Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) was released by Netflix in theaters yesterday, February 18, and critics have had a field day expressing their dissatisfaction with the movie.
The plot of Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of young friends who disrupt the quiet of a remote Texas town, incurring the wrath of Leatherface who has been in hiding for 50 years.
The film is a sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and the ninth installment of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (TCM) franchise.
Making sequels to movies is usually a risky business. The movie is an example of this. There were more holes in its plot than a shooting range target.
Below are a few reviews of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 Reviews
Jocelyn Noveck (AP):
“Did we really need another [Texas Chainsaw Massacre]? And sadly, given the lack of imagination, creativity or even basic attention to logic in a perfunctory and downright silly script, the answer seems a resounding “Nope”.”
Jason Balley (Crooked Marquee):
“A baffling miscalculation. If you’re trying to erase the sequels and replicate the original, then make something recognizably reminiscent of it.
Don’t just shoplift the character into a lazy, substandard 2020s slasher movie and call it a day”
Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicles:
What garbage. Seriously. What absolute, bereft, witless, unoriginal, unrewarding, soulless garbage that’s 40 years past scaring anybody.
Perri Nemiroff:
“The movie’s a misguided thematic mess, but the new Texas Chainsaw still manages to deliver big when simply being a movie about an unsuspecting group of kids who come face to face with Leatherface.”
Keith Watson (Slant Magazine):
No horror franchise has had as much difficulty figuring out where to go after its iconic original entry as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series.
And David Blue Garcia’s simply titled ninth installment may well be the feeblest attempt yet to recapture the savage glory of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 masterpiece
The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a deeply miscalculated mix of incoherent social commentary and over-the-top gore.
Austin R:
This film isn’t just bad, it’s an absolute abomination agitating an average audience associate. This film presents trope upon trope, but brings nothing fresh.
Blood for blood, but whose blood is it, anyways? I think we should let the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise die harder than traditional yuletide activities.
The fact that I didn’t pay a cent to watch this still makes me want my money back. I’d rather watch Will Smith in “Ali” at 25% speed while simultaneously getting blasted in the chin by “Smokin'” Joe and Leon Spinks for 3 days straight
Paul G:
Awesome! loved it! most definitely the best to follow the original 1974 classic! thoroughly enjoyable! fabulous kills and a nice easter egg after the credits 🙂 Love the franchise and love the saw!!
Erin W:
Although it has ignored all of the sequels, it is a slasher’s paradise. Gory with subtle messages on current cultural context. It most soars when the kills happen, and a number of them are painful and unsuspecting. I enjoyed it. Watch.
Whitney H:
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I’ve been a huge fan of the TCM franchise from the get.
The gore is always a nice surprise in any movie but they completely packed this movie to the brim with blood.
The plotline doesn’t add up and does not whatsoever follow on or live up to its predecessors. I haven’t been this angry at an ending of a movie in a very long time.
Dionne K:
They can only do so much with a remake and I think they did a great job. Glad they brought some characters in from the original- just wish they were the actual original character.
This should make the younger audience at least watch the original. Overall, I usually don’t like remakes, but this one did its duty in making this horror movie screamer scream!!
Anonymous:
Why in God’s name would you make your central protagonists stereotypical, blatantly annoying, and unlikeable, and whose behaviors defy logic?
Did they forget how audiences sympathized with Sally, Kirk, Franklin, Pam, and Jerry? Did they forget how we rooted for Sally to escape the hellhole she was in? What’s the story in this film?
What’s driving the motivation for most of these characters? What purpose does it serve the movie when you’re developing and almost rooting for the villain to kill off these characters?
Where’s the world-building, where’s the slow build to tension? What’s with the over-the-top gratuitous violence? Just for the sake of making a kill count? This movie has no reason to exist and is laughably bad.
So many moments that take you out of the film and make you question character choices. Terribly written, poorly directed, non-existent score, and shamelessly edited. Fans deserved better.
Please stop rebooting this franchise, if it’s sole purpose is to be a mindless cash grab and to scare people with unnecessary violence and gore. The first movie wasn’t even that damn gory! The production crew has absolutely no idea as to what made that film work.
