Obsession Director Is Rebooting Texas Chainsaw Massacre... From a Reboot?

Just before the release of his feature film debut, Obsession, YouTuber-turned-filmmaker Curry Barker was announced as being attached to the latest iteration of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 

The film is being produced by the mighty A24 whose quality of horror output speaks for itself. Still, many were surprised that the high-profile project had been given to such a new voice in the industry. Those opinions quickly changed after audiences experienced Obsession, with the film set to be one of the most profitable horror movies in history. 

With the announcement made ahead of Obsession’s release, Barker’s Texas Chainsaw remake was a hot topic during the press tour. Unlike other filmmakers who might have been a little coy in sharing any details about their new production, Barker was far more open. Speaking with Phantasmag he shared that, as much as he loves Tobe Hooper’s original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, he has been more inspired by the 2003 remake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

What Is the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and How Will It Influence the New Reboot?

The early ‘00s horror movie landscape was overwhelmed with remakes of iconic classics, with Marcus Nispel’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre one of the early arrivals. A fairly faithful remake of the original ‘70s movie, the film found a group of college kids stumble into trouble after they pick-up a hysterical hitchhiker. Their attempt at finding help sees them cross paths with a disturbed family who are very keen to have them for dinner. 

Despite Nispel’s hard work and the presence of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s Tobe Hooper as producer, the remake was a financial success but it totally failed to land with critics. Currently sitting on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 37%, the general consensus from reviewers was that the film was “an unnecessary remake that's more gory and less scary than the original.” 

Hooper’s film has traumatised generation after generation, but it is interesting that despite its Video Nasty status, there isn’t a whole lot of blood and gore. Instead, Hooper shot and edited the film in such a way that a lot of the more gruesome elements were implied. 

However, because of the power of the mind to trick itself, many remember it as being far more graphic than it is. The same cannot be said of the remake, with Nispel keen to show as much as he could. With the ‘torture porn’ genre movement just around the corner, the director was evidently slightly ahead of the curve. In contrast to the critic score, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes sits at a slightly stronger 58%, and as horror remakes go, it really is one of the better efforts.

Curry Barker watched the remake first. In his interview with Phantasmag he shared, “I’ve seen the original multiple times, and I’m a huge fan of it as well — but just based on nostalgia, I think back to that [2003] movie and how it creeped me out as a kid.” 

It is this sensation that the director is hoping to tap into in his version, telling Phantasmag, “my hope would be to recapture the feeling that I felt as a kid for a modern horror audience”. 

Who Is Curry Barker, and What Does Obsession Tell Us About His Reboot?

Prior to the release of Obsession, Curry Barker was known for his work with Cooper Tomlinson on their YouTube channel, That’s a Bad Idea. On the platform the pair can be found starring in a variety of comedy skits alongside a range of short films.

It was Barker's longer length experimentation, Milk & Serial, that caught the eye of Obsession investors. Made for just $800, Milk & Serial is a found-footage nightmare that sees a birthday prank go very, very wrong.

For anyone that hasn’t already joined the Curry Barker hype train, Obsession is easily one of the best movies, horror or otherwise, of the year. The story sees a lovelorn man, Bear, make a wish for his co-worker, Nikki, to love him more than anyone in the world. The fallout of the wish is fantastically demented. 

More interestingly, Obsession is a film that can be enjoyed as a rollercoaster ride of intense discomfort, dark humour, and gore, but is also layered enough that audiences can delve into its commentary on coercive control, female autonomy, and toxic masculinity. All of this makes the prospect of a Curry Barker Texas Chainsaw film so exciting. 

Speaking with Gamesradar+ Barker has confirmed that he wants to go deeper than some of the other attempts at Texas Chainsaw have, saying: “I'm really excited to do a Texas Chainsaw Massacre that's not just about a guy chasing some people around with the chainsaw. [One] that has some heart to it, you know? Where you care about these characters, and you want to see them survive, but... is still brutal." It appears that Barker’s iteration won’t feature characters that are merely cannon-fodder for Leatherface, which already puts it a step above several of its predecessors. 

During the Gamesradar+ interview Barker was quick to clarify that he won’t completely rewrite the playbook, adding: "I want to do something that's different, but not stray too far from what we know… there's some really messed-up stuff happening at that farm. It's untapped." 

Finally, Barker affirmed that, despite his Texas Chainsaw set to be the tenth in the franchise, he believes there are plenty of possibilities for the future. "Seriously, I really think that the potential for that series has not been fully realised,” he said. “I actually feel like a lot of the remakes went the complete opposite direction to where it should have gone.”

Considering the levels of gore and violence in Obsession, this is one aspect that will almost certainly be present in Barker’s forthcoming film. There is one particularly visceral Obsession scene that confirms the young director as the right person for the job, and undoubtedly showcases Barker’s affinity for Marcus Nipel’s effort.

What to Watch Before the New Texas Chainsaw Massacre Reboot

Before Curry Barker gets to work on his Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot, the director also has Blumhouse horror comedy Anything But Ghosts to come, which stars both Barker and Cooper Tomlinson alongside Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas-Howard. 

Barker shared in an Interview Magazine discussion with fellow horror director Zach Cregger that the movie is already wrapped and, “it’s about two ghost hunter con artists that tell people they’re cleansing the spirits in their house, but they’re basically glorified magicians. They’re just really good at putting on a show.” Although not yet released, watching Anything But Ghosts prior to his Texas Chainsaw will give an indication whether Obsession is a fluke or not. 

Those truly dedicated to the franchise should do a deep-dive revisit of the entire Texas Chainsaw franchise, too. For the more casual, time-starved viewer, watching the original Tobe Hooper classic, Marcus Nipel’s remake, and perhaps the most recent Netflix version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre presents a more streamlined marathon.