There are some problems with this film such as how easily Sally Hardesty died. There were also some things the film did well such as Lila. The character is one of the few given a backstory and has a very satisfying character arc. It is Lila that I want to focus on today.
Not too much is known of Lila before the events of the film. One deeply traumatizing event she went through was a shooting at Stonebrook High. Many friends and people she knew died and the memories haven't left her. During the day she'll sometimes have flashbacks to the shooting. Specifically to being alive while bloody corpses are all around her.
I'm not expecting my slasher movies to be grounded in reality. Especially when said slasher is yet another sequel to a famous slasher film. Yet the film shows restraint by not having Lila be in a pivotal role to stop the shooting and failing. It's much more realistic for her to just have been in the wrong place in the wrong time. It probably makes her more relatable to a majority of younger viewers. Because, yeah, school shootings in the USA are still a big problem.
One of many parts of Lila's backstory that isn't really explained is about her friends. Early on in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Lila says both that she doesn't want to move away from her friends and also that her friends died in the shooting. Until a sequel confirms what she means, I have two theories.
The first is that not all of Lila's friends died in the shooting. To me it doesn't seem likely that all of her friends just happened to die in the same shooting. Though this is a movie and things can be done for dramatic purposes that wouldn't normally happen in real life.
The second theory is that all of her friends died in the shooting. So why tell Melody, her sister, that she doesn't want to leave her friends behind? Lila made new friends after the school shooting. Most likely other survivors that would be able to relate to what she is going through.
Whatever the truth may be, Lila felt burdened with everyone's expectations for her. All she wanted to do was live even though she felt lost. But everyone thought that she needed to do something special with her life. They thought Lila being a survivor was proof that she was meant for much more.
Lila doesn't want to move. She wants to stay close to her friends in either a literal or metaphorical sense. But her sister, Melody, forces her to go to Harlow, Texas. This due to the fact that Melody and her friends want to renovate the deserted town to become an oasis in a chaotic world. Though that's really just a lie they tell themselves as they don't care about the history of the place. All they care about is that they do something to make themselves feel better.
The people Lila is traveling with don't ever interact with her. They do their own thing in Harlow while she is left to wander. The one exception is Melody who is very outspoken against guns. She loathes anyone who has a gun and thinks they aren't to be trusted. This seems to be an overreaction to her sister's trauma.
In the beginning of Texas Chainsaw Massacre viewers are shown this person who is a Texan. He is outspoken and likes guns. For some reason Melody and gang don't recognize him but that is a rant for a different post.
Anyways...the man is Richter and he bounds with Lila in Harlow. Unlike many people, he treats Lila with respect. He doesn't mock her for being afraid of guns and listens as the young woman talks about the school shooting. While Melody doesn't like Lila smoking, Richter doesn't stop her.
Yet even though Richter is being a positive influence in Lila's life, Melody pulls her away from him. The older sister seems to be more concerned with being friends with a problematic person than her sister's mental health.
Lila and Melody's relationship has been strained for awhile. Lila just wants to live while Melody strives to shape the world to her image. But once Leatherface attacks, the two sisters grow closer than ever before. Both do their best to help the other survive even when doing so puts their own life at risk.
In another storyline in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Sally Hardesty finds out that Leatherface is back and decides to kill him once and for all. It turns out that after she survived the events of the first film, the need for revenge gnawed at her very being until it's the only thing she cares about. Because she is in such a demented state, Sally doesn't treat the sisters with any real respect.
Instead of getting Lila and Melody to safety, Sally locks them in the backseat of her vehicle. Sally does this as she believes doing so will draw Leatherface's attention. So while Lila is in the backseat she's able to talk to Melody about her depression.
It turns out that Lila thinks Leatherface is her punishment for surviving the school shooting. This is most likely a symptom of survivor's guilt.
Luckily Lila has two women who offer her wise words of advice. After letting the sisters out of her vehicle and being beaten by Leatherface, Sally tells Lila something important. Now one of the few things I didn't like about this film was how easily Sally was beaten. I figured she would die in this installment, but thought the showdown with Leatherface would be bigger especially with all the buildup.
Sally says that Lila needs to go after Leatherface or else the need for vengeance will consume her. The older woman knows that she wasted her entire life because of her encounter with a cannibalistic serial killer. She doesn't want that same fate to befall Lila. Sally does have a reason to worry as the younger woman already is wasting away due to PTSD. It could be that if Lila runs away that her last bit of sanity could wither away.
Though Sally's advice could merely be the woman trying to use Lila as a proxy for her vengeance.
Melody throughout the movie has acted as if it's her job to protect Lila. This in turn has made it seem like she does not trust Lila to make her own decisions. It is Melody who decides that Lila needs to move to Harlow. If her response to Richter is anything to go by, Melody also tries to keep Lila away from certain people.
Yet when Melody is put in a position where she has to be left behind, she tells Lila that the younger sister is strong. Melody admits that Lila doesn't need her to survive. That whatever happens, Lila has it in her to survive without Melody.
Lila does her best to fight Leatherface alone and does a fine job at it. When she needs to use a gun, she doesn't hesitate. I agree with people who say the movie doesn't do a good job at clarifying a position on guns and wish Lila's ability to use a gun was explored more. As is, I think this shows that guns aren't inherently evil and are necessary in certain instances. The school shooting survivor is able to understand that it's use a gun or die and she now wants to live.
But a will to live isn't enough. Just when Lila thinks she's about to die, Melody appears and helps defeat Leatherface. Or at least that's what would have happened if he wasn't immortal in the movie.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre seems just about to end as Lila and Melody walk to their car in the morning sun. Lila has faced death again and now is able to feel joy again. Sure there is a lot of work left to do as people don't recover quickly like that, but at least she has her sister. Everything seems perfect as they have their self-driving car leave Harlow.
Now in horror movies it's never a safe bet to breathe a sigh of relief until after the credits end. This due to a final gut punch being pulled once viewers think everything is safe. But if you're not expecting anything to happen, you'll be unprepared when Leatherface pulls Melody out of the car and cuts off her head.
The ending appears to be an homage to the original film. Leatherface spins around with Melody's head as Lila screams while reaching out through the sunroof.
So where does Lila go from here? Unless a sequel comes around, Sally's life is the only clue we have. Because she fled from Leatherface, she was always haunted by the memory of him. The need to kill him for emotional relief consumed her entire life.
So Lila may have survived Leatherface's reign of terror, but the hardest battle is still ahead of her. She will have to battle each and every day to live a life devoid of the monster. She will have to fight to do something with her life other than seek revenge.
Lila's hard future isn't purely a result from her encounter with Leatherface. She survived a school shooting and suffered survivor's guilt because of it. Her response to encountering another massacre was that Death had finally come for her. In short, her hold on sanity was starting to slip.
If you add the fact she saw more people die in Harlow, it's doubtful she'll be able to live a normal life. The memory of Leatherface will haunt her and she'll think that killing him will end the pain. That giving up everything for revenge will be a life well spent.
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