Review: Leatherface

(imdb.com)

Family drama is a treasure trove of material. So many movies feature it in some form; financial issues, relationships and lies and deceit all culminate into endless tales that can be used to compel audiences. Perhaps none other has capitalized on this more than the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. With cannibalism, inbred behavior and crazed mental stability, the Sawyers are an outlandish enigma of interwoven insanity. But, when your family is as messed up as Leatherface's, why would anyone ever think the material would stop churning out?


Featuring a pretty stellar cast and a core that feels reminiscent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, this origin story follows what is presumably the first major stint and escape from a mental institution for the titular killer and his cohort of chosen family. The star of the movie is undoubtedly Lili Taylor (The Conjuring) who plays the struggling and disturbed matriarch of the family, Verna. Flanked by a cast of young stars, including Sam Strike (M.I. High) as Jedidiah, the inmate and eldest son, crazed patients Ike, played by James Bloor (DCI Banks), Clarice, played by Jessica Madsen, and Bud, played by Sam Coleman, Leatherface makes out well with its determined psychopathic characters.


The film does suffer from a lack of overall clarity. The time cuts throughout seem spliced together with little follow through and the established twist only comes together through gathered context, rather than established storytelling. There are also some parts that seem relatively nonsensical and over-the-top, but this is, of course, a movie in a franchise known for its insanity. Unfortunately, when insanity become clutter, it's hard to make it past.


Despite its flaws, Leatherface does succeed on a number of levels. It's young and driven cast is entertaining enough. Additionally, this movie is nostalgia galore; there plenty of inspired scenes that haven't been brought out of horror convention storage for years. The asylum escape, plenty of cheap gore and the birth of an icon all provide enough to keep audience attention. This movie makes the most of its low-brow entertainment, while also portraying its characters as something deeper than other movies have gone. Is this a disservice to the original? Maybe, but it also makes the depraved Sawyers compellingly bad people, regardless of what injustices have been acted against them.


Leatherface isn't the greatest horror film of the modern era, or even this year. But it is a thrilling romp reminiscent of movies like The Hills Have Eyes remake. It's cheap, crazy fun. The cast is all committed - Taylor is especially - and there's a lot to love about this old-fashioned inbred-led cannibal film. 6 out 0f 10.

Best in Show: Scary Movie Masks (Part II of II)

(popsugar.com)

5. Captain Kirk (Halloween

Yeah, that's right: after deep, deep research (a Google search) I found out exactly what Michael Myers' mask is. It's Captain Kirk, aka William Shatner. This mask is demented; human and realistic, but also hollow and misshapen. It's the type of mask that can be brought along through remakes and reboots and still strike fear. In fact, prior to seeing the original, I first saw the Rob Zombie remake of the franchise and the more rugged look of the mask terrified me. Then, when I watched the original, I was just as freaked out by the oddity of the mask's features. Halloween is an iconic franchise and while you could argue it's soundtrack or legendary final girl are the reason behind its infamy, the truth is that without his mask, Michael just isn't the same.



(imgur.com)

4. Peachfuzz the Wolf (Creep)

When Creep came out, it quietly bubbled around blogs and discussion boards as a horror movie to watch. Promotion well deserved. Creep is horrifyingly intimate. It's a cat-and-mouse game featuring an eccentric cancer patient hiring a videographer to make videos for the patient's son. Then, like any good horror movie things take a turn for the insane and the twists and turns come into the forefront. One of the things that make Creep so good is its use of a Wal-Mart-looking mask worn by the patient. He calls the mask Peachfuzz and the innocent, yet creepy name left tingles in my spine. Peachfuzz is a scary mask, not because of its disturbing features but because literally anyone could purchase it. Something about the low-level of effort to make something outlandishly scary makes this mask downright bone chilling.

(giphy.com)

3. Pig Head (Saw)

I will never forget the first time the pig mask in the Saw series jumps out. I pulled back so hard that it made my stomach tight. While maybe not as prominent as some of the other masks on this list, the short screen time given to the pig masks in Saw are noteworthy for the very grotesque and unsettling tone they set. The inability to tell if they were supposed to be real or if they were in fact masks is questionable and the black hair that cascaded around them only added to the disturbing features.



(pinterest.com)

2. Dollface, Pin-Up Girl & Man (The Strangers)

Name a more iconic trio, I'll wait. No, but really. When The Strangers came out they became the poster children of modern slashers and for good reason. The three distinct faces each offered a dimension of insanity to the intense horror movie. While more plastic and shiny than the man's, the two women's masks are frozen and clownish. Contrasted with the canvas bag-like mask worn by the man, Dollface's and Pin-Up Girl's masks provide the perfect compliment. The masks of The Strangers provide distinction in anonymity and for that they deserve distinction. Whether emerging from the shadows or appearing under a street light, this set will stand the test of time.  

(wifflegif.com)

1. Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

If The Strangers is the iconic trio, is there a more iconic killer. Leatherface is the epitome of masked slashers. Made from his victims' faces, the disgusting and terrifying look of Leatherface's masks (either the original or the remakes) is enough to stop someone dead in their tracks. There is no horror movie mask that can ever reach the level of Leatherface's. Even the iconic Ghostface mask pales (get it, it's a white mask) in comparison to the bumpy and torn up features of Leatherface's face.