Welcome back, last time we took a look at Texas Chainsaw '13. Sadly that film wasn't as well received as I believe it should have been. This left Lionsgate in a bit of a bind. They had the Texas Chainsaw franchise. However, they were stuck with what to do with it. Does it sound a little familiar? I think so as it's the same issue Platinum Dunes had run into and New Line Cinema before. Honestly, how can this franchise be such a difficult thing to have things come up with? Are the studio people overthinking what to do with the films? My thoughts are probably as they just want to come up with the right equation to become successful with it.
So due to Texas Chainsaw 2013 being unsuccessful, Lionsgate decided to take a page out of Platinum Dunes playbook it feels like. How can we make a Chainsaw film without doing a sequel to the film that came before? Well at this point, the timeline for this branch of the franchise goes as follows: Texas Chain Saw Massacre '74 and then Texas Chainsaw '13. Personally, I would have continued with a sequel. However, Lionsgate decided that we needed a prequel to explain why Leatherface is the way he is. Basically this serves as Lionsgate's The Beginning for the Texas Chainsaw '13 timeline.
The studio took it upon themselves to get a new screenwriter, Seth M. Sherwood and then Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury to handle the directing duties. Now I definitely see this as Lionsgate seeing these directors having a success in the horror genre with Inside (2007) and going "Let's get them to do it. For sure, they'll be able to make this a hit.". Sherwood seemed a bit limited by what he could explore as things had to line up to an extent to what we would expect from Tobe Hooper's classic. Let's call it prequelitis if we may.
I enjoyed the 2013 film. When I had heard that this film was announced, I was a little unsure. I immediately asked Why? Didn't we already get an origin for a Leatherface with The Beginning? Is this playing it a little safe? Then I had seen the first poster and it had me intrigued. Then hearing what the directors were going for with something of a mystery as to who was to be Leatherface. That was a bit of a new direction, in my opinion. I had heard the synopsis for the film and it's as follows: "A teenage Leatherface escapes from a mental hospital with three other inmates, kidnapping a young nurse and taking her on a road trip from hell, while being pursued by a lawman out for revenge.".
Now, the lawman out for revenge was something that I was intrigued by. I knew that Stephen Dorff was going to be in the film. I remember liking him as an actor and thought could do something interesting. It did remind me a little bit of Dennis Hopper's character from Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. It did feel like they were trying something a little different. Then all news for the film went dark. It disappeared and missed its original release date. There was no word on when the film would be release. Rumors, at first, of major reshoots happening to complete the film. Then it was said that the film was completed, but that Lionsgate was unsure of when it'd see release. That remained for a year. It finally saw its release in 2017 to DirectTV streaming at first. Then it'd eventually make its way to a physical release, but many weren't impressed. It felt too little too late for the film.
I remember when I first sat down to watch the film. I was interested. Seeing the continuity details, however small they be, connecting this film to Chain Saw '74 and then to 3D. It was really interesting how they formed a trilogy of sorts. I thought it was a bit of a ballsy move. But I still managed to enjoy it. I enjoyed a lot of the cast in this film. Thought that they all had decent performances. For some reason, I couldn't help but finding myself enjoying it. And I even enjoyed the way that they introduced Leatherface into the film. Was it who I thought it was going to be? No, not by a long shot. I immediately was sure it was going to be their big red herring as to who Leatherface was going to be. I mean it makes a lot of sense because of 'who' Leatherface typically is. Usually, Leatherface is always portrayed as a big beast. So for some smaller person that was renamed Jackson to become Leatherface? I was open-minded. Do I think that there is maybe a sequence that was a little over excessive? Yeah, I do. But like I have mentioned before in this series, there is something I manage to like about each of the films. And that's something I can't say about most horror franchises.
If you manage to go in with an open mind, you may find yourself enjoying Leatherface '17. Do I think it gets a lot of hate? Yeah, I think it does. I think a large part is because it was honestly given up on by both the studio as well as audiences already dismissing it.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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