When Leatherface rears his ugly head again this year – in Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre – at least one element from the 1974 original will be brought along for the ride. The actor who delivered the opening news brief in the ’70s classic, which brought a chillingly realistic grounding to the horror movie, will return to deliver some opening narration in the sequel.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) was John Larroquette’s first film role, before he went on to appear in nearly 200 episodes of long-running legal comedy Night Court (1984-1992). He also had his own sitcom The John Larroquette Show (1993-1996). He recently appeared in legal comedy-drama The Good Fight.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, widely considered one of the best horror movies of all time, has spawned one of the most confusing sets of sequels and reboots of any classic movie. The latest addition will apparently be a direct sequel to 1974 original, ignoring all of the many attempts to keep the disconnected franchise going across every decade since the 1970s.
Director David Blue Garcia has spoken to Variety about why he wanted to bring John Larroquette back; “It felt important to honour the original ‘TCM’ at every opportunity,” Garcia said, via email. “John’s voice is iconic in the original opening and we thought it would help set the perfect tone in our own intro. It’s also a subtle way of letting the fans know they’re in good hands.”
And Larroquette’s voice won’t be the only homage to the original film. “I can’t wait for fans to analyse and find all of the callbacks, some of which aren’t even intentional. I swear some stuff just happened and it’s kind of freaky,” Garcia said. “I will say that we shot with one of the original, working Poulan chainsaws from the original film. On set, every morning I would walk by the prop cart, touch it and get its blessing for the day. I wanted some of its ’70s magic.”
You can catch up with Leatherface and his, um, buddies on February 18, 2022. While you wait, check out our guide to the best Netflix horror movies.