The reboot of Texas Chainsaw Massacre made some headlines in the entertainment world back in August 2020 when the producers fired directors Ryan and Andy Tohill after the 1st week of shooting in Bulgaria, dumped every piece of footage they shot and tapped cinematographer by trade David Blue Garcia as a last second replacement. Replacing the director mid-shoot tends to be a tell-tale sign that a production isn't going to end in the birth of a quality on screen product and surprise surprise, Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't buck that negative trend.
What Garcia cobbled together from the ashes of the Tohill Brothers aborted vision is a scattershot, visibly rushed mess. In fact, the film is delivered in such a manic, abridged fashion that it doesn't even feel like they were able to shoot the entire script. Everything from the commentary on gentrification to the subplot surrounding sole survivor of the 1974 original Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouere stepping in for the late Marilyn Burns) returning to Harlow to finally extract revenge against Leatherface for killing her friends 50 years earlier to the actual murder scenes all kind of just happen with no buildup, development or real direction. What's on display here is little more than 80 minutes of undeveloped, charisma-free characters dying brutal deaths and forced callbacks to the original with no cohesion or weight behind them and that's exactly the kind of lazy shit you'd expect from what is effectively the movie equivalent of somebody doing the duration of their school project an hour before it was due. There are some endearing moments on account of its largely practical gore effects that don't skimp on the nasty details, quietly breathtaking cinematography from Ricardo Diaz and absurd ending that is so abrupt and unexpected that it's kind of weirdly genius, but none of these little victories are enough to save Texas Chainsaw Massacre from being another poorly executed effort in an increasingly crappy slasher franchise.
Grade: C-
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