Texas Chainsaw (2013) – Review

Where to watch Texas Chainsaw

1 Star

The man behind the camera on this one is John Luessenhop. While that name may not be household topical, he is a solid writer/director who has made good films in the past, after this excursion into genre pandering, I have no doubt he will one-day make good films again. Luessenhop continues his longstanding tradition of casting musicians in lead roles and this time out Trey Songz is the showcase. Following in the steps of Luessenhop vets Master P and Chris Brown, Trey Songz ranks somewhere higher than the former but not nearly as charismatic as the latter.

Acting as a direct sequel, as opposed to the previous two incarnations that proclaimed themselves reboots, this story picks up immediately after the events of the first film. The story then jumps 25 years ahead and awkwardly tries to shape itself into part of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre mythology. Any time further wasted on plot description, means that you have never seen a Chainsaw movie and this isn’t the place to start.

The cast is attractive but bland and Scott Eastwood’s entrance into the picture as a rain-soaked, sexy hitchhiker is just a reference to Brad Pitt’s similar first role. Unfortunately like every-other element in the movie, it’s just a reminder of other better movies. There could have been some campy fun here or at least a chance to fuse scare tactics from 1970-1980’s horror films with the torture porn gore of today’s films. Yet there is nothing except a direct sequel approach that feels like it was written in 1983. The only original or perhaps daring aspect is the inter-racial relationship of the lead characters, though to be fair the horror genre has always been color-blind.

Director: John Luessenhop
Stars: Alexandra Daddario, Trey Songz, Scott Eastwood, Tania Raymonde