Director Fede Álvarez has experience bringing a classic franchise back from the dead. In 2013 he brought a new version of Evil Dead to life and now he’s back with his next project Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Álvarez and his writing partner Rodo Sayagues set out to make a sequel to the 1974 classic horror film of the same name, directed by Tobe Hooper. Today fans got a first look at the Bulgaria shot film which was exclusively revealed by EW and, Netflix announced that the film will hit the streaming platform this Feb 18, 2022!
“It felt familiar somehow because it took us back to when I did Evil Dead,” says Álvarez. “Me and Rodo really wanted to make sure we don’t disappoint the fans, and we are [among them]. So it’s pretty hardcore. But at the same time it has the simplicity of that first film. 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.”
While Álvarez and Sayagues created the story, the film was directed by David Blue Garcia with a script penned by Chris Thomas Devlin. Starring in the film are Sarah Yarkin (Happy Death Day 2U), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Nell Hudson (“The Irregulars”), and Jacob Latimore (“The Chi”) as a group of friends who hope to get away from life in the city.
“Me and my business partner Dante [played by Latimore] are these young hip people that come to this ghost town in Texas and try to get other people to come there and make it the next hip place to be. Our fatal flaw is that we ignore the history that came before us,” Yarkin explained.
Says Álvarez, “I think the first movie really hit a nerve when portraying that culture clash between the countryside and the city. Back in the ’70s, the hippies were representing the youth of the city. This time, they’re more like millennial hipsters from Austin who are very entrepreneurial and have a dream of getting away from the city and back to the countryside. They’re trying to gentrify small-town America — and let’s just say they encounter some pushback.”
Most likely from the masked, saw-clad killer, Leatherface, who has scared fans since Hooper’s first installment. “It’s basically the same character, who is still alive,” Álvarez explains. “Our take on it was this guy probably disappeared after everything he’s done. You know, how do you catch a guy who has a mask? Once he removes the mask and runs away, it’s very easy for him to hide somewhere. This story will pick it up many, many years after the original story. He’s been in hiding for a long, long time, trying to be a good person. These people arriving in this town are going to awaken the giant.”
Even though Álvarez wanted to bring back an aging Leatherface, the search turned out to be much harder than he expected. Gunnar Hansen played Leatherface in the original film but he passed away in 2015.
“It was quite a search,” says Álvarez about finding his Leatherface, who is played by Mark Burnham. “Gunnar Hansen passed away. If Gunnar had been alive, I’m pretty sure he would have played [the part], so we were trying to find someone that could have been Gunnar today. We tried to find the best next thing. When [Burnham] showed up, we definitely felt like, ‘This is the guy.’ He had all the physicality we needed from him on camera. He has such an imposing figure.”
Álvarez and Sayagues began working on the new story for Legendary Pictures, they knew they wanted to keep the same raw shock, and dread that they felt when watching Hooper‘s original as a kid.
Director David Blue Garcia was just the person to give it that gritty feel of an indie film, while keeping it looking and feeling like Texas, where he is from. “I had been in talks with Legendary about a different movie, and they were familiar with my first movie, Tejano, which means ‘Texan’ in Spanish,” says Garcia. “I made it on a micro-budget and shot it in South Texas, where I was born and raised.”
Garcia says he remembers his first time watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, saying “I remember it vividly. I was in high school, and it was playing on cable. When Leatherface first appeared in the film, I was so shocked I turned off the TV, and then I had to turn it back on and watch it because I had to continue seeing this story that was so crazy. There was something about the first film that felt so raw, so real, almost like a documentary of something that could have actually happened.”
He says he also remembers how much Álvarez wanted to keep the spirit of the 1974 film and not rely on the use of CGI. “Fede hammered, ‘Practical, practical, practical,'” says the director. “He was really adamant about capturing as much in camera as possible, and that’s something we strove to achieve on set. It takes discipline and a bit more time and patience, but it really pays off in the end.”
Álvarez says he is ready and willing to make another Texas Chainsaw Massacre should this film do well. “I would never want to be too specific,” he says. “Any thoughts are kind of a spoiler. But I’m sure if there’s a chance to make another one, we’ll be ready.”
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is set to premiere on Netflix on February 18, 2022. You can read the full EW story here and check out the full image of Leatherface below. The trailer should be available soon so be sure to stay tuned to ScaryNerd and we will keep you updated on all things horror, sci-fi and more.
