Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022 film)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 2022 American slasher film directed by David Blue Garcia, with a screenplay by Chris Thomas Devlin, from a story by Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues. It is the ninth installment of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. Set fifty years after the original film, the story focuses on the serial killer Leatherface targeting a group of young adults and coming into conflict with a vengeful survivor of his previous murders. The project is a joint-venture production between Legendary Pictures, Exurbia Films, and Bad Hombre. The film stars Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham, Moe Dunford, Nell Hudson, Jessica Allain, Olwen Fouéré, Jacob Latimore, and Alice Krige.

After the release of Leatherface in 2017, Lionsgate had plans for five more films in the franchise. However, the studio lost the rights due to the time it took to release it. Legendary acquired the franchise's rights, with Álvarez and Sayagues serving as producers alongside Pat Cassidy, Ian Henkel, and Kim Henkel, who co-wrote the original film. Duo filmmakers Ryan and Andy Tohill were initially signed on as directors, but were replaced with Garcia due to creative differences. Filming took place in Bulgaria in August 2020.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released on February 18, 2022, on Netflix and received generally negative reviews from critics and audiences alike.

Plot

50 years after Leatherface's killing spree in 1973, young entrepreneurs Melody and Dante, Melody's sister Lila and Dante's girlfriend Ruth travel to the abandoned Texas town of Harlow, to auction off old properties to create a trendy, heavily gentrified area. While inspecting a dilapidated orphanage, the group discovers it is still occupied by an elderly woman called Ginny. When she claims she has papers to prove she still owns the property, an argument breaks out, briefly interrupted by a silent and towering man from upstairs.

Ginny then collapses from a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital, accompanied by Ruth and the man. An investor, Catherine, along with a group of potential buyers, arrives in Harlow on a large bus, distracting Melody and Dante. Meanwhile, Lila strikes up a friendship with a local mechanic, Richter, and reveals she was a survivor of a school shooting, leaving her terrified of guns. Ginny dies en route to the hospital; Ruth texts Melody before the man goes berserk and murders the officers driving the ambulance, leading it to crash.

When Ruth awakens, she witnesses the man, revealed to be Leatherface, cutting off Ginny's face to wear as a mask. Ruth manages to radio for help before being killed by Leatherface, who returns to Harlow. During a property auction, Melody reads Ruth's texts and prepares to leave with Lila. Richter overhears them talking about Ginny's death and takes their keys, agreeing to give them back once they provide proof that Ginny was rightfully evicted. Melody and Dante return to the orphanage to find them.

Sally Hardesty, the sole survivor of Leatherface's previous killing spree and now a battle-hardened Texas Ranger, receives a call to say that Leatherface is back and heads out to investigate. At the orphanage, Melody discovers the papers and realizes that Ginny was wrongfully evicted. Leatherface arrives at the orphanage and attacks Dante, mutilating him. Melody hides as Leatherface retrieves his chainsaw from his bedroom. A thunderstorm hits Harlow as night falls, forcing Catherine and Lila to take cover in the bus with the buyers. Dante manages to stumble out of the orphanage, where Richter discovers him before he bleeds to death. Richter enters the orphanage and is attacked and killed by Leatherface. Melody retrieves the car and bus keys from his body before fleeing the house, reuniting with Lila. They get on the bus, pursued by Leatherface, who slaughters all of the people aboard, including Catherine.

Melody and Lila escape the carnage and come across Sally, who locks them in her car before entering the orphanage to confront Leatherface finally. She holds him at gunpoint, demanding he remember the pain he inflicted on her and her friends, but is met by only silence before Leatherface walks away. Leatherface then attacks the sisters in Sally's car, but they are saved by Sally, who shoots him. Sally gives Melody the keys to drive away before pursuing Leatherface. Leatherface ambushes and fatally injures Sally. Melody hits Leatherface with Sally's car before crashing into a nearby building; Melody is trapped but orders Lila to run away. When Leatherface appears, Melody tearfully apologizes for what they did to Ginny. As he moves in to attack, Lila attempts to shoot him, but her gun is empty. Sally shoots him instead, and he flees. Before dying, she encourages Lila not to run, as he will forever haunt her as she was.

