the sole villain. One of my gripes with previous films is that his family have been more interesting and scary than the deranged chainsaw welding killer which is shocking so its nice to see Leatherface stand out on his own.
As for technical aspects, the location scenes are gorgeous to look at and the film throughout is shot really well. I'll be honest I'm stretching for positives at this rate.
Now let's move onto the mixed aspects and the big one is a sequence on a party bus. Without going into spoilers, on paper I love the idea of it but execution-wise it is horrible. The character decisions are ridiculous and there's a comedic scene that just feels out of place but the kills are really good so that's mainly why it's mixed for me. I didn't fully hate it, there's a version of it that is actually brilliant but the version we get is a bit embarrassing to watch.
Also I'm mixed on the look of Leatherface. Now I'm not an idiot, I understand the lore of Leatherface but every time I saw him in this film, he looks more like Victor crowley from Hatchet. Its not a terrible look ill admit but it just doesn't look like a Leatherface look.
Now moving onto the negatives and I have quite a few. First off the characters are pretty much forgettable in this film and I just didn't care about them in general. But there's one character in general this film just absolutely fails and that is the return of Sally Hardesty. First off it feels like a rip off of Halloween 2018 but what makes this the worst part of the film is they don't invest any time in her character at all. Instead they make her very uninteresting and they make her unlikeable so you can't root for her.
The plot device chosen for the characters coming to texas and introducing Leatherface is a pretty odd one and it feels badly written as well. You're left with many questions that you shouldn't even be asking in a slasher film.
Speaking of bad writing, what the hell was that ending? Not only is it a really annoying horror film cliche and is so obvious where its leading to but it felt like a last minute reshoot that didn't hold up to the rest of the film.
And finally there's a lot of character decisions that really frustrated me. Again I won't go into spoilers but some of these characters make really annoying decisions and one in particular during the 3rd act actually made me shout at the screen.
So overall this is a film that I feel has a lot of problems but i think is highly entertaining to watch and I would recommend to slasher fans. If you're not into slasher films this might not be the film for you but this gave me what I mostly wanted from a slasher and in fairness, it was better than I assumed it would be.
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