Coming Soon: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
content warning: blood, gore, violence against women
On 18 February, we’re getting the newest Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. Titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre and labeled Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) here, the film is intended to be a direct sequel to the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre from 1974.
It’s been almost 50 years since Sally Hardesty witnessed her friends and family get attacked by the Sawyer Family on the outskirts of a small town in Texas. Now, Harlow, TX is a ghost town. A group of social media influencers decide they’re going to take over the town as a new, idealistic, low-cost home. Then they meet Sally at the old Hardesty home. She warns the young people to stay away because of Leatherface, but they don’t listen.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is having a major resurgence in pop culture right now. Not that it ever really left since its introduction in 1974. The original quadrilogy was rebooted in 2003 with the pair of films starring R. Lee Ermy as Sheriff Hoyt and the Hewitts replacing the Sawyers…the Slaughters…whatever they want to be known as now.
2013 saw Texas Chainsaw 3D, one of the earlier attempts to reboot a slasher with a direct sequel to the original film. This one is noteworthy for bringing back Marilyn Burns (the original Sally) as Verna Sawyer (aka Grandma) and Gunnar Hansen (the original Leatherface) as Leatherface.
2017 saw another new entry, this time a prequel called Leatherface from directorial team Julien Murry and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside, The Deep House). This is part of the Texas Chainsaw 3D chronology, acting as a prequel for the original film.
If you’re keeping track, we now have four official timelines for these films. First is what I’m calling the quadrilogy: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, and Texas Chainsaw: The Next Generation. Second is the Platinum chronology, named after production company Platinum Dunes: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. While a third film was planned in this timeline, it was never produced. Then we have the third timeline: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Texas Chainsaw 3D, and Leatherface. And now we have the Netflix timeline: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022).
And then there’s the upcoming multiplayer horror game featuring the original family and brand new characters developed with Kim Henkel.
It’s a lot.
What I will say is this: I don’t think there’s genuinely a bad film in this series. The concept works really well. The dynamic of the Sawyer…Slaughter…Hewitt (?) family is always interesting. I’m also glad to see the series return to Sally. We know she survived the original story because of the opening narration in the second film. Other than that, we know nothing about her experience after her encounter with the Sawyers.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) comes out on Netflix on 18 February 2022. As an unofficial Tobe Hooper stan site, you know Sketching Details will be covering its release.
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