A violent teen and three others kidnap a young nurse while escaping from a Texas mental institution. Pursued by a vengeful sheriff, the disturbed young man embarks on a murderous rampage that shapes him into a legendary killer known as Leather face.

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MovieBuffChick from United States
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I'm shocked at the amount of good reviews thus far. There's the first 10 minutes of this film... then there's the last 10 minutes... NOTHING in between contributed to an acceptable origin story of Leatherface. We got a brief look at his childhood (first 10 min)... eventually we learn how he became disfigured (last 10 min)... but how he became this giant, semi-mute, monster... there's NOTHING about this story-line that explains this or gives us ANY additional insight. For the most part we find out what we already knew (in the first 10 min)... his entire family is sadistic and insane... THAT'S how he became Leatherface... not anything you're going to see here.

This was nothing but an attempt to tell a story that ultimately has nothing to do with the origin of Leatherface. The leap from how this guy became Leatherface is astronomical and nonsensical. What we already knew was sufficient and should've been the focus of an origin film.

THIS was just an opportunity to take advantage of a successful franchise with a story that was FORCED to tie into the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Complete with a bunch of forced twists and turns in attempt to appear to have more depth than it actually does. This was pure garbage and the only thing good about it was Lili Tayler, who wears "psychopath" very well.

Look for me on Twitter and YouTube for audio reviews. MovieBuffChick1 https://youtu.be/XwrSFnaEymA

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Finfrosk86 from Norway
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This movie in itself is not exactly bad. It looks alright, has some OK gore, decent acting for the most part, some slightly interesting characters. It doesn't suck. But as a origin story to one of horror's biggest icons? Eeeh, yeah. It's not great.

Actually, right off the bat the biggest problem with this movie strikes me. When you're making an origin story to such a famous character, you should make sure that the story you make up and make into a movie is really awesome. Unfortunately, it's not. We see Leatherface's family and stuff, and it's just meh. The opening scene is just not very interesting. What follows though, isn't bad. They have some kind of story to tell here, not relying too much on TCM- lore, and I thought it was somewhat entertaining.

You wouldn't have to cut a lot here to make this movie totally unrecognizable as a Leaterface origin-story, though. That's a shame. And it's also pretty tame, I'm sorry to say. Actually really tame. Like I said initially, the origin story to such a gruesome character should really be a lot more horrific, gruesome and ghastly. It's not. It's pretty watered down. I think the die hard fans of Leatherface will be disappointed with this. But who knows, I may be wrong.

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Arun George from India
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When the directors of 2007's gore-spectacle 'Inside' (Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury) took over the reins of a supposed prequel to 1974's Tobe Hooper classic 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', expectations had indeed sky-rocketed. But what we get isn't even worthy of being called a tribute to the TCM franchise, let alone be regarded as its worthy canon prequel.

The screenplay offers very little in terms of the surprises it throws at the viewers (and TCM fans), thereby ending up strictly ho-hum. We see a bunch of eccentrics creating a riot at a mental health facility and escaping, with tidbits of the Sawyer family thrown in to engage the viewer. In fact, the makers are trying to sell this movie around the mystery of which character amongst the the leads ultimately evolves into 'Leatherface'. Well, much to our dismay, even this stretch appears annoyingly contrived (and to be honest, the poster kinda spoils it already!).

What we're subjected to for most part, is literally a lunatic couple shotgun-killing their way to notoriety on their supposed escape (even the big chainsaw-kill comes in too late) with a helpless nurse named Lizzy (Vanessa Grasse) who has unnecessarily been dragged along with them while also being accompanied by a duo of brothers (the somewhat compassionate Jackson and the bulky Bud). Lizzy is the character we're supposed to root for, but sadly this does not work. We know as little about her as we know about the rest of the zany troupe.

The directors who're known to stage horrifically-exciting set- pieces, resort to cheap tricks here (like a partial necro scene) in order to augment the shock-value. The shot of a woman's derriere walking into a barn surrounded by badlands (during one of the opening segments, clearly reminding us of previous TCM films including the Michael Bay funded remake) had just about raised my hopes a teeny weeny bit before everything came crashing down.

