Even though we are still wondering if he could do it again, James Cameron opened the public’s imagination when Avatar showed that 3.D. could be a lucrative novelty. Although speculatively 3.D. T.V.s were in the works, but if you want a catalyst, you need to look no further than Avatar. For lighting the audience’s imagination. If you wanted buts in seats, you could augment any move to take advantage of this new technology, and a lot of horror franchises did. In 2013, during the height of this craze, the legend of Leatherface was reborn in a terrifying new dimension, in Texas Chainsaw 3D.

Almost immediately after the events of 1974, a ragtag group of vigilantes burns down the Sawyer clan and their iconic home. All that survives is a crying baby, quickly adopted into the family of the vigilantes. Many years later, Heather learns of her adoption, defies her ‘parents’ warnings and heads to Newt to check out her inheritance, Texas to learn more about her past. Bringing along her chums to see her new property, Heather picks up a handsome hitchhiker along the way, who may have ulterior motives. As Heather explores her new estate and tries to piece together her heritage, she will find that darkness may lie on secluded branches of her family tree, hidden deep in her recently inherited estate.

Let’s start things off with the change from Platinum Dunes to Millennium Films once again the continuity is put into a reboot with 3D following straight after the first one, ignoring the original sequels and the Platinum Dunes remakes. Despite this, callbacks are constant, but that’s certainly to be expected when entering a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel. New ideas do exist in this technical reboot. Heather is in a fun position for a Texas Chainsaw protagonist, with the classic dilemma of wanting to know about herself, but her adoptive parents wanting to shield her from her former family’s dangerous elements. Future True Detective star Alexandra Daddario is a fine choice as Heather and is yet another star who got her earliest because of Leatherface. Fans of the franchise might also welcome the return of Marilyn Burns, only this time on the other side of the Sawyer clan.

Being a 3.D. film, Texas Chainsaw does a lot to evoke the gimmick, but if you’re watching this in the future without the comfort of a 3.D. T.V. You’ll still be able to enjoy the vast majority of the film’s entertaining offerings, read vicious slashing. A certain iconic line delivery and the focus more on the slasher elements do a lot to conjure up memories of the Next Generation, only without the higher supposed purpose of the killings. However, if you just want a simple slasher, with a couple of jump-scares, and a familiar foe, Texas Chainsaw is a copacetic choice.

While all the juicy social commentary has taken a back seat for the more conventional slasher, Texas Chainsaw 3D might seem like a conventional reboot of the time. It fully embraces its entertainment potential around the last 10 minutes. As such, it earns its status much like The Next Generation as a film that can be enjoyed both ironically and a fine slasher film amongst some hefty contemporaries. The film deserves more than its memetic reputation, and appearances from characters new and old might convince you that some family secrets are worth revealing.

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