Anatomy of a Revival
Back in March, Deadline revealed that the intellectual property of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was officially back on the market. Verve– the agency holding the rights since 2017- has been quietly seeking creatives to lead what it’s calling a “multimedia strategy” for the franchise. Translation: not just films, but games, series, comics, and more.
The franchise’s origin is almost as grimy as the film itself. Directed by Tobe Hooper and co-written with Kim Henkel, the original 1974 film was a guerrilla effort made for $140,000 in suffocating Texas heat, starring unknown actors, and produced by Exurbia Films (Pat Cassidy, Ian Henkel, Kim Henkel). It was distributed by Bryanston Distributing Company- better known for launching the X-rated ‘Deep Throat’. ‘Chainsaw’ made $31 million at the box office, but its creators famously saw almost none of it.
New Line Cinema acquired distribution rights in 1983 and oversaw the franchise’s uneasy expansion: nine films, two games, a comic book series, and a novel. But despite its volume, ‘Chainsaw’ has rarely found its footing again. Most sequels ignored the texture that made the original iconic: its sweat-soaked brutality, its documentary realism, its sheer nerve.
Roger Ebert called the original film “as violent and gruesome and blood-soaked as the title promises.” Fifty years later, it’s not just a horror classic- it’s a national archive item. In 2024, the Library of Congress inducted it into the National Film Registry for codifying the tropes that would define slashers for decades: the splatter, the gore, and most notably, the “final girl.”
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Nine Lives, No Survivors
In a post- ‘Scream’ and ‘Halloween’ world, it’s more surprising than ever that ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ hasn’t broken through with a modern legacy sequel. Horror franchises are thriving, especially those with decades of name recognition. But ‘Chainsaw’ hasn’t been able to capitalize.
Just look at the box office:
‘Scream’ (2022): $137M on a $24M budget
‘Scream VI’ (2023): $169M on $35M
‘Halloween’ (2018): $259M on a $10M budget
‘Evil Dead Rise’ (2023): $147M worldwide on just $15M
Meanwhile, ‘Texas Chainsaw’ remains in the wings. Hugely recognizable, frequently rebooted, but never reignited. The brand has been worn down by diminishing returns and entries that felt more generic than guttural.
However, interest is building.
‘It’ director Andy Muschietti has been brought up. JT Mollner and producer Roy Lee, riding high from their cult breakout ‘Strange Darling’ (a 96% Rotten Tomatoes thriller that grossed $3 million on a whisper budget), are said to be developing a take. Glen Powell has expressed interest in reading the script if it gets written. Lionsgate, A24, and Neon are all reportedly watching closely.
Neon is particularly well-positioned, having established a horror pedigree with Oz Perkins (‘Longlegs’, ‘The Monkey’, the upcoming ‘Keeper’). And that opens the door to something more stylized, more surreal- more auteur-driven.
There were many filmmakers we were sad to not see on that list. For instance, Texas-born ‘Desperado’ and ‘Spy Kids’ writer-director Robert Rodriguez has yet to throw any of his various hats (literal and otherwise) into the ring.
However, Taylor Sheridan is also circling, though reportedly in a producer-only role. He is a Texas-born storyteller with a flair for moral rot and masculine decay with the seminal series he co-created, ‘Yellowstone’, Sheridan’s interest is no surprise.
Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions has entered the chat as well, eyeing the IP from a producing perspective- potentially setting the stage for a prestige-studio-backed reinvention.
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Leatherface: A Modern American Monster
If ‘Deliverance’ (1972) exposed the anxieties of rural barbarism, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ crystallized it into folklore. Leatherface isn’t just another slasher- he’s a monolith of terror.
Everything about him is engineered to disturb. His mask, stitched from human skin, evokes both a scarecrow and a Ku Klux Klan hood- two images specifically designed to terrorize. Only this time, the cloth is flesh. Leatherface is an archetypal antagonist in the purest sense: hulking, silent, and draped in symbols of fear. His garb isn’t just unsettling- it’s iconic, a visual scream.
And then there’s the weapon. A chainsaw: part firearm in its mechanical roar, part axe in its capacity for prolonged, agonizing damage.
He’s the prototype for the modern horror killer: masked, hulking, mute. Jason, Michael, the rest- they all follow his silhouette. But while those figures became pop icons, Leatherface remains grotesque, unmarketable, real. That’s part of what’s held the franchise back- and what also makes it so ripe for a return.
But how does Leatherface exist in a post-‘Joker’ world? In an industry obsessed with origin stories, trauma arcs, and villain-as-protagonist narratives, what happens to a character who was never meant to be understood? Who wears not a metaphorical mask, but a literal, flayed one?
To revive ‘Chainsaw’ is to embrace horror in its most unrelenting form– monstrous, loud, political, and disgusting.
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Bloodlines: Ed Gein, the Man Behind the Masks
Also known as “the Butcher of Plainfield” or “the Plainfield Ghoul,” Ed Gein was a murderer and body snatcher whose crimes haunted rural Wisconsin from 1946 to 1957. After the death of his domineering mother, Gein descended into a solitary, delusional state- his madness manifesting in grotesque acts of exhumation and mutilation that paved the way for the horror genre.
Inside his home, police discovered a tableau of human remains: skulls used as bowls, furniture upholstered in skin, decapitated heads, bones, and a wardrobe of masks and clothing crafted from the flesh of women. Gein wore these creations not merely for shock value, but as a means of becoming his mother- his crimes serving as a grotesque embodiment of, and fuel for, the continued relevance of Freudian theory.
Because of their sheer horror, Gein’s acts have become a morbid wellspring for genre creators– arguably inspiring more cinematic villains than any other real-world killer. It started with Norman Bates in ‘Psycho’, and continued with Ezra Cobb in ‘Deranged’, Leatherface in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, and Buffalo Bill in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, whose infamous “woman suit” is a direct echo of Gein’s.
Rob Zombie’s Firefly films– ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ and ‘The Devil’s Rejects’- also carry his influence, particularly in Otis B. Driftwood (Bill Moseley), a sadistic necrophiliac who sculpts freak-show art from his victims’ remains. Otis, like Gein, wears human skin not as disguise, but as performance.
There have been two direct biopics directly titled ‘Ed Gein’, but his presence is everywhere in horror. If there is such a thing as an American monster blueprint, it’s Gein.
By Joseph Tralongo
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc.
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Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.
Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.
