Texas Chainsaw Massacre ★

David Blue Garcia

Starring Sarah Yarkin, Jacob Latimore, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham, Olwen Fouéré

Yet again comes a return to a Horror franchise, and yet again that rebooted sequel hits predictable plot beats and jump scares...but this one's different. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is no fun at all, and forgets to give its characters anything meaningful to do or say until near enough the end.

They split up, it rains, a dead character comes back to life, the villain is closer than expected, they hide in the wardrobe and someone says "you should see this". All of the expected cliches are there but there's no real structure to the plot or character development. The script is weak and serves no purpose to the neighbouring narrative, and although the gore and violent elements are done well, they're often horrifically unnecessary.

There is one shot! One glorious shot that has stuck with me since, and it shows the returning Leatherface in a doorway with the rain falling down outside. This shot is truly stunning, and it's such a shame that the rest of the film fails to be as scary or as memorable.

The things that make the original so hauntingly unforgettable are massacred in this rushed, gory, unnecessary 'requel'.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre available now on Netflix