The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Trailer: Guess Who's Back, Back Again...
I hope you've been keeping up your cardio, because Leatherface is back and so is his chainsaw. Netflix has dropped the first teaser trailer for its upcoming "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie.
Though any effort to revive a classic horror franchise is generally met with a measure of skepticism, there are a couple of reasons to give "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" a chance. First, the movie was produced and co-written by Fede Álvarez, the filmmaker behind the excellent 2013 remake of "The Evil Dead." Second, the Netflix sequel/reboot has a pretty intriguing concept: Since Leatherface is best known for his, y'know, leather face, what would happen if he just took off the skin-mask and blended back into society? And what would happen if he was provoked to dig out the old chainsaw again?
Yes, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" continues the terrible titling trend of horror movies that claim to be sequels to the first movie, yet also have the same exact title as the first movie (looking at you, "Halloween" and "Candyman"). But if you can manage to get past that, check out the trailer for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" below.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Trailer
This isn't the first time that the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise has narrowed its focus to the Ed Gein-inspired, chainsaw-wielding, human-skin-mask-wearing serial killer at its center. There are other elements of Tobe Hooper's original 1974 film that are arguably more terrifying than Leatherface (for me, personally, it's the dusty Grandpa Sawyer trying and failing to smash poor Sally's head open with a hammer). But horror franchises work best when they have a central boogeyman, and hulking men wearing scary masks have proven easy for audiences to latch onto.
Leatherface's characterization in the original film was not especially complex, so the 2017 prequel "Leatherface" attempted to flesh out his backstory by portraying a teenage version of the character. Netflix's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," which was directed by David Blue Garcia, will go in the opposite direction by depicting an older Leatherface who, per Álvarez, has "been in hiding for a long, long time, trying to be a good person."
Yep: Leatherface as a good person. It's quite a radical concept — but he would certainly make a formidable addition to any Neighborhood Watch group.
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" releases February 18, 2022 on Netflix.