New 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Bringing Back Sally, The Only Survivor From The Original Film
Producer Fede Alvarez recently revealed that the upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie wasn't a reboot, it was a direct sequel to the original film. And it certainly looks like he wasn't kidding, because now it's been confirmed that Sally Hardesty, the final girl from the original film, is back for this new entry. Unfortunately, original Sally actress Marilyn Burns died in 2014, so the role had to be recast – and it was, with Mandy actress Olwen Fouéré taking on the role.
Bloody Disgusting broke the news that Olwen Fouéré, who appeared in Mandy and Sea Fever, is playing Sally Hardesty in the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie (which I guess is just officially called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at this point). This certainly lends even more credence to producer Fede Alvarez's claim that the new movie would be a direct sequel rather than a reboot.
As Alvarez put it: "It is a direct sequel, and it is the same character. It is old man Leatherface...Everything is classic, old school gags. A lot of the approach that we had with Evil Dead – never VFX, to do everything on camera. It's a very old-school approach to filmmaking. Vintage lenses...it's very similar to the original film."
All that said, I'm 99.9% sure this new film is following the Halloween 2018 route, in that it's a direct sequel to the first film and the first film only, and that all the other sequels are going to be ignored. That's not really that big a deal, since the majority of the Texas Chainsaw sequels stand on their own. The only entry that could be thought of as a direct sequel would probably be 2013's terrible Texas Chainsaw 3D, and if everyone wants to ignore that, I have no complaints.
Sally Hardesty was the sole survivor of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre film (which I am well-aware is actually called Texas Chain Saw Massacre, so please don't yell at me). Sally and her pals were on a road trip in Texas and ran afoul of Leatherface and his cannibal kin. After all her friends got slaughtered, Sally was taken captive and almost bit the dust herself but managed to escape by jumping through a window, running out to the road, and eventually climbing into the back of a pick-up truck. This resulted in one of the most iconic moments in horror cinema, with a blood-drenched Sally laughing hysterically as she rides to safety all while Leatherface, left behind, does a little dance, swinging his buzzing chainsaw around.
Marilyn Burns played Sally in the original film, and the actress also appeared in two of the sequels – Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation and the aforementioned Texas Chainsaw 3D. However, she played different characters in both of those films. Burns died in 2014, which is why the role had to be recast for this new film.
The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie is directed by David Blue Garcia and also stars Elsie Fisher, Sarah Yarkin, Jacob Latimore, and Moe Dunford. There's no official release date just yet, but the teaser poster for the film says it's expected to arrive sometime this year.