With the release of the divisive Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 on Netflix and the impending arrival of the new documentary The Legacy of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre it seems an opportune time to revisit the entire very mixed franchise so heres our contributor David Flints The Reprobate ranking of each movie:
The original and best a film that still has power and intensity today perfectly building the audience to the point of hysteria before exploding in a still unmatched level of madness and delirium. Tobe Hoopers belated follow up to to the original film is a cocaine fuelled constantly demented re interpretation pushing everything up to 11 and having Dennis Hopper as a lawman only slightly less insane than the killers. Its a mess but a magnificent one.
Jeff Burrs troubled movie sees a new family and has a certain 1980s slickness to it but by the standards of horror films of the period its pretty strong stuff and maintains the intensity of the previous two films. It also boasts a strong cast. Post production issues mean that many versions are compromised but the directors cut is worth seeing. Emerging during a flood of remakes and reworkings this new version of the story is a tad too slick but still manages to push the limits for what we might expect from mainstream horror, making it a respectful variation on the story.
Much hated by critics this is not actually that awful despite a messed up timeline it picks up from the end of the first film and at least tries to take the story somewhere new. With some intense gore scenes and an intriguing development of Leatherface as a character this is worth a second look. We did not need an origin story for Leatherface sometimes what you do not know is more interesting and in the case of this enigmatic character the mystery is everything. But if the story did need to be told then this is a fairly decent attempt to flesh out a deliberately obscure monster.
0 Comments