Leatherface (2017)

Leatherface is at its best when it treats the franchise like a grimy, sun-scorched nightmare you can’t quite wake up from—part road movie, part pressure-cooker thriller, all dread. Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo stage the violence with nasty, confident craft, but they also keep the engine running on suspense and shifting loyalties, so you’re not just waiting for the next splatter beat. Stephen Dorff brings a hard-edged, obsessive intensity that gives the pursuit real momentum, and the film’s grimy atmosphere feels tactile, like heat shimmering off asphalt and bad decisions closing in. Fair warning: it’s brutally graphic and mean-spirited, so it won’t convert anyone who dislikes harsh horror, but if you want a slicker, more story-driven Chainsaw entry with real bite, it’s a surprisingly gripping ride.

Leatherface (2017) is clearly trying to be a gritty, on-the-road origin story that turns the franchise’s iconic monster into a “made, not born” tragedy, with nasty violence and a grimy Texas atmosphere doing most of the heavy lifting. The problem is that it explains too much and ends up feeling like a familiar backroads-slasher remix rather than a necessary chapter, with a plot that’s more predictable than it wants to admit. If you love the idea of relentless brutality, sweaty chases, and mean-spirited set pieces, you’ll probably find enough to keep you watching, and Stephen Dorff brings some bite to the pursuit. But if you want the eerie, unknowable menace of classic Leatherface or a fresh spin that earns its existence, this one may feel like noisy filler with a forgettable aftertaste.