With no real thunderbolts in store for fans or non-fans, this prequel falls head first into a pit of quick-sand, the real difference-maker in the story being the weapons (shotguns, knives) that the characters possess and not their personalities. You're bound to forget this movie as soon as the credits roll.

Verdict: Terrible!

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yannickmessaoud from Canada
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This movie could not have been made and it would not have made any difference honest, it brings absolutely nothing new to the Texas chainsaw legacy.

Its far better then the last 2, i was very surprised at the graphic violence and the gore, this is the most gory TCM of the series.

Now i don't know who writes these movies but they should get there act together, Leather face went from wearing human skin mask because of 2003 skin disease, 1974 he was mental and now 2017 because he got disfigured by a bullet......

Also where was the family cop that we see in all the movies? they sort of edited him out, and last but not least the family always changes with new member so its kind of weird from one movie to the other.

This movie should be seen as pure entertainment if you like gore and graphic violence this as it all the people in this movie are all sick and as expected no one survives and the justice is never truly seen.

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Evil Eddie (cyberray1976@hotmail.com) from United States
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Leatherface (2017) Review. Will contain spoilers so read at your discretion. I really don't know where to start with this movie. I honest to God really tried to give it a chance. I tried to give Leatherface the benefit of the doubt. Sadly I was disappointed due to a number of factors. I'll start with what I liked because there isn't that much to cover. I enjoyed how they recreated the farmhouse. I think it's cool anytime we get to revisit the Sawyer farm. I'm happy that they were able to tie elements of 3D into this movie with the inclusion of Verna Sawyer Carson, her lawyer Farnsworth, and Leatherface keeping the name Jedidiah. It was neat to see the original Sawyer Clan again and I thought we'd see more of them. That being said, the few positive factors did not save this movie for me. Leatherface turned out to be the skinny kid that was talking as a teenager. I could possibly see Leatherface being skinny in his teenage years but he absolutely does not talk. Maybe he talked a little as a child but at the age he was at during the majority of the movie he shouldn't have been able to talk. Leatherface is not a cliché buff slasher, he is a large heavy set guy. If you want to make Leatherface skinny that's one thing but don't put him right next to someone with the exact same looks, and mannerisms that Leatherface should have. It's not a neat twist, it's a "fuck you" to the fans. Possibly the worst thing they did is say he wears the mask due to a facial disfigurement. Saying that a killer wears a mask because of a disfigurement is the laziest backstory ever! I have given credit where credit is due. It was neat seeing Leatherface come out of the basement with his chainsaw brutally killing Hartman. The classic chase through the woods with the chainsaw was lazy and played out and was not satisfying at all. Despite the cool nods to the original I don't think it's worth the watch. It is absolutely the worst film in the franchise (I don't count the remakes) This movie was unnecessary and absolutely lacking in character development. It's a desperate attempt to make a profit doing what they want with only some nods to the original to keep it somewhat afloat. I'm very disappointed because I don't see the franchise bouncing back from this atrocity unless they do a sequel to 3D. I wanted to enjoy any Leatherface movie but I just couldn't enjoy this one. 3 out of 10. Not worth the watch. Spare yourselves the disappointment.

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Iliescu Victor from Bucharest
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I cant say that i had that much expectations from this movie, let alone hoped for a good story. If you thought the remake from 2013 (Texas Chainsaw) was dull and cringe, this one no is difference.

For more than half of the movie, I questioned myself why is called Leatherface, the action never calling for the well known killer nor his reputation. If you had no knowledge of him, one would assume is just another movie about a mentally ill killer, scaring off some teenagers and hunting them down.

The acting is not bad but could be a lot better, the plot is probably the biggest downside of this prequel, having too many stupid scenes. Not that many references to Leatherface at all, apart from the beginning and the ending. A foreseable ending was also a big downside, which made me to set a 6 out of 10 just as a pityful note because I like the TCM as a series.

Only watch this if you have time to spare on a rainy day.

