The Sawyer Massacre

This is a fan film telling a prequel of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre .

The story starts off with a group of young adults on a road trip, a group on a camping trip, a couple passing through and a few bored women looking for some action. The couple passing through stops at a gas station looking for food and is greeted by and elderly man and a very greetful off set man named Rex who guides them to a farm and a house where Rex's grandfather has the food.

With hesitant upon arriving with Rex he says to go to the house while he fetches the food. The couple manages to go inside but what awaits them is more than doubts and creepiness.

This fan film follows the formula and roots of the classic, the less usage of a score adds the feeling creepiness and unease on its own through out each scene.

The story fixates on the characters emotions than just actions and invites the viewer to feel and even hope they live though this nightmare. It almost sets up that the old man sawyer of how he can't stand to see people killed but later enjoys watching as seen in TCM. The Hitchiker makes a cameo as a crazed kid working at the gas station than digging graves and making grotesque art.

Grandpa makes a large part of this story and even directs when and who to kill. Leatherface is straight to the kill and even changes faces almost as if he uses the faces he cuts as a different emotion. We are invited into Terrors home room by room. It can give the audience the suspense as to how much time the victims have before Leatherface gets them.

This fan film does fair well with good film shots, the acting performance fits the moments, the characters fit and Rex makes a chilling invitation for death to visit. For TCM fans you'll want to witness a more personal experience on this one.

Before watching, I knew this was a crowdfunded, low budget, fan movie based upon the original classic horror movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I thus went in with relatively low expectations, thinking it would be a fun little romp that looked liked a student film project.

However, I instead found myself blown out of the water. Steve Merlo, the writer and director of this project, obviously knows his source material well and took a great deal of care and attention to craft a worthy prequel in the form of "The Sawyer Massacre". The camera work and lighting was absolutely top notch and spot on. Whoever did the sound mixing and color balancing did a phenomenal job of recreating the feel and tension of the original source material. However, this was not just a copy of that horror classic. Instead, it had a compelling original story that tied in seamlessly as a worthy prequel. Indeed, I'm a little sad for the cast and crew that this was an unofficial fan project because I do think it would stand up well if they were allowed to release it for profit. Essentially, it is not just a cheap student project where everyone smiles and nods and pats the filmmakers on the head but rather a solid movie in and of it's own right.

Now, don't get me wrong. It had it's share of problems. There were a few scenes that were not explained adequately to the audience. For example, the protagonists all getting captured and then we see them waking up from being unconscious without being told how they got to be that way. It also suffered from what I call "horror movie logic". In real life, the plot would have been over quickly and most, if not all, of the protagonists would have survived in mostly one piece. However, as is common with horror movies in general, the protagonists make horrible errors of judgement that lead them into deep trouble. Also, somehow, as an audience, we are expected to believe that someone lumbering slowly with a chainsaw could outrun people running away for their life as fast as they can. :-p

If you are willing to suspend your disbelief however, and just assume that's the way things work in horror movies, you will be deeply rewarded. The practical effects were phenomenal and convincing in their gore and depravity. They really looked like people getting seriously wounded. The acting, for the most part, was solid. The strongest performances came from the characters Jimmy, Allison, Rex and Grandpa. All of their dialogue, expressions, intonation and portrayal of dark evil or abject terror were flawless. Indeed, I believe you would be hard pressed to find better performances from seasoned professional actors. The sets were beautiful yet horrific. The camera work was top notch and the ambient background noise and soundtrack really helped to build the necessary tension for the viewer.

All in all, I think the cast and crew did a phenomenal job in bringing The Sawyer Massacre to life. It is an extremely entertaining and satisfying romp if you enjoy a good horror movie. And the best part? As it is a fan movie, it is entirely free. I would definitely suggest you look it up on YouTube. An hour and a half well spent. :-)

In 1974, Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel created a unknown masterpiece that has earned the title among horror fans as one of "The Most Horrifying Horror Films Ever Made". The film also made its villian, a Horror Icon. The name "Leatherface" is now synonymous to the likes of the Universal Monsters, Hammer Horrors, and the like. Nothing like this had ever been seen before on the big screen, such brutality and depravity without thought or remorse.

