The new TCM is an imperfect but lean, mean shredding machine that takes a chainsaw to the gut of so called ‘legacy sequels’, painting the ghost town of Harlow red in the process.
At this point in the franchises’ wildly inconsistent & convoluted history, there is no point in comparing a new Chainsaw film to Hooper’s iconic masterpiece. Hooper himself knew he couldn’t replicate his own film & wisely went into comedy horror madness in his sequel.
After the woeful 3D iteration (“do your thing Cuz!”) & the not bad Leatherface (which was more of a road movie slasher than a TCM film), Fede Alvarez & last minute Director David Blue Garcia throw a lot into the mix (influencer do-gooders / gun culture / gentrification etc) & while none of it really sticks, it’s all a backdrop for Bubba to put on a new skin mask & go to town on some teens with his saw.
There’s a lot I liked here: the cheeky John Laroquette intro; Alice Krige makes every film better; the Van set-piece; the bait & switch with Sally; some gnarly knee & head trauma; the title of the film actually being put on screen + a hilariously mean & goofy ending.
And at 74 minutes, the stuff that didn’t work was so fleeting it didn’t bother me as much as it did others. Bloody & fun is all we should really ask for in a Chainsaw film at this point & that’s what we got.
3.5 hammer heads out of 5.