Leatherface

Starting out in 1954, the story follows the Sawyer family, a rural Texas band of miscreants and murderers. When a cop's daughter is killed by one of the family, the child culprit is taken away and put into a home for disturbed youth. Cut to ten years later, and new nurse Lizzy (Vanessa Grasse) is assigned to the disturbed teens ward. When the Sawyer family matriarch Verna (Lili Taylor) causes a riot during a visit, several of the inmates escape, taking Lizzy with them as a hostage. One of the escaped mental patients will grow up to become Leatherface, the mask-wearing, chainsaw-wielding terror of the earlier films, but which one will it be: volatile Ike (James Bloor), hulking idiot Bud (Sam Coleman), or troubled nice guy Jackson (Sam Strike)? Also starring Stephen Dorff as a violent cop, and Jessica Marsden as another homicidal escaped inmate.

There's a lot wrong here, from the easy-to-guess "mystery" of who will become Leatherface (a transformation that doesn't take place until the movie's final 10 minutes, so be forewarned), to the many anachronisms for a story supposedly taking place in 1964. The production values are low, and you don't have to look at the minor cast credits or crew listings to guess that this was made on the cheap in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, to be specific). There's some bloody gore, but not presented in any original or at least humorous way. The acting is all barely serviceable, with Dorff turning in another loathsome jerk role, and Taylor seriously slumming as the killer family boss. This is the eighth movie in the series, although most of them are unrelated, with perpetual reboots, prequels or just dismissal of previous films the norm.

When the directors of 2007's gore-spectacle 'Inside' (Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury) took over the reins of a supposed prequel to 1974's Tobe Hooper classic 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', expectations had indeed sky-rocketed. But what we get isn't even worthy of being called a tribute to the TCM franchise, let alone be regarded as its worthy canon prequel.

The screenplay offers very little in terms of the surprises it throws at the viewers (and TCM fans), thereby ending up strictly ho-hum. We see a bunch of eccentrics creating a riot at a mental health facility and escaping, with tidbits of the Sawyer family thrown in to engage the viewer. In fact, the makers are trying to sell this movie around the mystery of which character amongst the the leads ultimately evolves into 'Leatherface'. Well, much to our dismay, even this stretch appears annoyingly contrived (and to be honest, the poster kinda spoils it already!).

What we're subjected to for most part, is literally a lunatic couple shotgun-killing their way to notoriety on their supposed escape (even the big chainsaw-kill comes in too late) with a helpless nurse named Lizzy (Vanessa Grasse) who has unnecessarily been dragged along with them while also being accompanied by a duo of brothers (the somewhat compassionate Jackson and the bulky Bud). Lizzy is the character we're supposed to root for, but sadly this does not work. We know as little about her as we know about the rest of the zany troupe.

The directors who're known to stage horrifically-exciting set- pieces, resort to cheap tricks here (like a partial necro scene) in order to augment the shock-value. The shot of a woman's derriere walking into a barn surrounded by badlands (during one of the opening segments, clearly reminding us of previous TCM films including the Michael Bay funded remake) had just about raised my hopes a teeny weeny bit before everything came crashing down.

With no real thunderbolts in store for fans or non-fans, this prequel falls head first into a pit of quick-sand, the real difference-maker in the story being the weapons (shotguns, knives) that the characters possess and not their personalities. You're bound to forget this movie as soon as the credits roll.

Verdict: Terrible!

The only good thing about this movie is that it is exceptionally fast paced. The many bad things include

• Zero subtlety

• Generic and by the numbers story

• terrible acting

• no actual scares

• not much of a point overall.

And a chainsaw is seldom seen. Snore.

Prequel to the legendary Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this is as much a violent road movie as it is a horror. I heard many negative things about the film beforehand but as always I watched it with an open mind. On the negative side I found this film to be somewhat unconvincing and unnecessary. Obviously it was made to make money but it really does not add anything worthy to the TCM series. On the plus side it was technically pretty good, having seen a few of the director' previous films it lived up to expectations. Acting and pace is good plus there is a lot of blood & violence to satisfy most gorehounds. I would certainly watch it again.

Went in with low expectations, and got what was expected. Gore, action and a somewhat alright climax? I love the franchise so much, especially the very first 2. The remake and prequel were excellent too, and I'm glad they didnt continue the storyline after texas chainsaw 3D. They nailed it with the practical effects and the deaths scenes. Satisfying for a gore lover, after all these toned down sequels in general lately. All 3 main characters go from one dimensional to "I'm gonna do whatever it takes to escape" and actually become.. smart? Wait... there are smart characters in a slasher?!! Yup, but the problem is once half of these characters are developed, they're either instantly killed off or vanish rate off the radar. The movie itself feels like it doesn't know what it wants to be. For a fan, you'll be satisfied with the deaths and action it had but you might be disappointed with the choice of pacing and direction. But there's one scene that just bothers me... you'll find out when you see it.