As far as blood-soaked, gore-ridden horror films go, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is undeniably one of the all-time greats. But when it comes to sequels, it had some of the all-time shittest.
Things took a swift nose dive with the departure of legendary horror director Tobe Hooper. After three official sequels, one reboot, one prequel to the reboot and one abomination that claims to be a direct sequel to the original while ignoring any continuity, the franchise has pretty much lost all credibility.
Now we arrive at round eight: Leatherface. But will it be more of the same, or can two talented directors pull this struggling movie series back from the brink of obscurity? Well, with the release of a new trailer, it looks like maybe, actually, yeah they could. See for yourself:
Credit: Lionsgate
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Leatherface is set before the events of the initial Texas Chainsaw Massacre film and centres on the events that lead up to the transformation of the youngest son of the cannibalistic Sawyer family into the deranged killer we all now know as Leatherface.
According to the film's synopsis, the prequel concerns a teenage Leatherface, "who escapes from a mental hospital with three other inmates, kidnaps a young nurse and takes her on a road trip from hell. Along the way, they are pursued by an equally deranged lawman out for revenge.
"One of these teens is destined for tragedy and horrors that will destroy his mind."
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Credit: Lionsgate
Chilling stuff, right? And while the trailer might not give too much away, it does offer us a glimpse of the kind of thing we'll be in for...i.e. blood, chainsaws, masks made out of dead people's faces, severed cows' heads sewn onto human bodies and all that sort of nice wholesome stuff.
It's basically nothing new, really, but do you know what? We don't care, because if it's done right, it's still great.
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Credit: Lionsgate
The chances of it being done right are pretty high, too, given that the new film will be directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury - two of the most exciting people making horror movies at the moment. They're best known for 2007's Inside, a stomach-churning home-invasion movie about a pregnant woman who has to defend herself against an intruder.
You might recognise a few faces, too. Games of Thrones' Finn Jones, who played Loras Tyrell, plays the part of a local police officer.
All in all, it looks and sounds like promising stuff, but we'll have to wait until 20 October to find out for sure.
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Words: Paddy Maddison