Leatherface

At the beginning a child, son of a bloody mother (Lily Taylor), commits a crime, and is detained by the sheriff (Stephen Dorff). Many years later, a violent teen and others three abduct a nurse while getting away from a Texas asylum during a wild riot. Along the way, they start a scary journey full of criminal spree and masacre, while a Ranger is after them. Later, they wind up in the nightmare clutches of a homicide family and are relentlessly pursued, both the sheriff and the killer group. As always, the younsters are dispatched unceremoniously and mercilessly.

A creepy film in which a handful of criminally insane inmates escape causing mayhem and gruesome murders. The movie deals with the original 'Leatherface', the demented series killer who alonside his familly cause multiple murders. Inferior prequel to already classical "Texas chainsaw masacre", containing terror, suspense, ghastly events and lots of blood and gore. The film packs images of graphic violence, sex and may not be suitable for squeamish people. The motion picture was mediocrely directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. They were journalists for French magazine 'Mad Movies' and huge fans of giallo, American terror and slasher films. They have directed acceptable horror pictures, such as "Kandisha", "The ABCs of death 2", "Among living", "Livido", "Inside". "Leatherface" rating: 5.5/10. A blood-soaked entertainment only recommended for saga completists.

The films of the serie are as follows: The first and the best, "Texas chainsaw massacre" 1974 by Tobe Hooper stars Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal. " The Texas chainsaw massacre 2" 1986 by Tobe Hooper stars Dennis Hooper, Carolina Williams, Bill Moseley. "Leatherface , Texas Chainsaw massacre III" 1990 by Jeff Burr stars Kate Hodge, Ken Feroe, Viggo Mortensen. "The return of the Texas chainsaw massacre" 1994 by Kim Henkel stars Renee Zellwegger, Matthew McConaughey, Robert Jacks. "Texas chainsaw massacre" 2003 by Marcus Nipel stars Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Mike Vogel. "Texas masacre 3D" 2013 by John Luessenhop, stars Alexandra Daddario, Scott Eastwood, Tom Barry, Bill Moseley. " Texas chainsaw massacre" 2022 by David Blue García, stars Sara Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burham.

Leatherface (2017)

** (out of 4)

This origin film tells how a redneck from Texas would turn into the maniac known as Leatherface. We start off seeing him being put into a mental hospital where ten years later he escapes. He was thrown into the hospital and eventually chased by the cop Hal Hartman (Stephen Dorff) and soon bodies begin to pile up.

LEATHERFACE was directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, the duo that were behind the incredibly gory and controversial INSIDE. Reviews of this film have been rather mixed and I must say that I'm somewhere in the middle because a lot of people have enjoyed how different it is while others are screaming bloody murder due to its story and structure. If you're looking for gore it's certainly about as bloody as you're going to get from a mainstream picture but there are many issues here as well.

I think the biggest problem I had with the film is that it just didn't feel like a Texas CHAINSAW movie. I say that because it starts off like ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST and then we get some sort of strange NATURAL BORN KILLERS type of road picture. I know this is a origin story but lets be honest for a moment. These type of films rarely work and to me this one just doesn't cut it. I think the biggest issue is the story itself because it's just not all that fascinating seeing the future Leatherface in a mental hospital and it's even less interesting seeing him in a road picture.

Making the character a supporting one was a major mistake for a number of reasons including the fact that out of the five people on the run he's the least interesting. He's also not as interesting as the cop or his own mother (Lili Taylor) so you've got the title character falling to around seventh place in his own movie! As I said, if you're wanting violence and gore then there's plenty of that here but, again, I'm sure many fans of the original film are going to be disappointed because this stuff wasn't in the original Tobe Hooper movie. So, again, why even do a origin movie?

I personally thought the violence and gore was great but I can see why some are turned off by it. I also thought the performances were good for the most part and this is especially true of Dorff and Taylor. It was great seeing them in a movie like this and I thought they both delivered. Technically speaking the film is well-made, features some very good cinematography and the score was nice as well.

LEATHERFACE isn't a complete disaster like THE RETURN OF THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE but I'd say it's the next worst of the series.

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.

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!

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.