Leatherface (2017) - Spoiler Movie Review

Leatherface (2017) is the latest chapter in the already confusing Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. This time, we go back to the origins (once again) of Leatherface. This timeline follows the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, ignoring the very decent 2003 remake and the prequel to that movie.

I didn't have much hope for this movie mainly because of the disastrous Texas Chainsaw 3D which also followed the original storyline (in a terrible way).

Let me quickly tell you what I liked about this movie first of all. I liked the use of practical effects. Now most movies use CGI, and there is use of CGI in this movie, but I would say they used more practical effects from what I remember. The practical effects were cheesy at times but I think that was what I liked about them. The acting was decent. Lili Taylor and Stephen Dorff give the standout performances of the movie. Finn Jones has a small part to play but I felt there were more scenes filmed with him in it that were cut for whatever reason.

The movie plays like the old Scream movies as in "who is Leatherface?" This was the weakest part of the movie. The writers of the movie make it blatantly obvious that you are to believe that Bud, the tall, chubby Leatherface lookalike is actually Leatherface. He is even portrayed as a 'simpleton' just like Leatherface. As well as this, he has a few kill scenes in the exact same manner as the man himself. But instead, the huge reveal (which was obvious) is that he is not Leatherface. Leatherface is actually the handsome 5 foot 6 inch skinny man with good speech and no violent tendencies.

After the death of Bud (the one we were supposed to believe was Leatherface), Jed (the real one) goes all crazy, gets shot in the face and then walks with a limp. He loses his speech very swiftly and becomes a tiny Leatherface. Let it be known that this small man is around 21 years old, so he won't be growing any taller.

Aside from the huge issue with 'Who is Leatherface?' the movie was cut pretty badly. As mentioned before, I believe there was a lot of cutting and reshooting and it really showed in the final cut of the movie. This didn't look like the work of the guys who brought us the movie Inside (2007).

I am going to use the ratings system I use on my YouTube Channel.

I give Leatherface a solid D.

See here for my YouTube Review of the movie:

Leatherface is a prequel to 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre that revolves around the mystery of which one of the teenage psychopaths will become the chainsaw wielding killer known as Leatherface, as they escape with a nurse from a mental institution with a revenge-stricken lawman in pursuit for murder of his daughter by the Sawyer family.