Entertainment Weekly have released the first images of Netflix’s new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie and we have a release date of February 18, 2022.
After rebooting Evil Dead in 2013 to the delight of horror fans, Fede Alvarez is producing this new take on the franchise that hasn’t seen much success since the original debuted in 1974, despite many sequels. “It felt familiar somehow because it took us back to when I did Evil Dead. Me and Rodo Sayagues (his writing partner) really wanted to make sure we don’t disappoint the fans, and we are [among them]. So it’s pretty hardcore. But at the same time it has the simplicity of that first film. We wanted to come up with a very simple premise [with] a powerful domino effect. Everything is set up in the right place — all you have to do is push the first domino and everything will happen effortlessly.”
Alvarez continues; “I think the first movie really hit a nerve when portraying that culture clash between the countryside and the city. Back in the ’70s, the hippies were representing the youth of the city. This time, they’re more like millennial hipsters from Austin who are very entrepreneurial and have a dream of getting away from the city and back to the countryside. They’re trying to gentrify small-town America — and let’s just say they encounter some pushback.” Gentrification was also a major theme of 2021’s Candyman, a follow up to the horror classic from 1992.
And of course, people will be clamouring to know more about Leatherface – the iconic villain that the franchise is built around; “It’s basically the same character, who is still alive,” says Álvarez. “Our take on it was this guy probably disappeared after everything he’s done. You know, how do you catch a guy who has a mask? Once he removes the mask and runs away, it’s very easy for him to hide somewhere.”
He concludes that; “This story will pick it up many, many years after the original story. He’s been in hiding for a long, long time, trying to be a good person. These people arriving in this town are going to awaken the giant.”
The film stars Sarah Yarkin as a young businesswoman and Eighth Grade’s Elsie Fisher as her sister. As Yarkin explains, “Me and my business partner Dante [played by Jacob Latimore] are these young hip people that come to this ghost town in Texas and try to get other people to come there and make it the next hip place to be. Our fatal flaw is that we ignore the history that came before us.”
“The film takes place a long time after the original Texas Chainsaw,” says Elsie Fisher, “It’s about a group of people who come to this town and things don’t quite go as planned. It mixes a lot of important real-life issues with horror themes, which is always something I love.”
Practical effects have been emphasised; “Fede hammered, ‘Practical, practical, practical,'” says director David Blue Garcia. “He was really adamant about capturing as much in camera as possible, and that’s something we strove to achieve on set. It takes discipline and a bit more time and patience, but it really pays off in the end.”
It feels like February is a long way away, so in the meantime, check out our guide to the best horror movies to find out whether the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre made the cut! And to find out what the best Netflix horror movies are, also check out our guide!