Texas Chainsaw Massacre... Again!

This is the third "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" film, though not to be confused with "Texas Chainsaw Massacre III: Leatherface", which is not to be confused with "Leatherface". With franchises these days, the same-name titles tend to go: Original, Remake, Sequel to the Original only. This one can't quite be a true legacy sequel since all the original actors are either dead or irrelevant, but we'll take what we can get, huh?

So to avoid all the plot specifics, I'll say overall... I didn't hate it. I thought the setup was actually pretty good, involving a group of young go-getters out to renovate a ghost town, and that tends to anger some folk who don't like outsiders. From there on, it remains a rather well written horror show that's easily the most violent of the series, finally living up to its name.

Olwen Fouere plays our OG Sally Hardesty, who's got a score to settle with the elusive man she's been hunting for half a century. For a recasted legacy character, she does the best she can although her part is reduced to a side plot mostly. Her take on the character isn't too much of a rip-off of Jamie Lee's in the latest Halloween, but there are parallels.

Mark Burnham plays our new/old Leatherface, and he does it all right. I'm not sure exactly how hard it is to play the role of a lumbering brute, but he's ominous and plenty capable of physical damage. Partly sympathetic, partly an angry man as per the Platinum Dunes canon. When he kills someone, he makes it count, and he's got quite a body count.

The rest of the characters are good enough to not hate. I found the protagonists rootable, and the redneck was pretty gnarly. You'll also see William Hope in there from Aliens and Hellraiser 2 fame. The aesthetic and setting is nice, and the suspense is solid. I don't really have any complaints with it, and Netflix didn't hold back on the blood and guts.

IMDb gives it a 5/10, but I'd say it's better than the last few. What do you think of it?

#Review