There is a genius moment about two-thirds of the way into the all-new TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Leatherface (Mark Burnham) boards a tour bus of gentrifiers to be greeted by their recording cellphones waiting to capture any false move. “Try anything and you’re canceled bro.” one of them says. After 50 years, our chainsaw-wielding anti-hero is face-to-face with a new generation whose only weapon is documentation. My how times have changed. A “Spiritual Sequel” to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), this new iteration does away with everything but the original film and finds our dejected cannibal harried by a cluster of ignorant investors after years of hiding in a slowly dying town. With a story by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues, a script by Chris Thomas Devlin, and direction by David Blue Garcia, we get a sequel that tries to get back to what made Leatherface scary again. The result is a horror movie that is more fun than frightening while making sure to paint the town red… with blood.

Melody (Sarah Yarkin) and Dante (Jacob Latimore) are social media stars and entrepreneurs looking to revive an old town in the middle of nowhere. Along for the ride are Melody’s sister Lila (Elsie Fisher) and  Dante’s fiancé Ruth (Nell Hudson). The four are zooming through the rolling plains of Texas toward the ghost town of Harlow. Their goal is to convince a busload of investors to settle in the town and revive it, hence creating a hipster utopia. Assuming that the town is empty and that they are the new owners, Melody, and Dante freely wander into the old orphanage only to discover Ms. Mc (Alice Krige) who claims to still own the building. Having been there for years, Ms. Mc has one final orphan left. You can only guess who the orphan is. Meanwhile, the sole survivor of the original attack Sally (Olwen Fouéré), has become a Texas Ranger and has been searching for Leatherface in order to exact revenge.

With the central location of a sad ghost town, an intrusive bunch of financial neophytes, and four plucky main characters, we have ourselves a relatively interesting setup for more carnage. Alvarez and Sayagues made their mark with the brilliant retelling of EVIL DEAD (2013) and they return with another story featuring a central location, a trapped group of victims, and an unstoppable menace. Devlin does a fine enough job fleshing the idea out with a few noteworthy set-pieces and inventive kills. Director Garcia, however, has the unenviable task of making all of this have the same impact that Tobe Hooper’s film did in 1974. Well, that’s not going to happen. Gone are the grainy artifacts and yellow tones of the first film in favor of a sleeker, far more polished aesthetic. There is something missing in the pristine production values that can never touch the original barbarity of the original and in order to watch and enjoy this new iteration, you need to be okay with that.

This is easily the best return to the TCM universe and arguably the best sequel. We get back to some of what made the original so scary which was family in the strangest of places. I think I would have liked to see a bit more in the orphanage, perhaps a rabbit hole of insanity hidden somewhere that explained how Ms. Mc kept things under wraps. Yarkin and Fisher are a wonderful pair of siblings who are forced to go to battle with Leatherface but there are no moments that reach the bleak tones that we have seen before.

Circling back to Leatherface and his moment on the tour bus we know what he would do. He fires up the chainsaw and gets to work. Garcia, Devlin, and the cast do the same we are the bloodier for it.

7 out of 10