[Editorial] The Revival and Rebirth of the Final Girl in Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

This editorial contains spoilers so please do not read until you have watched the film!

In 1974 the world was shocked by what was depicted on-screen; something so unimaginable, so heinous and so depraved that it didn’t seem this film would ever become a classic within the film world. But Tobe Hooper’s film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre became one of the most notorious horror films ever released, becoming part of the the video nasties era here in the UK and being considered a top tier film when it comes to extremity in terror. 

Hooper’s film gave the audience something that could never be replicated - the ultimate portrayal of terror without the need for excessive gore or violence. Based very loosely upon real serial killer Ed Gein, the film follows five young friends on a road trip through Texas as they encounter the Sawyer family, who can easily be classed as one of the most memorable families in horror history. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is credited for giving us an iconic character that dominated every nightmare of every viewer in Leatherface. This monstrous creature is a man who slices, dices and rips the faces from his victims to wear their skin like a badge of armour. Yet there was another character who  won the hearts of everyone, and that was Sally Hardesty, a young, fun-loving and down-to-earth girl who wants nothing more than to spend time with her loved ones on their trip. 

Through her ordeal on screen, Sally faces off against one of horror’s most terrifying villains and becomes the final girl of the story, fighting against all the odds for survival. Her power and strength have since become symbolic and still stand the test of time, she is revered as one of the ultimate final girls, and loved dearly by so many of us. However, these final girls from the 70s, 80s and even 90s have had their time on screen, and perhaps it’s time for them to pass the baton on to the next generation and make way for the re-generation of the final girls, with new ones establishing themselves amongst the ranks. 

Cut to 2022 and Netflix’s  release of the latest instalment in the franchise, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are no rules rewritten with this film and the premise is broadly similar with five friends traveling through Texas to an abandoned town where they will build a new community for those who are simply seeking a new beginning. This set-up might feel strange to many, but considering the times we are in and the way younger generations are becoming more conscious about their actions and the world they live in, it seems fitting to have them look to create their future with their own hands. 

Melody (Sarah Yarkin) and Dante (Jacob Latimore) are the ‘founders’ of this new community, accompanied on their investor opening by Melody’s sister Lila (Elsie Fisher) and Dante’s girlfriend Ruth (Nell Hudson). From the offset this foursome are portrayed as pretentious, self-absorbed and ignorant of their surroundings - becoming outraged and upset by men who carry guns and trucks that pollute the air with diesel. However, they forget that they are the trespassers in a land that is typically conservative and always has been. From this moment forward it’s clear that the intentions of director David Blue Garcia and writer Fede Alvarez are to highlight that even those with good intentions can come across as arrogant when placed in a setting where they are not comfortable or have not done their homework. The film interestingly holds this tone throughout, referring to the fact that Gen Zs might be conscious of aspects such as gun laws, political correctness and sustainability. However, more times than not, their communication of these comes across as self-righteousness, especially to older generations that were born in a completely different time. 

That’s not to say there aren’t moments in the film when the stupidity of these young people doesn’t shine, with references to social media obsessed culture and a disregard for humanity towards others. Where the film really shines is bringing to life it’s female characters by making them feel tangible and resonating to younger audiences. There has been a lot of noise online regarding the film, with opinions feeling exceptionally divided. One such complaint concerns the stray from the original film and the treatment of Sally Hardesty who is revived for her final showdown with Leatherface, 50 years after she escaped from his clutches. 

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After waiting patiently for years to come face-to.face with the monster that killed her brother, boyfriend and friends, Sally will do anything to end the trauma once and for all. When an iconic final girl from history is destroyed at the hands of the perpetrator she combatted once and for all, it’s inevitable there will be a feeling of disappointment. Final girls are invincible and cannot be destroyed by their demon, but the reality is that in order to pave the way for the new final girls we must allow fiction to have its place and lay these wondrous women to peace. Eventually everyone dies and by allowing Sally to be killed, she metaphorically passes the baton on to Lila. With her final breath, cruelly and brutally taken from her by Leatherface, she hands her shotgun over to the young girl - demonstrating that it is now time for cinema to pass the trophy of final girl on to a younger, fresher and new generation of adolescents. 

Those of us who don’t fit into the Gen Z category might feel these scenes with a heavy heart, for one of our beloved characters has been abolished for eternity. What is remarkable though, is that the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre has created strong female characters in Lila and Melody, both who will become the final girls of the 21st century for young females across the globe. As much as we might like to hope that women under the age of 20 will always resonate with the original Sally Hardesty, the truth is that she is woman from another time and therefore the TikTokers of this world will never really be able to find themselves connected to a character who feels so far away from their reality. 

Lila has a past trauma that makes her fierce and undetermined when it comes to battling against Leatherface, and her sister Melody is an entrepreneurial go-getter that has high ambitions and won’t stop even when all the odds are against her. Together they are a force to be reckoned with, but just as we see with all slashers, there can only be one final girl. In previous times, many of the final girls  given to us were always drowned in purity, had a good girl image and didn’t do anything that would put a frown on their parents’ faces. The generations of today don’t buy into this bullshit - they talk about sex, they talk about drugs, they talk about the issues happening around the world, and most importantly they are aware. Lila is presented without the typical final girl tropes, instead being drawn in by bad boy, Ritcher (Moe Dunford), wanting to test out the machine gun, smoke a cheeky cigarette and as insinuated by her sister, partaking in regular sexual activities. Melody also inhabits characteristics that aren’t that typical for traditional women - she’s a young woman that is about to start her own business in the form of a town, did someone say #bossbitch? Both of these young female characters present the modern girls of today’s society, and that is why this reimagining of Hooper’s classic has a completely different feel to the original film. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a film that has been created to connect with horror fans that love audacious violence, brutal on-screen kills and enough satirical humour to know it’s taking the piss of itself, but it’s also more than that. It is a horror film that will connect with a Gen Z audience, that doesn’t rely solely on slow-burn pacing because let’s be honest, if your main source of entertainment comes from a social media platform where videos are short, snappy and bold, why do you want to watch a 2 hour long tiresome film when you grew up on quick content? Younger generations have been considered in the making of this film, and it feels exciting to think of young audiences that will get to experience this film as one of their first horror films. 

It revives one of horror’s most identified with final girls, and hands over that championship to the new final girls of horror, creating a rebirth that is essential to keeping the world of horror alive for new generations and audiences. We must look to embrace these new final girls, and accept that for us who are of an older generation they might not feel quite like the heroes we love, but for our sisters, daughters and even granddaughters, these are the final girls of horror that will shine a lantern and inspire the fight in younger generations to come. 

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