Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) explained: Leatherface is back!

Leatherface is back! Streaming giant Netflix will be the exclusive home of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2022. It won’t be the first sequel in the storied franchise, but it looks like a back-to-basics approach and a direct sequel to the 1974 classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The slasher is co-written by Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues and directed by David Blue Garcia. Read on for what we know about the film and what we’ve learned from the first glimpse of the movie in the latest trailer.

Admittedly, the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre trailer doesn’t reveal a lot, but Netflix has shared some plot details.

A brief logline reads, “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.”

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A longer synopsis elaborates:

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.

The new film is thus tied directly to a legacy character — Sally — and recreates, to some degree, the basic structure of the original 1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In short, young outsiders come to town and accidentally stumble upon the Sawyer family home, where Leatherface waits.

What does the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre trailer reveal?

We get some very cryptic bits of information in the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre trailer.

More than anything, it sets a chilling tone. At first, we see old grainy footage of the Sawyer family home featured in the original 1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The flickering image is accompanied by the familiar score of the original 1974 film. The rhythmic, high-pitched violin scraping is deeply unsettling and an ode to the new film’s origins.

The camera moves through the Sawyer home, pausing on family portraits, as a banging sound reverberates throughout the building. A title card reads, “In 1974 a horror legend was born.” Then we see the source of the banging, as someone later revealed to be Leatherface breaks through a wall. “In 2022 the face of madness returns.”

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Hidden inside the wall is an old chainsaw. Leatherface removes it, and the carnage begins.

We get quick cuts to a young new cast in the house, seemingly hiding and running from their pursuer. Leatherface plunges his saw through the floor, slowly sawing his way towards a potential victim.

The trailer ends as he holds a human face mask (the old one he used to wear? A new one made from fresh victims?) up to the light, presumably ready to put it back on.

Hints, questions, and Easter eggs

One of the biggest question marks in this new trailer revolves around what Leatherface has been up to since 1973. Why was his chainsaw hidden away? Has he been on the up-and-up for these 50 years? Much like 2018’s Halloween, this will be a full series reset, ignoring sequels and starting with a fresh slate.

Leatherface has seemingly scratched his own face out in a family portrait, suggesting some kind of inner turmoil and shame. That detail, combined with the way he has hidden his preferred murder weapon behind drywall makes it unclear how he relates to his own past actions.

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Importantly, if he has turned his back on his old, violent ways, what has changed now? Why is he ready to dive back in?

The structure of the trailer makes it look like Leatherface is a kind of John Wick-like character who has renounced his old ways. John Wick’s return had a clear precipitating event, though — the dog left to him by his dead wife was killed by criminals who’d broken into his home.

What will be Leatherface’s reason for choosing violence once again?

When does the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre come out?

Texas Chainsaw Massacre will bow on Netflix early in the new year, on February 18, 2022.

It will be available to Netflix subscribers internationally.