With fans looking forward to the latest installment in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, titled simply Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it’s also a great time to look back at past installments. The franchise has had a bumpy continuity to say the least, with some films outright contradicting the events of others. But it’s often considered that the original four films to have been released, specifically The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, are all part of one loose continuity. And while Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre is mostly focusing on the original film, producer Fede Alvarez has hinted that there’s still room for any of the other original sequels to have taken place. This means that the events of these films could once again be considered canon in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.
Producer Fede Alvarez revealed as much while speaking with the Boo Crew Podcast, via Bloody-Disgusting. He also went into detail regarding Leatherface and what happened to him in between the events of the original film and this upcoming sequel.
Here’s what he said:
“You see a photo of young Leatherface… an old picture from the late 70s,” he begins. “The logic for me is that Leatherface, after the crimes of the original movie, just ran away. [His new mother figure] took pity on him… saw that he was mentally challenged and scared and probably did some terrible things.”
He continued, then addressing the possibility of other Texas Chainsaw Massacre films still being canon:
“She took him in under her wing. Probably… I think…. a lot of the movies that happened after [the original] still happened. He probably escaped, ya know. He was in and out of that place for a long time. I think she probably gave him enough chances as movies [that] happened. And then it got to a point that he settled down. He just stayed there.”
Fede Alvarez also discusses one of the characters in the film that’s connected to Leatherface.
“It’s not his real mother,” Alvarez says about Alice Krige’s character. “I don’t think she likes the Sawyers. I think she’s a really good lady. She hasn’t been doing anything bad. Anything wrong. She doesn’t want him to kill.”
It’s worth noting that Fede Alvarez refers to the family as “the Sawyers,” a name which wasn’t given to them until The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. As such, it seems certain elements of the sequels will indeed be appearing in this new movie.
David Blue Garcia directed the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre based on a screenplay written by Chris Thomas Devlin.
The cast for the film includes Elsie Fisher, Sarah Yarkin, Mark Burnham, Moe Dunford, Alice Krige, Jacob Latimore, Nell Hudson, Jessica Allain, Sam Douglas, William Hope, and Jolyon Coy. Olwen Fouéré will play Sally Hardesty and Mark Burnham will play Leatherface. John Larroquette will reprise his role from the original as the film’s narrator.
Fans will be able to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre when it premieres on the Netflix streaming service on February 18, 2022.