Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not to be confused with “The” Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974 is actually a sequel to the original, not a reboot. The way to look at this is the same as you would the 2018 Halloween, where it is a sequel to the original, but it is ignoring all of the sequels.
How to Stream or Download Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022 film)
You can stream it or you can download the film from Netflix, using the Netflix App. Click on the Download button at the end of this review to visit the Netflix movie page.
The Movie Review
I am a pretty big fan of this franchise, not just the original, but the kooky sequels, the early 00s reboot, and even the Leatherface movie were all fun. This latest version is brought to us by director David Blue Garcia and put out by Netflix. I had been looking forward to this for a while as the trailer looked fun.
The first thing to note about this new Texas Chainsaw Massacre is that it is a very short movie. Not counting the credits, you are looking at a little over an hour for its runtime! The movie gets going pretty much straight away and there is no filler here at all, I actually think had the movie lasted longer, it may have not been a good thing.
The movie takes place in the modern day, the legend of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is very much real. A local gas station sells merch for it and a group of four city dwellers is heading to the remote town of Harlow. Melody and Dante have purchased the town and are now going to auction the various sites to people who want to move there from the city.
Joining them are Melody’s sister, Lila who is a survivor of a high school shooting, and Dante’s wife, Ruth. Once they get there, things take a nasty turn as there is an old lady living in one of the homes, an old orphanage and she lives there with a big overgrown dude… no prizes for guessing who that is.
There is some kind of paperwork mix-up with this old woman claiming that she still owns the house. An “incident” happens and the old woman and her “big boy” head to the hospital. The movie is pretty on the nose that this big dude is Leatherface and we get the impression that this old lady has somehow managed to keep him in check over the years.
Well, old Leatherface snaps and goes on a killing spree that brings him back to Harlow where a bus full of city folk are now partying. I do have to say that Texas Chainsaw Massacre is pretty brutal in the violence and gore department. There is blood and broken bones all over the place and it is done very well and a lot of fun.
My main problem is that the two main characters, the sisters Melody and Lila are just so unlikeable and do every dumb thing that people in horror movies tend to do! You are rooting for Leatherface to kill them as they are just so stupid! I could not decide if this was intentional or not.
I think they tried to be cool by trying to be like Halloween 2018 by having the original final girl, Sally Hardesty (played by a different actress come back for a final showdown with Leatherface. However, while she seems badass at first, she ends up being another typical moron horror movie character!
This is not a terrible movie, but it is a very forgettable one. If you are in the mood for some well-done gore and violence, give it a watch. There is a scene with Leatherface and a hammer that had me turning away from the screen, but I mean that in a very complimentary way. I think had the characters been more likable and less stupid, it would have been a far better movie.
