We certainly love our origin stories, don’t we?

After countless films in the ever-expanding Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, it was only a matter of time before we received a look into the creation of Leatherface, the infamous, skin-wearing, chainsaw wielding madman of the series. However, don’t confuse the recently released Leatherface with the OTHER origin tale, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

Leatherface mostly starts clean, allowing viewers a fresh look into the world of the Sawyer family that has terrorized Texas for years. Long-time fans of the franchise would do best to forget everything they ever knew about it, and go in with an open mind, because I’ll be damned if the Sawyer family history isn’t complicated.

One of the featurettes suggest that the team making the film wanted to keep audiences guessing as to who evolves into the titular character, but let’s be honest, the film isn’t actually subtle when it comes to that. Hell, even the back cover of the Blu-ray release gives that secret away. Regardless, the film opens on young Jed Sawyer’s birthday celebration, with his mother wanting to introduce him to the art, and family tradition, of vivisecting a live human. To her chagrin, he’s hesitant.

But that doesn’t stop him from ‘assisting’ in the death of young girl, which sets the plot in motion, and Jed to a mental institution. The film mostly centers on the adult Jed, breaking free of the institution and (along with a few new friends), going on a killing spree.

There isn’t much here that is surprising, or even new, to fans of horror. The plot is fairly predictive, but still enjoyable overall. And surprisingly, the film itself looks pretty damn good. Almost playing as an arty version of a horror film, the shots are gorgeous, and full of style.

Also included on the disc are about 20 minutes worth of deleted scenes, a halfway decent behind the scenes look, and the ability to watch the entire film, but with the alternate ending attached.

Overall, the film does a decent job of connecting some of the dots of the previous films, but really, how much more do we need to know about the chainsaw wielding maniac. Artsy at times, it’s definitely worth at least a watch.