Just like almost every other horror movie of its sub-genre, "Leatherface" is a movie which concentrates on bringing as much gore and blood to the screen as possible, yet leaving the story and the characters rather thin and uninteresting. Practically from the beginning, "Leatherface" is all about the bloodshed, without ever allowing any real suspense to kick in because the movie never chooses the unforeseeable path, but instead teases its twists in such a predictable way that viewers shouldn't be surprised or particularly shocked anymore.
I have seen two previous movies of the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" franchise, including Tobe Hopper's original movie from 1974 as well as the 2003 version produced by Michael Bay. The original movie was a masterpiece of classic horror, whereas Bay's version (as much as I usually dislike any movie with Michael Bay's name attached to it) was able to stand on its own feet by introducing a more than chilling atmosphere and focusing on the suspense and the anticipation of the events to follow. In my personal opinion, horror movies should always be mostly about the suspense, especially if the story lacks complexity. In order for suspense to work, a film has to make its viewers care for its main characters, which simply didn't work at all in this addition to the franchise surrounding the character of Leatherface. None of them were particularly interesting in any regard, and aspects such as character development were neglected completely.
The cinematography was intriguing, though perhaps not as great as in the 2003 version which managed to stand out of its genre partly thanks to the visual aspects. If you compare "Leatherface" to the other movies of its franchise, it is quite obvious that it can't live up to possible expectations. Even if it shows the potential to rise above its limitations now and then, the movie remains shallow and follows the standard procedures of horror flicks. There is nothing bad about that; after all, if you like slasher movies, like to turn your brain off and just enjoy the film for what it is, you will have a good time with "Leatherface". It is not particularly groundbreaking, though that probably could not have been anyone's expectation anyway.
I have seen two previous movies of the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" franchise, including Tobe Hopper's original movie from 1974 as well as the 2003 version produced by Michael Bay. The original movie was a masterpiece of classic horror, whereas Bay's version (as much as I usually dislike any movie with Michael Bay's name attached to it) was able to stand on its own feet by introducing a more than chilling atmosphere and focusing on the suspense and the anticipation of the events to follow. In my personal opinion, horror movies should always be mostly about the suspense, especially if the story lacks complexity. In order for suspense to work, a film has to make its viewers care for its main characters, which simply didn't work at all in this addition to the franchise surrounding the character of Leatherface. None of them were particularly interesting in any regard, and aspects such as character development were neglected completely.
The cinematography was intriguing, though perhaps not as great as in the 2003 version which managed to stand out of its genre partly thanks to the visual aspects. If you compare "Leatherface" to the other movies of its franchise, it is quite obvious that it can't live up to possible expectations. Even if it shows the potential to rise above its limitations now and then, the movie remains shallow and follows the standard procedures of horror flicks. There is nothing bad about that; after all, if you like slasher movies, like to turn your brain off and just enjoy the film for what it is, you will have a good time with "Leatherface". It is not particularly groundbreaking, though that probably could not have been anyone's expectation anyway.