Leatherface is a 2017 American horror film directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, written by Seth M. Sherwood, and starring Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Grasse, Sam Strike, and Lili Taylor.

[5][6][7] Following the financial success of Texas Chainsaw 3D, a sequel went into development from director John Luessenhop for a planned shoot in Louisiana, but failed to receive the greenlight to move forward.

Maury and Bustillo signed on as directors after reading the screenplay, impressed with what they found to be a unique take on the long-running franchise.

Principal photography commenced in Bulgaria in May and June 2015, with locations and sets chosen for their resemblance to the Texas terrain and as homage to the series' previous films.

In 1955, couple Betty Hartman and Ted Hardesty are driving down a country road when they come across the seemingly wounded child Jedidiah Sawyer.

Ten years later at the Gorman House, where inmates are renamed to avoid their dangerous families, nurse Elizabeth White forms a bond with a boy named Jackson.

He opens fire on them and one of the bullets strikes Jackson's face, while another injures Elizabeth, causing the vehicle to careen off the side of the road.

Unable to recall events prior to his injury, Jedidiah begins to listen to Elizabeth's pleas, but kills her after she insults Verna.

In the house basement, Jedidiah crafts the faces of Hartman and Elizabeth into a mask, donning it in front of a mirror as he applies lipstick.

[29] Nubbins Sawyer, the older brother of Leatherface known simply as "The Hitchhiker" in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, is played by Dejan Angelov.

[29][33] Lorina Kamburova fills the role of Hal Hartman's daughter, whose death sets the plot into motion, while Boris Kabakchief plays Jedidiah Sawyer in his child years.

"[40] The script was approached as a story of identity, based on the statements given by Tobe Hooper and Gunnar Hansen on how the character Leatherface is entirely devoid of personality beyond the masks he wears and what his family commands him to do.

[10] Despite the film's explanatory premise, co-director Julien Maury found it important to maintain some of the lead character's mystique, approaching it as "moments from his young years" rather than a breakdown of his entire past.

Nearly every death sequence was altered and the ending, originally a mass murder involving Leatherface killing at least thirty people with his chainsaw, was changed, because they found it to be too over-the-top and out-of-character.

I always think of the locations of this film—the scrub brush filled badlands and remote roadside outposts as feeling like another world—a dark fairy tale land in some way.

Practical effects were primarily used to bring the killings, corpses, and gore to life; much of the budget was spent on building a lifelike cow carcass, intended to seem realistic.

The fictional Sawyer farm is a key location in Leatherface,[33] which was rebuilt to accurately resemble its appearance in the first Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

[51] The farm was originally going to be used sparingly, until Sherwood discussed the matter with directors Maury and Bustillo, who felt that if the iconic location was going to be built, it should be used to a larger extent.

The Sawyer homestead was adduced by cinematographer Antoine Sanier as being particularly rousing to shoot, because it was a real location that he felt was always partially dark or hidden in the previous films.

"[42] A film titled Leatherface received a direct-to-video release from Lightning Pictures in the United Kingdom in January 2017, featuring a masked chainsaw-brandishing figure on the home video cover.

The home media release was criticised by the press as an attempt to mislead consumers into believing it was the TCM prequel, with William Bibbiani scrutising on Blumhouse.com that "It's not uncommon for horror movies to pick up new titles to capitalize on various trends, but it goes beyond mockbusters, which try to trick you into thinking it's the real deal, and simply takes the title of an anticipated horror movie."

[1] It premiered at FrightFest 2017 on August 25,[2] followed by an exclusive release through the DirecTV satellite service on September 21, and wide distribution via video on demand and a limited theatrical run coinciding on October 20,[60][61][62] making a reported total of $1,476,843 at the worldwide box office.

Its consensus reads, "Leatherface may wear the skin of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel, but it proves gutless as an origin story and finds little invention in the horror tropes it's cannibalizing.

[67] Benedict Seal of Variety called Leatherface a mixed bag, but also felt that, in being driven more by story than gore, it was a well-made attempt to course correct the TCM franchise; he believed that nothing can truly live up to the original film.

The site suggested that the film's evasion of slasher movie tropes may have resulted in it not receiving a wide release, but still found it to be sufficiently entertaining.

[74] Dread Central's Staci Wilson was put off by the graphic content and plot holes in the film, but praised the acting and cinematography, giving a final verdict of 3/5 stars.

[75] Anton Bitel of SciFiNow appraised that, despite its excessive violence, it didn't come close to meeting the quality of horror of the first Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but added "If 'Nobody messes with our family' is the ultimate message, Maury and Bustillo certainly maintain a respectful continuity to reunite the old clan.

He went on to contrast the origin story given to that of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning as having been able to acknowledge the previous films without it feeling forced.

[77] V.O.D.zilla's Matthew Turner assigned a 6.2 rating, opining that Leatherface lacked the fear factor of the original, but was sustained by its gore, visual style, and acting.

In April 2015, producer Christa Campbell stated that the fate of the remaining films would largely depend on the financial reception and perceived fan reactions to the 2017 prequel.