Parents' Guide to Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

This is a decent reboot/sequel that's occasionally thoughtful, with some compulsory blood, gore, and horror convention to keep the superfans pleased. This version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is set nearly 50 years after the original movie took place, and the wrath of Leatherface is rekindled by well-intentioned twenty-something would-be capitalists, restauranteurs, and art gallery owners trying to revitalize Harlow, nearly abandoned due to the gruesome killings of the '70s becoming the stuff of true crime documentary fodder. There's some obvious humor and tension that always seems to happen when young city folk and their progressive values interact with the wary and more libertarian-minded locals in movies such as these, but the movie manages to convey a surprising amount of empathy expressed between characters on opposite sides of the sociopolitical spectrum. This is most notable in a scene between a gun-loving local mechanic and one of the lead characters, a teen survivor of a school shooting. This scene is likely to resonate for many viewers, at least as much as scenes of victims being sawed in half both vertically and horizontally.

There is also a very funny moment involving smartphones, and we'll leave it at that. Otherwise, as good as this movie can be at times, it remains mired in horror movie conventions and cliches. The ending, in particular, is disappointing in terms of riding on the tracks of a well-worn formula and seems to serve only as a way to provide a not-so-subtle hint that there's the possibility of a sequel. All that being said, if your primary interest is seeing a homicidal maniac wield a chainsaw and go on a killing spree, you could do worse.