Film Review : Netflix's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"

 

When I review albums by artists, I expect more from them not accept less. That is why I like them they release albums of a higher standard.  As horror fans we should adopt a similar perspective rather than just accept whatever scraps from the table Hollywood will throw us. At the end of the day, we are the consumers. With properties that have a legacy like Texas Chainsaw Massacre there is a bar those films need to measure up to. Some of the earlier sequels have shown like the the second film this can be done with some b-grade camp and still make a great movie. Since then, varied levels of success have been achieved. I even liked the "Leatherface " prequel. This first wrong chord struck by Netflix's newest installment is it felt like a Blumhouse  movie to me. I hate Blumhouse as it feels like they are dumbing down their movies and trying to appease a teenage market with them. This also made it the first Texas Chainsaw movie I have fallen asleep during. 

That was not a dealbreaker. The deal breaker really lies in the poor writing. Most people are happy people get killed. Well, that is the bare minimum you should accept. When you can watch it want to be the more recent "Halloween" movies and still be entertained, then your opinion might not be subjective. Early on when the violence started there, we some inconsistencies that bugged me. He is strong enough to break a cop's arm and stab him with his bone, but the local fix it guy is going to be strong enough to hang with him for a round. Leatherface is crazy strong. The suspension of disbelief of this is maintained by making sure these lines up, across the board when displaying this strength that is why we are willing to believe the incredible feats. But the movie did not know what it wanted to do. Did it want you to cheer for the millennial stereotyped characters to be sawed in half? or were they hoping you would sympathize with them?   

In either case they were killed by the bus load. The kill scenes which have gotten the most positive feedback online, seemed to have little grasp of what would happen to flesh if it came in contact with human flesh. For one it would not just liquify a body into a fountain of blood. It would not be that pretty. There was some money invested in this film, enough to buy a town in Texas so it looks good until the violence occurs. The visual of Leatherface himself just seemed to be taking liberties for the sake of doing so, when his look is iconic. Netflix is out to appease the masses so should I be surprised they would want to model this after the more recent Halloween movies, complete with the victim out for vengeance motif ?   No, I am glad it did not have a happy ending and all those empowerment moments were cut back down to size. At the end of the day the joke was on the audience.