Much like the Halloween franchise, the continuity of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series is quite a mess, with timelines branching off in multiple directions. The new sequel that will be released through the Netflix streaming service tomorrow, February 18th, has been described as a “decades later” sequel to the original film (watch that one HERE) – but back in December, producer Fede Alvarez said it didn’t go out of its way to ignore the other sequels. He has now reiterated that during a conversation with our friends over at Bloody Disgusting, and even explained how he thinks the other sequels could have happened between the 1974 film and the new one.
In December, Alvarez told Entertainment Weekly,
When I say ‘direct sequel’ I wouldn’t say it skips everything. When movies do that, sometimes it feels a bit disrespectful to all the other films. Some people love Texas Chainsaw 2. I love a lot of things about that movie — it’s so wacky and of its time. But the rest is such a mess canon-wise. I think it’s up to you to decide when and how the events of the other movies happen.”
Talking with Bloody Disgusting, he said:
You see a photo of young Leatherface… an old picture from the late 70s. The logic for me is that Leatherface, after the crimes of the original movie, just ran away. [His new mother figure] took pity on him… saw that he was mentally challenged and scared and probably did some terrible things. She took him in under her wing. Probably… I think…. a lot of the movies that happened after [the original] still happened. He probably escaped, ya know. He was in and out of that place for a long time. I think she probably gave him enough chances as movies [that] happened. And then it got to a point that he settled down. He just stayed there.”
So a kind woman took Leatherface in sometime during the ’70s. He ran away in the ’80s, joined up with Drayton and Chop Top, got his guts chainsawed out, then went back to the kind woman. Ran away soon after to hang out with the Chainsaw III family. Went back to the woman’s place. Ran away and stayed with that bizarre bunch from The Next Generation… Then decided he was done running away. It’s quite a life he’s had. Even then you have to discredit the events of Texas Chainsaw 3D. And of course the remake and its prequel are still off on their own as well.
Scripted by Chris Thomas Devlin (based on a story by producers Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues), the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre has the following official synopsis:
After nearly 50 years of hiding, Leatherface returns to terrorize a group of idealistic young friends who accidentally disrupt his carefully shielded world in a remote Texas town.
Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her teenage sister Lila (Elsie Fisher), and their friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Nell Hudson), head to the remote town of Harlow, Texas to start an idealistic new business venture. But their dream soon turns into a waking nightmare when they accidentally disrupt the home of Leatherface, the deranged serial killer whose blood-soaked legacy continues to haunt the area’s residents — including Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré), the sole survivor of his infamous 1973 massacre who’s hell-bent on seeking revenge.
In addition to the actors mentioned above, the cast includes Moe Dunford, Jessica Allain, Sam Douglas, William Hope, Jolyon Coy, and Alice Krige, with Mark Burnham as genre icon Leatherface. We recently learned that John Larroquette, who narrated the opening text crawl of the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and was also heard in the remake and the remake’s prequel, has been brought back to narrate the opening of this movie as well.
To hear a sample of the score composed by Colin Stetson, click HERE. We also have an interview with Sarah Yarkin that you can check out at THIS LINK.