Not to be confused with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which also told the origin story, Leatherface is a direct prequel to 1974s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre rather than the 2003 reboot or whatever the hell Texas Chainsaw 3D was supposed to be. What saves it from being consigned to the dustbin of horror prequels is the casting: Lili Taylor (in a role originally earmarked for Angela Bettis) is the matriarch of the infamous Sawyer clan and Stephen Dorff is the unhinged lawman intent on tracking down teenaged Leatherface, whos just absconded from the loony bin with 3 other inmates. The directors are Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, who made Inside (2007) and Among The Living (2014). TCM movies arent known for skimping on the red stuff, so heres hoping those crazy French filmmakers havent begun censoring themselves.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
