Warning: Spoilers For Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022
Here’s why the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie should bring back fan favorite Chop Top. The original Texas Chain Saw Massacre from 1974 regularly tops lists of the greatest horror movies ever, with Tobe Hooper’s film being a claustrophobic, sweaty nightmare. Despite featuring a masked killer wielding a chainsaw who stalks a group of young friends, the movie doesn’t feel like a typical slasher in the way something like Friday The 13th does.
Despite this, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series has tried to apply this formula to its various sequels and reboots. Entries like 1990’s Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III or 2013’s legacy sequel Texas Chainsaw 3D feel like more typical gory slashers, while outings such as 1995’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation – featuring Matthew McConaughy and Renee Zellweger – are just plain bizarre, bringing in elements like the Illuminati and featuring no characters actually being killed by chainsaws. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 is the franchise’s latest outing, which only really acknowledges the events of the original, though it doesn’t discount the other films happening either.
Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 from 1986 brought the cannibalistic Sawyer clan back to screens after a decade, but instead of being an unrelenting horror movie, it was more of a dark comedy. It was also intensely gory, leading to the sequel’s distributors releasing it unrated, which impacted its box-office tally. The sequel may have disappointed viewers expecting something like the first movie, but it has garnered a cult following in the years since. The sequel also introduced Chop Top, played by The Devil’s Rejects‘ Bill Moseley and if the Texas Chainsaw Massacre – a series with a messy timeline – is to continue, here’s why Chop Top should return.
In contrast to his brother Leatherface, Chop Top is extremely verbal, with his most distinctive feature being the metal plate in his head. This was the result of a machete attack he survived during his time in Vietnam, and he famously heats a coat hanger and scratches at the skin around the plate so he can eat bits of his own flesh. The character apparently dies in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’s finale, though there were plans for him to return in early drafts of the third movie, and he also appeared in unreleased spinoff All American Massacre, where Moseley reprised the character.
Leatherface (who has a fittingly violent backstory) is obviously the icon of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, but he’s best used in small doses. Chop Top might not be as outwardly threatening, but he showed in his hammer attack in the second movie he can be just as vicious. Chop Top is also one of the most memorable characters from later sequels, despite only appearing in one movie, and there’s definitely room to explore the villain further, especially an older version. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 features Leatherface returning to the house from the original movie, suggesting members of the Sawyer clan could return in a later outing. If a direct sequel does happen, this could easily set up the return of Chop Top, who could inject some fresh life into the series. Plus Moseley appears very open to returning to the part, which is something that would make series devotees very happy.
