A teenage Leatherface escapes from a mental hospital with three other inmates, kidnapping a young nurse and taking her on a road trip from hell, while being pursued by a lawman out for revenge.

Now, I will never fault a movie for taking a left turn in an attempt to find an original idea. Screenwriter Seth M. Sherwood attempts to tell a jail break story of sorts in the new film Leatherface, available December 19th on Blu-Ray and available now on VOD. The problem here is that in finding a new thread to weave through the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise pulled this creative yarn so far off message that, save for a few obtuse references, it is barely recognizable as a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.

After having a hand in murdering the daughter of local sheriff Hal Hartman (Stephen Dorff), little leatherface is sent away to an asylum. Time passes and we next meet our angel-faced title character “Jackson” (Sam Strike) after he has had time to recover from his family’s cannabalistic ways. Lizzy (Vanessa Grasse) is a new nurse with a point to prove in treating all of the patients with respect and dignity.  The inmates take over the asylum and before you know it, Jackson, along with fellow inmates Bud (Sam Coleman), Clarice (Jessica Madsen), and Ike (James Bloor), are on the loose with Lizzy as a hostage. Their goal? Get back to the safety of the Sawyer farm where matriarch,Verna (Lili Taylor) will offer unconditional love and shelter.

Unfortunately, instead of getting us to the horrors of the Sawyer Farm to further explore what made Leatherface the homicidal maniac he is today, we get a chase movie. Think The Devil’s Rejects lite. This is a tragedy of a creative exercise, and not in a good way. Alexandre Bustillo, who just 10 years before helmed the visceral Inside with directing partner Julien Maury seems to focus more on the visuals of the gritty, dust-ladden farm and baking roads in the Texas sun than remembering to push a plot that we would care about.

The look of the film is on point, the performances are solid even, with Taylor standing front and center as the vengeful mama bear presiding over a failing homestead. Sadly, the McGuffin of a prison break edges into being the main focus and the exploration of the origins of one of the most iconic slashers in movie history, becomes an afterthought.