Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Leatherface Blu-ray Movie Review

Days of hell.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 20, 2017

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.

Note: While the making of featurette included on this release as a supplement seems to suggest the creative staff wanted audience members to guess which of the characters "evolves" into the titular character, Leatherface is not particularly artful in keeping Leatherface's identity a secret (the back cover of this release just out and out identifies who he is). For those wanting to be "surprised", however, it's recommended that you skip down to the technical portions of the review, below, since the following summary, like the film, doesn't attempt to keep the villain's "real" identity hidden.

Because of the many variants in some aspects of the whole Sawyer family saga that occur throughout the ever expanding Texas Chain Saw Massacre universe, it’s probably best for longtime fans to forget everything they’ve known about Leatherface if they decide to take this particular version for a test drive. The film is in many ways severed (sorry) from its precursors, even if attempts have been made to sew (sorry) some elements together that supposedly help to link it to some of those foregoing films. In the making of featurette included on this Blu-ray release as a supplement, it’s mentioned how writer Seth M. Sherwood and co-directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo wanted to inject a hint of mystery into who exactly is going to turn out to be Leatherface, but if that was in fact their intent, it falls largely by the wayside since from the get go the film is obviously focused on (initially) young Jedediah Sawyer (Boris Kabakchief as a boy, Sam Strike as a young man). Jed is having a birthday celebration as the film opens, and his imperious mother Verna (Lili Taylor) wants to use the event to initiate Jed into the family tradition of vivisecting live humans with the Sawyer chainsaw, but Jed just isn’t quite up to that particular task at that particular moment, something that “disappoints” Verna.

Jed does provide an “assist” of sorts in the murder which sets the actual plot in motion, a killing of a young girl who turns out to be the daughter of local Texas Ranger Hal Hartman (Stephen Dorff). There is some obvious misdirection as the plot proceeds which is meant to probably make viewers wonder whether the “good guy” (a law enforcement type) is going to go over to the “dark side” and become Leatherface, but even this subterfuge, along with another not very well disguised conceit whereby the grown Jed is initially identified with an alternate name, does little to draw attention away from the fact that Jed (by this or any other name) is the center of the story.

The upshot of the murder of Hartman’s daughter is that Jed is taken from his family and placed in a mental institution, where, as an adult (under an initially different name), he’s among a group that escapes when Verna comes a-callin’ and wreaks havoc that leaves several employees slaughtered (were you expecting anything less?). The bulk of the central part of the story finds Jed and a group of other formerly institutionalized types wandering the countryside, occasionally engaging in murder sprees. Again, the film attempts to introduce any number of potential “suspects” who could eventually become Leatherface, but there’s no real suspense generated, and instead the film tends to whip up whatever energy it’s able to muster from the vignettes involving the killings.

If the central story at play in Leatherface is never very mysterious or in fact very surprising, the film is admittedly quite long on style and may in fact appeal to those who like their horror outings with a little flair in presentational aspects. Some with jaded senses of humor may find a comment in the making of featurette that the production crew was aiming for a Terrence Malick ambience (hence my joking “deck” underneath the film’s title, above), but there’s no denying that this is a surprisingly scenic and even “Arty” looking film at times. There’s an undeniable feeling of angst in several of the set pieces, including a lot of the mental institution material which plays like a slightly gonzo version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Performances are often typically hyperbolic, but Taylor in particular is rather interesting as the sort of Mother only a child could love (so to speak).

Leatherface Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

Leatherface Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Play Feature with Alternate Ending (1080p; 1:28:44) is for those who want to sit through the entire film in order to catch a couple of different minutes at the end (that's a bit of a joke - see below in Deleted Scenes).


• Behind the Bloody Mask: Making Leatherface (1080p; 13:24) is an okay EPK with some decent interviews and good behind the scenes footage.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 21:04) does contain the Alternate Ending (as well as an Alternate Opening and several other scenes), for those who don't want to sit through the entire film just to see a couple of different minutes.

Leatherface Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.