A24 has acquired the rights to the beleaguered Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, and here’s what the studio needs to do to save the beloved horror series. 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre caused a shift in the horror paradigm, and Tobe Hooper’s low-budget flick sent shock waves throughout the world. The gritty slasher helped usher in a new era for the genre and etched its mark on the history of cinema.
With the country reeling from the real-life brutality of the Vietnam War, traditional horror films just couldn’t keep up with what many were seeing on their TV’s night after night. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a direct response to that desensitization, and it blurred the line between reality and fiction in a way that no film had done before. More than 50 years later, the movie is still a terrifying portrait of a country on the brink.
Naturally, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre blossomed into a bona fide franchise, but it never really found its footing. It took more than 20 years for the first sequel to arrive, and none of the follow-ups could sniff the success of the original. As series like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street flourished, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre floundered again and again.
After a few years of negotiations, indie production house A24 has gained access to the lucrative Texas Chainsaw intellectual property. The studio has announced a TV show and movie are in the works, but many details are still unknown. Though it seems as if the franchise is finally in good hands, there are a few things the studio has to do right in order to save the series.
10
Dump All The Sequels
The first thing A24 needs to do seems like a no-brainer considering the history of the troubled series. The studio has to reject all the Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequels when they tackle the franchise. Though the follow-ups all tried to take the series in different directions, A24’s new version needs a more unified vision to succeed.
The most logical approach for a new Texas Chainsaw movie is to keep the 1974 original and work from there. A hodgepodge of details from the various timelines wouldn’t work, especially since each sequel largely ignores its predecessor. It would be valuable to learn what went wrong with each Texas Chainsaw sequel, but that is really the only value they have for A24’s new projects.
9
Take The Franchise Seriously
Though the opportunity to make money was likely the biggest motivator for endless Texas Chainsaw sequels, none of them took it seriously. Except perhaps for the 2003 remake, there was a distinctly tongue-in-cheek tone to the sequels and spinoffs that did a disservice to the underlying themes of the original. A24 needs to take The Texas Chainsaw Massacre seriously if they want a good movie.
Unlike most slasher series which allow for a bit of goofiness, Texas Chainsaw relies on gritty dread to be truly effective. If A24 can capture even a fraction of the vibe of the original movie, their version will be the best follow-up the classic horror film has ever had. They must not take the easy route with over-the-top moments that border on camp.
8
Don’t Try To Go Back To Basics
After all the meanderings and failures of the series, it may be tempting to take The Texas Chainsaw Massacre back to basics. That would be a big mistake, and would likely result in another stale entry like the infamous Netflix film from 2022. The issue with the sequels isn’t that they were too ambitious, but that they were poorly executed.
A24’s take on Texas Chainsaw can’t lean too heavily on horror fundamentals because that isn’t what the studio does best. The 1974 original is such a groundbreaking piece of horror cinema, that anything less feels mediocre by comparison. An influx of new ideas is what the series needs, but those ideas need to be handled deftly.
7
Avoid Rehashing The Same Ideas
The worst thing that A24 can do with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is copy from the original movie. So many legacy sequels are just rehashes of classic films, and horror is particularly guilty of reheating tired concepts and shipping them out to theaters in a new package. Texas Chainsaw has already been remade, rebooted, and continued in sequels, so something new is desperately needed.
Even the first movie’s most iconic moments, such as the dinner scene or Leatherface’s shocking jump scare, have been done to death. If A24 can invent some new scene that scares the pants off of audiences, the studio’s take on Texas Chainsaw will automatically be leagues better than the other sequels.
6
Don’t Explain Too Much
The first film is a short snapshot of a dark corner of the heartland of America, and it leaves a lot of things unsaid and unexplained. This mystery is part of the appeal of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and it’s fun to contemplate the possibilities that the film implies. Unfortunately, it’s hard to sustain that mystique across decades of sequels and remakes.
A24 can’t get bogged down in the lore if they want Leatherface and his family to be truly frightening. Every new detail revealed about the cannibal clan robs them of their horrific power over the audience, and they either end up being mundane or outright ridiculous. The new movie and show should leave viewers wanting to know more, but it shouldn’t tell them.
5
Connect The Texas Chainsaw Massacre To The Modern Day
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a product of its time, and a direct reaction to the real-world events leading up to its release. Horror is at its best when it is grounded in reality, but that is often the hardest thing to pull off. One thing that would save Texas Chainsaw is if A24 could make it feel contemporary and important again.
A lot has changed since 1974, and the franchise can’t live in the past. The same sentiment that motivated Tobe Hooper to make a mean and remorseless horror flick 50 years ago could motivate a filmmaker to make a statement about modern day issues. That’s not to say that Texas Chainsaw needs to be political, but it needs to be a product of today and not years gone by.
4
Put Filmmaking First
A24 is known for producing so-called “elevated horror films”, so the studio is no stranger to putting filmmaking first. They can’t abandon that guiding principle with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Though the original film is a statement, the sequels and remakes are cynical cash-grabs that often throw quality filmmaking out the window in favor of cheap thrills.
The new approach to the franchise must produce quality content first and foremost, and build everything else from there. A well-made film is exactly what Texas Chainsaw needs, even if it means sacrificing bombastic scares. The best and most long-lasting parts of the 1974 film are also the purest expressions of Tobe Hooper’s clever eye behind the camera.
3
Avoid Sequel Baiting
The ending of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is so startlingly effective because it leaves the conflict largely unresolved without directly setting up a sequel. Though it left the door open for more than 50 years of franchise installments, it feels like a complete experience without the follow-ups. This is something A24 must do with their version as well.
Sequel bait is not always a bad thing, but A24 should avoid it with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If they set their sights too high, they may risk not putting enough effort into the movie and show. Many modern franchises fail largely because they are planned too extensively, and don’t allow for each installment to take on a life of its own.
2
Make Leatherface A Supporting Character
Though Leatherface has become the icon of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, he shouldn’t really be the focus of the story. The best movies in the series give the chainsaw-wielding cannibal a supporting role, and that helps to keep him scary. The more we know about him, the less effective he becomes, and he’s at his best when he’s just muscle for his deadly family.
Though he wears a mask made of human flesh, Leatherface is still a person. When he’s thrust into a lead role, he’s often transformed into a superhuman baddie like Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger. A24 can’t allow the mascot character to become too exposed if they want him to stay just as frightening as he was back in 1974.
1
It Has To Feel Real Again
While the cat has been let out of the bag concerning the true story behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A24 should still strive to make their version feel real again. The original movie has an almost documentary-like visual style and everything looks grimy and disgusting. A slick production does nothing for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and should be avoided.
An approach that is rough around the edges would keep things grounded, especially if the filmmakers can make the audience genuinely question what’s real and what’s fake. Though that will be the hardest challenge for the new minds behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, it’s the one sure-fire way to resurrect the troubled series.
- Cast
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Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Bill Moseley, Bill Johnson, Viggo Mortensen, William Butler, Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Jordana Brewster, Taylor Handley, Alexandra Daddario, Dan Yeager, Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor, Olwen Fouéré, Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
- Created by
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Tobe Hooper, Kim Henkel
- Latest Film
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
- Movie(s)
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Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Leatherface, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