Over the years there has been sequels, reboots, and even the fans have joined in and shown their love of the saw. This one fan goes by the name of Steve Merlo. He is a first time director and a huge fan of the series. This isn't just any ordinary fan film, this is what he likes to call an "Unofficial Prequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and this reviewer has to agree. You can tell he has put his heart and soul into this project, now there will be grey areas that I will have some objections to but you can tell that from the opening credits that Mr. Merlo is one to watch and that he a a true fanboy of the genre.

The film opens up, introducing us to the man that will be called "LEATHERFACE" but brutality that foreshadows future events as well as the wolves that are disguised as sheep leading the others to their bloody demise are the true monsters of this tale...

The year is 1965, the day is June 30th. Jimmy, Gene, and Brent (played by Jordan O' Neal, Bryley Bell, and Jordan Fortiz) are three friends who take a weekend trip to the Texas countryside, in desperate need of escapism from city life and tragedy. Upon arrival of Brent's isolated cabin, the boys realize they need supplies and food. During their trek to pick up supplies, they meet two sisters who have purchased a home not too far from where they are staying. The older sister, Loraine (played by Alicia Jade) and the younger and more adventurous sister, Alison (is played by Nika Louw) befriend the three youths over the weekend as they decide to spend time together.

This is where their weekend of fun in the sun turns into a nightmare of hellish proportions, as they meet Drayton, Grandpa, The "Schizo", a new family member "Rex" and ultimately "Leatherface".

In between all the happening there are various people introduced that are meat fodder, some have a bit or spirit but ultimately, they are in the film to be used as "food".

Under the guise of food and camping supplies, Rex is able to decieve his victims through disinformation and guide them into their lair of blooth and metal teeth. Once there, the group of strangers must team up and out wit their captors or become part of the body count that is "The Sawyer Massacre"...

Rex (played by William Instone) does an amazing job as the main Antagonist in the film, you can tell he likes to get dirty for his roles and really get into character. The actor who played Drayton (Bill Houskeeper), I personally feel he was miscast just mainly due to Jim Siedow's build and personality in the 1974 film. That being said, his acting was very well done. The Schizo (played by Vitor Parachini) that is another one who I thought did a wonderful job and really understood the character he was portraying. Scotty Parkin who donned the dead skin mask, portrayed "Leatherface" in a way that would have made Gunnar, Dan and Bill proud.

The music and the sound effects were top notch and really added to the ambiance and the creep factor. You could feel the dread in the air in several scenes, it was quite forthcoming and unsettling. The gore effects weren't over the top nor were they in your face, which is a good thing, Merlo and crew made sure that that when setting up the brutality and the death house that is was just uncomfortable enough to make the viewers uneasy just like hooper and henkel did in the original classic. Everything in this film was done with love and precision and from a fan's perspective, meaning if you are looking and listen carefully there are several "Easter Eggs" in the film that cover the entire TCM franchise.

This was an indiegogo film project that has a runtime of 1:33:42 and it should be honoured as part of the TCM canon. I think Merlo and Team made something that would have made both Tobe and Kim proud.

If you're a fan then prepared to be amazed by this outstanding film delivered by non other than Steve Merlo. It's really authentic to the 1970's original and brings a creepy atmosphere to Texas. The cast were magnificent in this, the main characters especially. I felt like they were the strongest part of the film. Supporting characters could have been chosen better, and I guess that's my only flaw in this. The Sawyer family were brilliantly cast for their iconic roles and stayed true to the original actors. This was definitely better than TCM: The Beginning, by any means. Tobe Hooper would be proud!

I was pleasantly surprised by this low budget indie.

The location was ideal and set the tone for the film. The characters of Drayton, Leather Face and Rex were sufficiently menacing and they carried the story along nicely. The victims characters were interesting and they had back stories that fleshed them out. I believe great care was taken to keep the "look" authentic to the time period (vehicles, home decor ect.) . The butcher room was scary and blood covered giving the victims no hope of escape. Steve Merlo will be a name to follow and I look forward to his future projects. I think it was an awesome idea to release this fan film on YouTube allowing it as much exposure as possible. Nice job Steve and crew the film kept me entertained.