Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel Leatherface continues to be an…interesting…project. French filmmaking duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are taking a very different approach to the origin story of chainsaw-wielding villain Leatherface — much different from the pretty terrible Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Some of their choices have seemed a bit odd, but their latest casting decision is inarguably exciting: The Conjuring and Almost Human star Lili Taylor has joined the cast.

As THR notes in their report, Taylor has replaced genre actress Angela Bettis in Leatherface, her role described as “the mother to one of screen’s horror icons.” Either that description is a bit off, or it’s kind of a spoiler? From what we know of the prequel, the film centers on a quartet of violent teen boys who kidnap a nurse from a mental hospital and take her on a torturous joyride. The kids are pursued by a demented cop (Stephen Dorff) out for revenge, and the terrors witnessed and endured by one of the boys will drive him to become Leatherface.

The prequel sounds as though it’s set up like a mystery thriller, as we probably won’t know which boy eventually becomes Leatherface until the third act, and I imagine a few moments of blatant misdirection before Bustillo and Maury get to that point. But if Taylor is playing the mother of Leatherface, that might ruin the guessing game.

Leatherface sounds a little absurd, but I have the utmost confidence in Bustillo and Maury to deliver something bold and intense. The French duo gave us one of the best horror films of the last 10 years with Inside, and their follow-up projects — Among the Living and Livid — have been very compelling, if somewhat flawed. At the very least, Leatherface will be interesting.

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