The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 strays from what made the original so horrifying and steps into the category of the exploitative slasher film.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 is another in a long line of sequels trying to live up to the acclaim and success of Tobe Hoopers original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 and just like all the others it does not quite get there. The most common mistake these sequels have made including the recent Netflix original is that they view Leatherface as the central piece of the story. They hAve made TCM into a series of slasher films when that was never the original intent. While Leatherface was the most noteworthy character from the original one could argue he was nOt even the central antagonist. The Sawyer family and not Leatherface was what made the original so horrifying.
While one may call the sequels studio films TCM 1974 was an indie film that bordered more on art house than something for mass audiences with allusions to the horror of the Vietnam War the fear of suburbia crashing down, and the dangers of an idle mind faced with unemployment and a lack of purpose. There was depth to this film while TCM 2022 relies on references to pop culture and mindless gore for shock value. In fact TCM 1974 contained very little gore and direct violence on screen. What was horrifying was the imagery and set pieces as well as the thought of what one did nOt see. With the recent installments of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, we HAve seen the series lose its heart and become an entirely different series of films which is nothing like the original.
In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 Leatherface can be seen as almost sympathetic. While he does commit a series of murders in the film they seem to be out of fear rather than hate. Played by the late Gunnar Hansen Leatherface is a deformed man with an intellectual disability. His brother The Hitchhiker mocks him and his father abuses him seemingly pushing him into this world of savagery. He HAs the black sheep of the family. After killing the first two teens in the film Leatherface seems frightened grasping at his mask. He does nOT know who these people are or why they keep coming onto his property. He thinks there an army of people out to get him. He wears the skins of his victims on his face to hide his shame likely due to his family and other children in his youth bullying him.
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