Lila then takes Sally's shotgun and pursues Leatherface into an abandoned building, where she is ambushed and attacked. Melody arrives and takes Leatherface's chainsaw before using it to uppercut him, knocking him into a pool of water where he sinks to the bottom. They escape, and Lila finds Sally's hat and puts it on before starting the morning drive back home.

Leatherface emerges, still alive, and drags Melody out of the car before decapitating her with his chainsaw in the middle of the street. A horrified Lila watches as the self-driving car takes her out of Harlow—Leatherface dances in the street with his chainsaw and Melody's head.

In a post-credit scene, Leatherface walks down the road towards his childhood home.

Cast

• Elsie Fisher as Lila, Melody's sister and an amateur photographer
• Sarah Yarkin as Melody, a San Francisco moneymaker who drags her sister with her to Texas on a business trip out of fear of leaving her alone in the city
• Moe Dunford as Richter, a contractor who befriends Lila
• Olwen Fouéré as Sally Hardesty, a Texas ranger and the only survivor of Leatherface's killing spree in 1973. Fouéré replaces original actress Marilyn Burns, who died in 2014
• Jessica Allain as Catherine, an investor
• Jacob Latimore as Dante Spivey, a close friend of Melody and Lila
• Nell Hudson as Ruth, Dante's girlfriend
• Alice Krige as Virginia "Ginny" McCumber, the owner of Leatherface's current home
• William Hope as Sheriff Hathaway
• Jolyon Coy as Deputy
• Sam Douglas as Herb
• Mark Burnham as Leatherface, a masked chainsaw-wielding murderer and a mainstay of the TCM franchise. Burnham was cast because of his imposing stature and physicality

Additionally, John Larroquette reprises his role as the film's narrator, having provided voice over for the original film, the 2003 remake and its prequel.

Production

Development

Initially during the development of Leatherface (2017), the producers had the film rights and intention to make five more Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. In April 2015, producer Christa Campbell stated that the fate of the potential sequels would largely depend on the financial and critical reception to Leatherface. By December 2017, Lionsgate and Millennium Films had lost the film rights, due to the amount of time it took to release Leatherface.

In August 2018, it was reported that Legendary Pictures had entered preliminary negotiations to purchase the film rights to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with the studio intending to adapt television and film installments. The following year, Fede Álvarez signed onto the project as producer. In November 2019, Chris Thomas Devlin joined the production as screenwriter. In February 2020, Ryan Tohill and Andy Tohill were hired to serve as directors for the film, with Angus Mitchell signed on as cinematographer after collaborating on The Dig (2018). In May of the same year, it was announced that the film would serve as a sequel to the original film and feature a 60-year-old Leatherface, notably similar to the approach that Blumhouse Productions took with their Halloween films. In February 2022, Álvarez clarified that the events of the original sequels took place in the film's continuity.

Casting

In October 2020, it was announced that Elsie Fisher had been cast to star in the film alongside Sarah Yarkin, Moe Dunford, Alice Krige, Jacob Latimore, Nell Hudson, Jessica Allain, Sam Douglas, William Hope and Jolyon Coy. In March 2021, it was revealed that Mark Burnham had been cast as Leatherface, replacing Gunnar Hansen, while Olwen Fouéré was cast as Sally Hardesty, replacing Marilyn Burns.

Filming

Production was initially slated to begin on May 4, 2020. Principal photography commenced on August 17, 2020, in Bulgaria. However, after being unimpressed with what was filmed, the studio fired Ryan and Andy Tohill. David Blue Garcia was hired to replace them as director. The footage shot by the Tohill brothers would not be used, with Garcia starting over on the production. Director of photography Angus Mitchell left the project along with the directors and was replaced by Ricardo Diaz. Garcia and Diaz were given a very short amount of time for preparation and worked off of "shorthands and bullet points", as well as their understanding of the first film. Garcia said it was a challenge to make Bulgaria look like Texas, but they leaned into the idea that it looked more like West Texas, near the Fort Davis mountains. Garcia praised production designer Michael Perry and set decorators Asen Bozilov and Joey Ostrander for building a good replica of a Texas town, even if there wasn't enough barbed wire to fully emulate Texas.