He’s back, and bloodier than ever: Netflix has released the first full trailer for their Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel, and Leatherface has returned to sleepy, rural Texas to wreak havoc on a new generation of victims. Even nearly fifty years after originally terrorizing a group of innocent teenagers, the Sawyer family — or, at least one of them — is somehow still alive, kicking, and revving their weapon of choice.
Notably shortening “chainsaw” back to one word and dropping “the” from its title, the new sequel serves as a direct follow-up to the 1974 film, circumventing the franchise’s seven other sequels — including the darkly comic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, which gave audiences a whole host of new, terrifying family members. (And the cult metal band Cornbugs. Because of course Chop Top would have a band.)
Leatherface is, predictably, looking much older — or, rather, the face he’s wearing does. (Human skin, on a skeleton or as a mask, does not age well.) But he’s still just as menacing as ever, now played by Mark Burnham as a replacement for the late Gunnar Hansen, who possesses the same terrifying stature necessary for wielding chainsaws and cannibalizing innocent passerby.
Olwen Fouéré makes her debut as iconic final girl Sally Hardesty, replacing Marilyn Burns, who portrayed the character in the original 1974 film and passed away in 2014. (She is also, ironically, bringing the character back from the grave in a way, after Sally was mentioned as having died in 1990’s Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.) Also joining her are audiences’ first peeks at Sarah Yarkin and Elsie Fisher as Melody and Lila, two sisters traveling through Texas who get caught in Leatherface’s path. Texas Chainsaw is a complete one-eighty for Fisher, who previously rose to fame as the star of Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, but if the trailer is any indication, she’ll fit just fine into the canon of scream queens past and present.
Directed by David Blue Garcia, the film was shot in Bulgaria in 2020, and is produced by Don’t Breathe’s Fede Álvarez, a true horror magnate. Álvarez compared the tone of the new Texas Chainsaw to that of the original, calling it “hardcore” while also retaining the simplicity of its predecessor:
“We wanted to come up with a very simple premise [with] a powerful domino effect. Everything is set up in the right place — all you have to do is push the first domino and everything will happen effortlessly.”
The new sequel looks to be a worthy addition to the slasher canon, joining the likes of Michael Myers, Candyman, and Ghostface as they are gently rebooted for modern audiences, proving that no matter who you are, no matter how old…there’s no hiding from true terror.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre hits Netflix on February 18. Check out the all-new trailer below: