10 EXACT Moments Horror Movies Self-Destructed

5. Leatherface's Rampage Takes Away From A Well-Intended Message - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

Jaws The Revenge Ellen Brody Lorraine Gary
Netflix

Oof, where to begin with this one...

There are so many points where you can say last year's Texas Chainsaw Massacre self-destructed. Many would look at the handling of Sally Hardesty - the returning 'final girl' of Tobe Hooper's original Texas Chain Saw Massacre - as being the 2022 TCM imploding. While that is indeed true, David Blue Garcia's straight-to-Netflix film falls off a cliff way before Sally arrives on the scene.

Set 50 years after the event of Hooper's classic, the first misstep of this most recent Texas Chainsaw picture is the ham-fisted way in which it attempts to shine a spotlight on the very real issue of gentrification.

For those fortunate not to have seen this mess of a movie, it centres on a group of young investors keen to turn a near-abandoned Texas town into a hip, cool place that could attract similarly wealthy young adults. The aim is to purchase the many broken-down buildings of this town on the cheap, then flip these properties to outsiders for a profit.

While delivering a message about gentrification is a noble idea, any subtlety or nuance of this message is butchered by having Leatherface - who lives in the town's not-quite-abandoned orphanage - start to slice 'n' dice his way through these would-be property developers.

It also doesn't help that we're made aware that this vibrant, spry Leatherface is 80 years of age. Once we start to see the big guy in action, 2022's Texas Chainsaw Massacre's larger message gets lost in the generic chaos and carnage.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.