You and I both know they will never stop making Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies; the fun is seeing the various spins on the setup. Whether it’s the black comedy of 1986’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, the novelty of seeing two Oscar winners saw the scenery in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, or the gonzo act of cinema that is Leatherface, in which two Frenchmen direct a British actor as Leatherface in the wilds of Bulgaria, the thing about this franchise is that the shrink wrap was fully removed a long time ago, and nothing is off the table. Do your thing, Cuz.
What I’m less on board with is acting like the 1974 original is anything less than a masterpiece. I’m on record; the National Film Registry is on record; Patton Oswalt is on record. No matter how many fakakta swings there have been since, you should not need me to tell you the value, merit, and importance of Tobe Hopper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
So it was a bit disconcerting to hear Obsession director Curry Barker, during a Total Film Q&A, offhandedly say that the original film “was really good for its time.”
Now, I get it: Barker, who’s been telling anyone who’ll listen that his inspiration for Obsession came from a “Monkey’s Paw” riff on The Simpsons, and not from the classic short story that the Simpsons episode was parodying, is prone to saying some wild stuff in interviews. And to be clear, I was and remain on board with young Barker’s hiring, as the secret sauce of the original film is, in a very real way, about young people confronting the uncaring, unknowable, inevitable maw of death. I don’t think old people and/or superfans are the ones to recapture that spark. Obsession shows a new, original voice in horror, and that’s always something to be celebrated.
And I get that a candid, spoken response in the moment might not authentically represent one’s feelings. But goddamn, man.
In the same sound bite, Young Master Barker throws some strays at the various Texas Chainsaw sequels and reboots, saying “I really think that the potential for that series has not been fully realized.” And, y’know, fair enough. It’s a messy canon! And I think a certain amount of confident hubris is called for when tackling a daunting institution of the genre like Texas Chainsaw. Slavish fanboyism is not what’s needed. On that front, I must say: Talk your shit, Curry! He also promises to deliver a “brutal” film “that has some heart to it.”
People can say “stop remaking stuff” but they won’t. The only thing up for debate is whether these new custodians will do something interesting, or unexpected, or at least fun. I found one or more of those things in most Texas Chainsaw sequels, so my bar is low, but I remain excited for Strange Darling’s J.T. Mollner’s televised take on the lore, and I’m excited for the fresh blood that Barker’s hiring by A24 represents.
Just watch your mouth, kid.
