I want to start this review by saying that I am not a fan of the Texas Chainsaw films. There are nine installments in this franchise. I’ve seen all of them at least once except for Leatherface, which came out in 2017. The first one is beloved, and I understand its popularity, but I would never put it on a best-of list or any list for that matter. Tobe Hooper directed the only interesting ones, including part two. So what I’m saying is that this franchise isn’t for me, even though I love the horror genre. Leatherface is my least favorite of all the slasher icons.

This one is a direct sequel to the original, even though that was already done with Texas Chainsaw 3D. So here we are–again. Aren’t people sick of this franchise yet? Modern-day Harlow, Texas, is an almost abandoned town, so a bunch of Millenials decide to invest in the town to open up several businesses and make it a thriving community again. What they didn’t know was Leatherface, and his adopted mom live there. An accident happens, which causes Leatherface to return to his chainsaw days, and then a lot of blood happens.

If you always wanted gentrification, mild racism, anti-gun messaging. School shooting, confederate flag triggering, and whatever social message blend you could put in a Texas Chainsaw film, then this is for you. You’re in luck if you don’t since it immediately abandons all of these modern-day sensibilities not too long after they are introduced. Maybe this was meant to be a parody, but there is nothing clever or smart coming from the writers of this poor excuse for a film. It makes me wonder why even have this kind of content at all. I’m assuming that it was trying to make it more than what it should be, like many other franchise movies these days. Texas Chainsaw isn’t known for being deep. It just needs to bring on the mayhem, zaniness, killing, and gallons of blood.

The writing and directing are overall pretty bad. I hated all the characters. They’re all completely unlikeable, and the acting is mediocre, but not entirely terrible. No one stands out here. This movie’s direction is dull and uninspired. The remake produced by Michael Bay way back in 2003 wasn’t that good either, but at least it was slick looking. This new one is only 81 minutes, and it’s boring. It looked cheap, and I hated the music since it was just loud industrial noises.