Gordon Hall

If this movie were a stand-alone film, I thought that it did pretty good. However, since they brought back Sally from the OG TCM, this was made to be a sequel. I have a few issues with this: - Due to the lack of Sawyer family, a big part of what made Leatherface Leatherface just disappeared. The psychopathic family that tortured him mentally and physically were the main reason that he (Leatherface) became a mindless killer, and that aspect is just lost in this movie. I can understand that Virginia (the caretaker) being killed in front of him would've set him off, but that doesn't seem like it would be nearly as traumatizing as the stuff he dealt with with the Sawyers. - The way it's told says that Virginia took in Leatherface when he was still young (16-20), but at the end of the 1974 original, Leatherface was depicted as 27 years old. Even if Virginia did manage to take in Leatherface after the death of his family, this movie didn't mention Virginia having any knowledge of the Sawyers, and I doubt Leatherface would have just walked into Harlow, chainsaw in hand. If this movie had added a scene of Virginia adopting Leatherface (or whatever she did) after the instances of the first film, it would add at least a little bit of detail on how he got to the orphanage. But again, if this wasn't a sequel, the plot would've worked fine. - The ending + character decisions. What the hell happened at the end? It just seemed kind of pointless, especially due to the protagonists SLEEPING IN THE SAME TOWN AS A BUNCH OF MURDER VICTIMS. There was no point in the kill at the end, there was no point in the somewhat competent characters not GTFO'ing the second Leatherface "died", and they had no reason not to at least attempt a double-tap. And it wasn't just Mel and Lila making the stupid decisions. The idea for Richter to just stroll into the house (with his least dangerous firearm) was unlike his character and posed a completely avoidable death of one of decent characters. However, this movie wasn't all bad; the cast were filled with amazing actors and, for the most part, likable characters, despite they having the typical influencer mindset. It was paced well and wasn't overwhelmingly long or short. It was tense when it needed to be tense, and most of the jumpscares were pretty well made. The gore and practical effects throughout the movie were spectacular, and I like that Leatherface actually did some planning. Many will argue that this is unlike Leatherface, due to his brain condition, but it made his character that much more frightening. I do have issue with Leatherface's mask: It seems too droopy for it to be taken seriously, and the fact that he took it from the last person he loved doesn't really make sense. But I do like it a little bit more than the one from the old movie; the old one looked slightly goofy. Not too bad of a watch, I'd recommend it if you were there for good actors, fantastic gore, and an overall tense horror movie. 7/10, I'd watch it again