Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a sequel to the original 1974 film. It follows the steps of what Hollywood has been doing with popular ips, create a sequal to the original and then make viewers forget storylines and characters from past films in the franchise. Does Text Chainsaw Massacre achieve this format successfully?

The new film directed by David Blue Garcia tells the story of two sisters, Melody (Sarah Tarkin) and Lila (Elsie Fisher) who take a trip to the strange Texas town of Harlow. Their mission: to make a new hipster community in the area. We learn that Lila is recovering from a very terrifying event that happened at her school while her sister Melody whose personality comes as being bitchy is determined to kick anyone out who still lives in the area. Melody and Lila are joined by Dante (Jacob Latimore), his girlfriend (Nell Rose), and a big bus of young adults who are scooping the area to invest in. Lila notices a house that is still occupied and begins her determination to remove the resident. Lila is in for a surprise as that resident is the mother of Leatherface. His mother ends up dying from a heart attack. Leatherface begins his journey to remove the intruders one by one. Along the way, we learn that the only survivor from the first original film, Sally Hardesty is still alive and ready to end what has haunted her forever. Original actress Marilyn Burns passed away in 2014. The role is played by Olwen Fouéré.

Be ready for a film with a lot of gore. Horror fans will appreciate the film for its exaggerated detailed kills. TCM delivers a hopeless story that fails to connect Leatherface or its main leads as the 1986 and 2003 films did when they were released. When dealing with popular film icons, what I feel is expected is to try to reinvent the character. For example, bring a secret that adds more reasoning to the icon’s motive. Sadly, nothing new happens here. Leatherface’s background story is introduced in the first 5 minutes of the movie but is never revisited again. The promise is there but then is broken as the story shifts to the two sisters whose story is not inspiring and provide no emotional connection.

Christopher S. Capp does an excellent job of distracting viewers from the weak plot with stunning edits to keep the story moving. Also, the set doesn’t help the story whatsoever as it doesn’t have the same tone as other TCM films. It is very dull and rather very melancholic.

TCM is nothing to take seriously. Fans of the horror icon will enjoy seeing Leatherface again, but in the end forget this chapter of Leatherface’s story. TCM feels like another cash grabber in Hollywood for an existing popular IP.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is now streaming on Netflix.