Texas sure loves its chainsaw massacres. Lionsgate‘s latest addition to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, the oft-delayed prequel Leatherface, is finally arriving this fall. This marks the second film in the franchise to be produced by Millennium Films and Mainline Pictures, following 2013’s Texas Chainsaw. Leatherface is directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, who previously helmed the 2007 foreign horror classic, Inside. Below lies the film’s inaugural red band trailer, which first premiered on this morning.
Leatherface is a prequel to 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre that revolves around the mystery of which teenage psychopath introduced will ultimately become the chainsaw wielding killer known as Leatherface, as they escape with a nurse from a mental institution with a revenge-stricken lawman in pursuit.
On the surface, this looks great. The cinematography is beautiful, making this the best-looking entry in the franchise since the 2003 remake. It has a good cast and an interesting concept, plus the imagery on display looks appropriately striking and brutal. There’s also the fact that its directors are very talented within the genre, crafting the aforementioned Inside, as well as underseen efforts such as 2011’s Livid and 2014’s Among the Living.
The only thing that worries me is the fact that this film has repeatedly been delayed and has gone through a number of reshoots. Some reports even claim that the directors were shut out of the editing and some of the reshoots. There’s still a chance that we could finally be in for another good TCM film, but the fact that it is being dumped on DirecTV and VOD this fall is troubling. It could mean that the studio simply doesn’t know what to do with a film that is likely bleak and brutal. It could also mean that it’s simply just a mess. For better or worse, we’ll find out soon enough.
Leatherface is the eighth film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. It is directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, from a screenplay by Seth M. Sherwood. The picture is produced by Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Carl Mazzocone, and Les Weldon. The film stars Sam Strike as ‘Jackson’, Vanessa Grasse as ‘Lizzy’, James Bloor as ‘Ike’, Jessica Madsen as ‘Clarice’, Sam Coleman as ‘Bud’, Stephen Dorff as ‘Texas Ranger Hal Hartman’, Lili Taylor as ‘Verna Sawyer’, Julian Kostov as ‘Ted Hardesty’, Dejan Angelov as ‘Nubbins Sawyer’, Nicole Andrews as ‘Tammy’, Lorina Kamurova as ‘Betty Hartman’, and Nathan Cooper as ‘Barry Farnsworth’. Finn Jones also appears.
Leatherface arrives on DirecTV on September 21st, 2017. A limited theatrical release and VOD wide release will follow on October 20th, 2017.