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BA_Harrison from Hampshire, England
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As a child, Jed Sawyer is taken from his murderous hillbilly family and put in the Gorman House Youth Reformatory, where he spends the next ten years with a new identity. When the prisoners revolt, a small group make a bid for freedom with pretty nurse Lizzy (Vanessa Grasse) and fellow inmate Jackson as their hostages.

Tobe Hooper's original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ranks as one of the scariest films ever made, its iconic killer Leatherface its most frightening creation. With this latest film in the series, they've gone and done what Rob Zombie did with his godawful Halloween remake: give the killer a back story. In humanising the character, they have lessened his effectiveness as an object of fear. Once an emotionless, uncontrollable monster, impossible to reason with, he is now someone we can identify with and feel a level of pity for. It didn't work for Michael Myers and it doesn't work here.

The origins story-line also makes much of the film seem frustratingly unlike a Texas Chainsaw movie, at times even reminding me of a Tarantino flick (the escape from Gorman House made me think of Natural Born Killers while the BBQ stop massacre was redolent of both NBK and Pulp Fiction). Only in the film's closing moments do things actually feel like they belong to the franchise, with Lizzy trying to escape the Sawyer's charnel house, a chainsaw wielding Jed (soon to become Leatherface) hot on her heels. Directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury don't hold back on the brutality and blood, but even so, I can imagine many fans of the series being disappointed with the level of splatter (too much for some, not enough for others).

5.5 out of 10, rounded down to 5 for that really dumb scene in which three people (including one really fat guy) hide from the law by climbing inside the festering carcass of a steer. A really big steer. Also, minus half a point for the unbelievable necro sex scene. And another half point subtracted for Jed's sudden (and also completely unbelievable) transformation from rational human being to hulking homicidal maniac.

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Schuriken from Greece
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Another useless installment in the TCM story. Lame special fx, even worse and confusing story. Does absolutely nothing to the viewer except just sitting there waiting for this dog excrement of a movie to end.

Just fire the guy who thought it would be a good idea to have less human bones for back rounds and even less disturbing scenes altogether.

Did they make Toby Hooper the producer in this movie after his death ?

Sweet baby Jesus now I know for sure they will never match the original even if they use a potato for a camera and cows blood filming in the same house as the original. Shows that whatever you budget may be high or low you will never make anything interesting to watch if you have no talent or respect to the original work you are trying to remake, copy, reboot...whatever.

Maybe the creators never watched the original...who knows...

Skip this one even if your head is under a running chainsaw.

Thanx but no thanx.

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Snaggletooth . from United Kingdom
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Oh dear oh dear. Many people were excitedly waiting on this one given it was coming from the directors of the brilliant Inside, but now that its here it seems their slide has continued because that films greatness has never been echoed (particularly after the terrible Among The Living). Leatherface lacks any ember of dread, menace, tension, or thrills and an attempt to have us connect with just one character (the nurse) fails badly. I just didn't see the point of this film, I at least expected to get some kind of simmering, disturbing, sweats on the level of (say) Girl Next Door but there was none of that. The movie has an entirely overproduced mainstream feel to it (completely unlike the original) and while it has some punctuating gore (I guess they thought it was shocking) its done so matter-of-fact it has no impact whatsoever leaving this viewer sighing an unaffected meh. The inclusion of a cheap necro scene was both pointless and silly (another failed attempt to shock) and while I often love Stephen Dorff acting his attempts in this stinker made me cringe. The huge leap in the development of the character who becomes Leatherface also felt forced. One minute hes offering some kind of negotiable humanity and the next hes a brainless loon for the rest of his days apparently. I wont be watching this again, which speaks volumes given I've seen the original at least 6 times. Featherlace.

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Eric Germ
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Honestly though I was stoked about this, knowing that the last movies have been total garbage, I didn't lose hope.

This definitely has the original TCM vibe in it. The colours, cinematography. While it lacks the gore, it's still a solid movie showing how it all started. Probably the biggest flaw is that it lacks the silent tension the original had.

However still more effective movie than the Beginning, 3D. Recommend!

prequel|texas|chainsaw|horror movie prequel|shotgun|sex scene|car accident|sixth part|

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