Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), the new legacy sequel on the block, brings back the original players of Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) as well as a new group of whippersnappers, ripe for the picking off. Directed by David Blue Garcia (cinematographer of Blood Fest), from a screenplay by Chris Thomas Devlin, Texas Chainsaw Massacre stars Sarah Yarkin (Happy Death Day 2U), Elsie Fisher (The Addams Family), Mark Burnham (Lowlife), Jacob Latimore (Detroit), and Olwen Fouere (Mandy).

If you, like me, are only looking for a rip-roaring good time with a monstrous villain, you’ll definitely eat up what this b-movie is serving. Sure, I rolled my eyes here and there but sometimes it’s important to remember that getting a new Legacy Sequel is a lot like getting a new phone. It comes with a lot of pre-installed content that you don’t want or need but it still operates just fine if you pretend it isn’t there. Come for the return of Leatherface and Sally Hardesy, stay for the grisly effects and shameless chainsaw revving.

“Leatherface is the real star of the show and it doesn’t take long before he’s breaking bones and splitting Instagrammers in half. “

In this direct sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) a group of idealistic Millenials has set their sights on a one-street ghost town in rural Texas. There they hope to escape the gun violence and bad vibes of the big city and build a small-batch, locally sourced, gluten-free world of their own design. Whether rural Texas was the right place for this “Utopia” (or whether it was ever going to be anything more than a super expensive TikTok trend) is for somebody else to worry about because nothing changes your priorities faster than a chainsaw-wielding mad man.

After nearly 50 years in hiding, the cannibal maniac Leatherface (Burnham) picks up the torch chainsaw once again to wreak havoc on the rich city slickers come to evict him from his home. His gas-powered path of destruction also marks the return of 1974 survivor Sally Hardesty. Olwen Fouere’s Sally Hardesty is as hard and grizzled as a dozen Lory Strode’s, packing a fun straw cowboy hat and a duffle bag of ammunition. In the decades since her escape, she has done two things: Hunt Leatherface as a decorated Texas Ranger, and prepare for the day she might have to face him once again.

Leatherface is the real star of the show and it doesn’t take long before he’s breaking bones and splitting Instagrammers in half. He’s also spry for a 70-year-old (give or take a few years). I can barely lift a bag of rock salt from my shopping cart to my trunk but ole Leatherface is out here throwing full human beings around with his chainsaw like it’s just another day on the farm.

It is strange to see such a technology-obsessed cast of characters kicking around the dust and dirt of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. In a sense, the transgression of these foolhardy dreamers isn’t trespassing so much as it is their futile attempt to drag the world around them out of the 1970s. Any connective tie to the original film is about as useful as it is used. All you really need to know is that there exists a man who likes to hurt people with a chainsaw and that most people do not like being hurt by chainsaws. The first film is not required viewing in order to enjoy Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) and having seen that gritty 1974 proto-slasher doesn’t necessarily make for a deeper appreciation of this high-def gorefest.

All a Chainsaw Maniac movie ever promises you is a diesel-fueled bloodbath. They almost always deliver and a handful of the greats even manage to convey an artistic statement about something more. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), in the grand tradition of Texan chainsaw massacres, features a high body count and some truly gruesome body destruction. It’s easily one of the more inventive films of the franchise, looking for new and gnarly ways to showcase Leatherface’s brute strength. As a legacy sequel, it isn’t bleak, it isn’t nihilistic, and it isn’t overtly concerned with calling back to the original. On the flip side, it’s also pretty safe for such a gory flick and doesn’t do much to move the needle forward beyond a handful of creative kills. 

The kills are absolutely the reason to seek out Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022). In a scant 80 minutes, this movie packs A LOT. People are skinned, people are gutted, someone gets their entire face split open with a meat cleaver. And that’s all before Leatherface livestreams a packed party bus massacre! Texas Chainsaw Massacre is as violent and as blood-soaked as any of the sequels that came before it, even if it is without a defined purpose.

“…easily one of the more inventive films of the franchise, looking for new and gnarly ways to showcase Leatherface’s brute strength.”

David Blue Garcia’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre is now streaming on Netflix! Be sure to let us know what you thought of horror’s newest legacy sequel (and what you would do if you were being chased by a mad man with a chainsaw) over on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and in the official Nightmare on Film Street Discord. Not a social media fan? Get more horror delivered straight to your inbox by joining the Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter.