Film Review: “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2022)

A fun yet recycled mess

As much as I enjoy slasher films, I’ve never been too keen on the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise. I’ve always preferred Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Meyers over Leatherface. I respect the legacy that the 1974 original film carries and I do find it to be disturbingly effective. Its sequels are forgettable at best and at worst, just flat-out unwatchable. I found the 2003 remake starring Jessica Beil to be fairly decent but, the 2007 prequel, “The Beginning” was bland and shallow. As for 2013’s “Texas Chainsaw 3D”, the less I say the better. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I didn’t care for Leatherface or the Sawyer family but, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” isn’t exactly my first choice in terms of slasher films.

A few weeks ago when the trailer for this new “Texas Chainsaw” film made its way online, my initial reaction was “of course, they’d make another one”. Of course, thanks to the success of 2018’s “Halloween”, they’d follow that same storyline. Of course, because the last film did so poorly with audiences, we would get another reboot that would go straight to Netflix. The only difference between the 2022 reboot/sequel vs the other 45 attempts to milk this blood-stained cow for all its worth: Gentrifiers, Social Media, and social commentary! Listen, I am not the type to throw a…