“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”
Ala the “Halloween” reboots, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” will pick up immediately after the events of Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 film, ignoring the franchise’s seven other installments. The “requel” follows a sister duo and their young friends as they head to the remote town of Harlow, Texas to start a new business, only to encounter an aged Leatherface and a vengeful Sally Hardesty. This could just be franchise schlock, but it marks Elsie Fisher’s first on-camera role since “Eighth Grade” and features a score by “Hereditary” composer Colin Stetson, so there are reasons to be optimistic. And even if “Texas Chainsaw” falls flat, it’s never a bad thing to have a well-made slasher easily accessible from your couch.
Release date: February 18 via Netflix.
“Watcher”
Director Chloe Okuno made one of the best shorts in the recent “V/H/S 94,” “Storm Drain,” about a news anchor, a rat-man hybrid, and a psycho cult. Now she’ll debut her first feature, “Watcher,” at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. With “It Follows” star Maika Monroe in the lead, this looks to be an extremely promising tale of one woman’s unraveling in the unfamiliar landscape of Romania.
Release date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then TBD.
“X”
At a secluded farmhouse in Texas, a film crew arrives to shoot an adult film and things get seedy and grisly. We haven’t seen “The House of the Devil” director Ti West make something for the big screen since 2016, so it’s very exciting to see him back with A24 clout. This also looks like it will be another film in his signature style, since it reunites him with his “The House of the Devil” and “The Innkeepers” cinematographer Eliot Rockett. The cast – Mia Goth, Kid Cudi, and Brittany Snow, to name a few – only sweetens the deal.
Release date: March 18 via A24, which also suggests a SXSW premiere a week earlier.
“You Won’t Be Alone”
In an isolated mountain village in 19th-century Macedonia, a young girl is taken from her mother and transformed into a witch by an ancient, shape-shifting spirit. In case the words “feral young witch” haven’t already sold you, perhaps Noomi Rapace as the lead will. This feature debut from director Goran Stolevski has already been snatched up by Focus, meaning hopefully lots of people will get to experience this poetic tale of humanity, disembowelment, and witchcraft.
Release date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then April 1 via Focus Features.