5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.9 |
In Texas, years before the events of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in the early days of the infamous Sawyer family, the youngest child is sentenced to a mental hospital after a suspicious incident leaves the sheriffs’ daughter dead. Ten years later, he kidnaps a young nurse and escapes with 3 other inmates. Pursued by authorities including the deranged sheriff out to avenge his daughter’s death, the young Sawyer teen goes on a violent road trip from hell, molding him into the monster known now as Leatherface.
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor, Finn Jones, Nicole Andrews, Sam StrikeHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 35% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
With Christmas right around the corner as this review is being written, my hunch is a lot of people are thinking about a certain “origin story” as they prepare their celebrations. For those with a perhaps less overtly religious outlook on life (and/or horrifying death, as the case may be), Leatherface arrives during this ostensibly joyous season to detail how the infamous killer at the center of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre franchise got his start (so to speak). Fans who have followed the increasingly labyrinthine world of Leatherface and his victims from Tobe Hooper’s now legendary 1974 opus The Texas Chain Saw Massacre through seven (and reportedly still counting) subsequent films may remember that not all that long ago The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning came along to purportedly document the genesis of Leatherface. It’s kind of ironic, then, that Leatherface supposedly got its greenlight because it more or less eschewed the complexity of competing versions of at least some elements of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre saga in order to “start clean”, as it were, and give a “new, improved” spin to Leatherface’s ignominious origin tale.
Leatherface is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. While technical data on the shoot is sparse, the making of featurette looks like the Arri Alexa was utilized, and the presentation here is quite striking at times. Perhaps surprisingly, a lot of the film plays out in sun drenched locations, where a kind of slightly yellow-green tone suffuses the action, but where detail and fine detail levels are typically excellent. There's the expected shadowy material, including interiors of the Sawyer farm (and outbuildings), as well as some of the "treatment" rooms in the institution, and while detail levels understandably fall a bit in these moments, shadow definition is routinely good to very good. The gore in the film is intense if sporadic, and close-ups during these sequences can provide some stomach churning levels of fine detail.
Because so much of Leatherface takes place outside, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers some good immersion courtesy of nearly consistent use of ambient environmental sounds. There are some jolts of LFE and other sound effects that are obviously designed to provoke startle reactions, but which are effective despite their hokeyness. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and with smart prioritization throughout this problem free track.
Leatherface is a decent attempt to weave together perhaps "un-weave-able" elements that have dotted the many previous Texas Chain Saw Massacre films, but that attempt may have simply been a fool's errand (I mean, the guy has a mask and a chainsaw, what more do you really need to know about him?). The film is very strong on style even if substance gets left by the wayside, and so those who are in the sweet spot of the Venn diagram featuring Texas Chain Saw Massacre fans and habitues of Art House fare may well want to check Leatherface out, whatever its inherent deficiencies. Technical merits are strong for those considering a purchase.
2018
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1978
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2006
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