Texas chainsaw massacre

Texas chainsaw massacre
Original title:Texas chainsaw massacre
Director:David Blue Garcia
Release:Netflix
Running time:81 minutes
Release date:18 february 2022
Rating:
Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her teenage sister Lila (Elsie Fisher), and their friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Nell Hudson), travel to the remote town of Harlow, Texas, to launch an idealistic new business venture. But their dream soon turns into a waking nightmare when they accidentally disturb the home of Leatherface, the deranged serial killer whose bloody legacy continues to haunt the locals - including Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré), the sole survivor of his infamous 1973 massacre who is hell-bent on revenge.

Mulder's Review

Almost 48 years separate the first installment of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and this latest film offered directly without going through the cinema on the streaming platform Netflix. This horrific cinematographic saga, although uneven, has given birth to nine films, comic books published by Avatar press and Wildstorm and a video game released in 1982 on the Atari 2600 console. The first film, co-written and directed by Tobe Hooper, was a true cult film that left a lasting impression on a whole generation of viewers thanks to its inspired direction and a climate that was both disturbing and bloody. Each of the films is based on a family of degenerate cannibal butchers, one of whose members is a true human monster who has lost all trace of humanity, wearing a mask made from a human face and using a chainsaw to kill his victims. While the previous film Leatherface directed by the French director duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside (2007), Livid (2011)) had left us hungry despite its originality to propose a film focused on the past of Leatherface.

Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her teenage sister Lila (Elsie Fisher), and their friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Nell Hudson), travel to the ghost town of Harlow, Texas, to launch an idealistic new enterprise. But what was supposed to be a success story turns into a waking nightmare when they invade the home of Leatherface, the deranged serial killer, to dislodge his mother, who thinks they've bought his house. When her mother dies in the police car taking her and her son (Leatherface) to the hospital, Leatherface's crusade turns into a killing spree, leaving a trail of shredded, dismembered and decapitated bodies. The only person who can stand up to Leatheface is the only survivor from the first film, Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré takes over the role played by Marilyn Burns) 

The apparent simplicity of Chris Thomas Devlin's script proves to be the best way to find all the barbarity and the efficiency of the first part. In the same way, without taking into account the films that followed the first part, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a direct sequel to the original film and takes place nowadays. Leatherface has certainly aged but he has not lost any of his fury and the numerous scenes showing his fury are of a violence rarely reached and which will not leave any spectator insensitive. Certainly, the scenario seems to be under the influence of the last films of the horrific saga Halloween but the film with notably the character of Sally Hardesty who seems to be haunted forever by her past of which she keeps a photo always with her of her friends who were massacred by Leatherface. The fact of placing two inseparable sisters in front of a killer with colossal strength and unlimited fury creates all the more a feeling of frustration to see this unequal fight. The two main actresses Sarah Yarkin and Elsie Fisher have a real chemistry on screen and give their characters a real psychological thickness holding our attention all the more.

After a long prologue introducing us to the main characters and the ghost town of Harlow, once Leatherface is launched into revenge mode, the violence is omnipresent on screen and benefits from an inspired direction by director David Blue Garcia (Tejano (2018)). By finding intact the DNA of the first film and especially by staging a thriller of a formidable efficiency, Texas Chainsaw Massacre leaves little respite to the viewers and especially aligns the strong scenes and especially rarely the best scenes of the film are not all in the trailer what leaves enough surprises to the viewers and especially by proposing a very strong ending and that will continue to haunt the viewers long after seeing this film. This new chapter doesn't hesitate to go all the way into pure and visceral horror and play with the audience's nerves.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Directed by David Blue Garcia
Written by Chris Thomas Devlin
Story by Fede Álvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Based on Characters by Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Produced by Fede Álvarez, Rodo Sayagues, Kim Henkel, Ian Henkel, Pat Cassidy, Shintaro Shimosawa
Starring Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham, Jacob Latimore, Moe Dunford, Olwen Fouéré, Alice Krige, Jessica Allain, Nell Hudson
Cinematography : Ricardo Diaz
Music by Colin Stetson
Production companies : Legendary Pictures, Bad Hombre, Exurbia Films
Distributed by Netflix
Release date : February 18, 2022
Running time : 81 minutes

Seen on February 14, 2022 (Netflix press screener)

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