Leatherface - Unnecessary remake #608

Many of us horror-lovers took a sick enjoyment out of the homicidal antics of a certain faceless, chainsaw-wielding Redneck serial killer from 'middle America' back in the seventies when we first met him in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.' Naturally, our - the public's - weird fascination with him meant that he was featured prominently in one sub-standard sequel after the next.  Despite the character still 'selling' the franchise, less and less people got excited by what followed the original 'shocker/slasher.' The 2003 Michael Bay remake wasn't bad, but divided long-term fans.  However, no matter how much people enjoy seeing 'Leatherface' slice and dice his way through hordes of screaming teens, I never actually heard anyone asking the question: 'What was he like as a child?' (think about what the public reaction was to the 'Halloween' remake which delved into Michael Myers' adolescent backstory!).

Here, surprise surprise, we meet our future nut-job as a wee young child and get a brief inclination of how, growing up in a family who eat people and actively promote cutting up dinner guests with a chainsaw, may end up damaging young minds.  The film is effectively a whistle-stop tour of the boy's life, from how he gets taken away from his family to a - supposedly - 'safer' establishment, only for it to yet warp his mind further.

Yes, this story is not only not what anyone was asking for and merely - yet another - cheap cash-in on an established brand, but it's also pretty dull.  There's little you need to know or see here if you're a fan of the franchise and, if you're looking for gore, scares and/or creative death scenes - then you won't find any of that here.  Instead you simply get 'horror 101' displaying every tried and tested technique to get even a slight scare out of its audience.

I didn't enjoy it.  And I know it may sound like a stupid thing to say, based on the fact that the film is named after one of the most evil and therefore unlikable characters in screen history, but there is a total lack of sympathetic characters to root for.  I know there are a couple of 'heroes' who we're supposed to feel for their plight, but they're just too damn generic and uninteresting to care for.

If you're a fan of the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' then just watch that.  If you think it looks a little old and outdated then watch the 2003 remake (it's actually not as bad as some people made out!).  This is simply a horror film that doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as a film which - kind of - started the 'slasher' genre which still goes strong today.

4/10 You can watch this film while you're doing the ironing (you'll still get the general gist of it)