Iconic horror villain Leatherface is back for more mayhem in new images from Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel. Tobe Hooper directed the infamous original horror masterpiece The Texas Chain Saw Massacre back in 1974.
Hooper’s raw vision of backwoods cannibals terrorizing a group of hapless young people indeed invaded a lot of people’s nightmares after it hit movie screens in the early ‘70s. In later years, others tried to cash in on that Texas Chainsaw Massacre mojo, including Hooper himself with the surprisingly comedic 1986 sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Now Netflix is trying to get in on the action with what is technically the ninth film in the Texas Chainsaw franchise, a direct sequel to the original movie that brings back Leatherface to terrify a whole new generation of victims.
Now thanks to EW fans of Texas Chainsaw Massacre can catch their first glimpse of the newest incarnation of Leatherface as played by Mark Burnham. There’s also a new image featuring the movie’s young cast members Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Nell Hudson, and Jacob Latimore. See the pictures in the space below:
Though Texas Chainsaw Massacre is billed as a “direct sequel” to the original film, like the recent Halloween reboot it actually takes place many years after the events of the first movie in the given franchise. In the new film, chainsaw-wielding masked cannibal Leatherface has actually been in hiding for a long time, but he’s called forth from his self-imposed exile when a group of young hipsters shows up in his small town seeking to turn it into the latest happening hot spot. The gentrification of backwoods Texas may indeed seem like a strange starting place for a horror film, but of course the theme isn’t that far off from other recent movies like the Candyman remake, that deal with the legacy of past horror on a world that has in many ways tried to move on.
It remains to be seen if producer Fede Alvarez and director David Blue Garcia have captured anything of the spirit of the original Hooper masterpiece with their Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel. Obviously the rawness of the Hooper movie is something that’s very hard to recreate, given the shooting conditions of that film and just the sheer unhinged craziness of it. The character of Leatherface also carries a lot of baggage after multiple sequels and reboots, and is arguably in dire need of being completely re-conceived. It will indeed be fascinating to see if this latest attempt at reviving the franchise succeeds where other Texas Chainsaw movies have failed. Texas Chainsaw Massacre hits Netflix on February 18, 2022.
Source: EW