First, outside of the bones of the story, many things were changed: The pace is faster, the violence is bloodier, scenes are modified, the score is more traditional. Many horror fans thought that even the idea of a “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” remake was disrespectful to the endlessly-influential 1974 version, but director Marcus Nispel made many clever decisions in order to reimagine the basic story as a must-watch for a new generation of horror fans. Image Credit: ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection But overall, Leatherface doesn’t distinguish himself from other masked slashers in this chapter, which seems destined to live on only as a popular YouTube clip named “Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) - Bus Scene,” traded among teenagers who just want to watch three minutes of hardcore and stylish mass murder. In the pro column, the newest addition to the series is handsomely shot and has some wonderfully deranged setpieces, including a true chainsaw massacre on a party bus, a tense game of cat-and-mouse in an ambulance and a battle between Leatherface and an old foe that is nearly a parody of 2018’s “Halloween” sequel. In a way, the hipsters invading Leatherface’s small town do make the perfect fodder for killing, as even the most woke audience would root for their demise. While the original had a sturdy message about industrial innovations chewing up and spitting out small town America, this sequel tries to take on gentrification, school shootings, cancel culture, social media dependency and Confederate flags, all via some of the most obnoxious characters put to celluloid this decade. The newest “Massacre,” designed as a different direct sequel to the 1974 original, is hobbled by having a lot of BIG IDEAS it wants to get across in less than 90 minutes.
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