Review of Leatherface (2017) by Ryan H — 19 Oct 2017

With inconsistent pacing and consistently good acting, Leatherface does a significantly better of telling the origin of the mute, cannibalistic, chainsaw-wielding killer than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, but it's nowhere near as good as it could have been.

The pacing is pretty uneven, the editing could be better, and there's one scene in particular that is extremely disturbing and not nearly important enough to the story to be worth including. There are quite a few good scares, but the film as a whole isn't nearly as scary as it tries to be.

The acting, while not Oscar-worthy, is surprisingly good. In a story with no heroes, the cast does a very good job of blurring the line between good and bad. Stephen Dorff is great as a semi-corrupt Texas Ranger out for vengeance, Lili Taylor is just the right amount of crazy as Verna Sawyer, the psychotic mother of the family, and Sam Strike absolutely nails the titular character's slow descent into what he will become.

Probably the best part of the film is the mystery of which escaped teenager will become Leatherface, because all of the candidates are suspicious enough to keep you guessing until the reveal.