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Horror movies often get a bad rap in Catholic circles. Many in the Church believe that the genre glorifies evil and demeans human dignity, and for a lot of people, few films embody those problematic elements more than The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The name alone sounds like a sickening exercise in senseless violence, and when you sit down to watch the movie, it appears to live up to those gruesome expectations. To be fair, the film features very little on-screen blood or gore, but it so perfectly captures the essence of evil that it almost feels like it was made by the psychotic killers who inhabit the story.
However, despite that initial impression, I’d suggest that the movie actually holds a surprising amount of thematic depth behind its seemingly gratuitous brutality. This isn’t just evil for the sake of evil, so if we pay close attention to some key details, we’ll find that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has quite a bit more to say than your average slasher flick. In fact, we can even interpret it in a way that dovetails quite nicely with our Catholic faith, so let’s take a deep dive into this horror classic and see what important themes it hides just below the surface. A Meat-Loving Family To truly understand The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, we first have to understand something about Leatherface and his kin. Unlike most slasher villains, these psychos don’t just kill for the heck of it. Rather, they’re a family of slaughterhouse workers who’ve become a bit too obsessed with their chosen profession, so somewhere along the line, they started killing and eating people just like they kill and eat animals. The first hint of this important fact comes in the opening scene, when the protagonists unknowingly pick up one of Leatherface’s brothers as a hitchhiker. The guy proudly tells his newfound friends that his family has “always been in meat,” and he giddily shows them some pictures he took at the slaughterhouse. It’s clear that he absolutely adores this line of work, and when we get to the third act, we learn that the rest of his family shares that odd fascination as well. After Leatherface knocks off most of the main characters, only one of the original five is left: a young woman named Sally Hardesty. She manages to run away from the masked killer, but she can’t escape his family. Another one of Leatherface’s brothers kidnaps the woman and brings her back to their house, and when the siblings are all together, they decide to let their grandfather have this last kill. They explain that the old man used to work in a slaughterhouse, and in his day, he was the best killer in the place. His grandsons seem to almost worship the guy, so of course they want to see him practice his craft one more time. Fortunately, the old timer is too weak to get much force behind his blow, so Sally is able to escape her cruel imprisonment and get away with her life. Like I said before, that scene shows us that Leatherface’s entire family shares the hitchhiker’s love of slaughterhouse work, but it does more than just that. It literally puts Sally in the place of an animal, and that tells us in no uncertain terms that these maniacs see the poor woman (and, by extension, the rest of her friends) as nothing more than cattle. They apparently don’t think human beings have any more dignity than the cows they kill at the slaughterhouse, so since they love that place and that industry so much, they take their work one step further and revel in killing people as well. Slaughterhouse Kills Those two scenes bookend Leatherface’s murderous rampage, but they’re not the only times The Texas Chain Saw Massacre keys us into its deeper themes. If we take a closer look at the way our villain disposes of his other victims, we’ll see that the rest of the film also draws a parallel between these people and the animals killed every day to feed us. Despite what the movie’s title might lead you to believe, Leatherface only kills one person with a chainsaw. He kills two of his other victims by bashing them over the head with a hammer, and he butchers the other one by hanging her on a meathook and stuffing her in a freezer. Those are all brutal ways to die, but more importantly, those non-chainsaw deaths are all tied to (you guessed it!) slaughterhouse work. The meathook and the freezer are pretty easy to understand, but the hammer might require a bit of explanation. Earlier in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, when the five main characters are traveling in a van together, they have a conversation about slaughterhouses, and one of the friends explains how these places carry out their grisly work. He says they kill their animals with bolt guns, but in the old days, they used to just smash the animals over the head with a hammer. They also talk about these various methods with the hitchhiker they soon pick up, and perhaps most importantly of all, when the grandfather tries to kill Sally later on, he also uses a hammer. Once again, this final scene is our smoking gun in more ways than one. It cements the fact that hammers are associated with slaughterhouses, and it hammers home (no pun intended!) the point that this brutal form of execution is supposed to evoke the family’s favorite line of work. The Difference Humanity Makes Once we understand the deeper meaning behind all this seemingly senseless violence, it’s not hard to see what a Catholic interpretation of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre would look like. When we watch the film, we shouldn’t enjoy seeing Leatherface mow these characters down the way we enjoy, say, a superhero defeating a villain or an underdog football team clawing their way to the top. In fact, in a very real sense, we shouldn’t enjoy these scenes at all. Rather, we should be shocked and appalled by the cruel way this man demeans and dehumanizes his victims, and that visceral reaction contains an important lesson for us. It shows us that human beings possess a unique dignity far beyond that of any animal, so even though it’s permissible to use animals for things like food and medical experimentation (with certain limits, cf. CCC 2417), human beings have an inalienable right to life that can never be taken away. But notice, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre doesn’t simply tell us about human dignity the way a textbook or an ivory-tower philosophical argument might. Instead, the movie brings us face to face with this reality by letting us see it so brutally violated, and that hits us much harder than mere words ever could. It reaches into the depths of our souls and makes the sacredness of human life just about impossible to deny no matter what mental gymnastics we may try to employ, and that deeply emotional messaging elevates the film far beyond its shallow slasher peers.
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I’m a huge John Wick fan. Other than maybe Mission: Impossible, I think it’s the best pure action franchise around. These films haven’t let me down yet, so of course I’ve been dying to see the new spinoff, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. I was sure this movie would deliver all the mesmerizing action and fun world-building that have made the main series so successful, so when tickets went on sale, I booked a seat for opening night as soon as I got the chance.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina was directed by Len Wiseman, and it stars Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves. In the film, Eve Macarro, the titular ballerina, was raised by the Ruska Roma, the same family that trained John Wick. But surprisingly, she’s not an assassin. Rather, she’s a protector, so instead of being assigned targets to kill, she has to keep her targets from being killed. During one of her missions, Eve comes across a member of the organization that murdered her father many years ago, and that encounter enkindles a thirst for vengeance in the woman. She sets out to learn more about these people and find their leader, and…well, I’m sure you can figure out for yourself how the rest of the story plays out. I’m not going to lie, Ballerina isn’t going to win any awards for its screenplay. The story is as shallow as it sounds, and while there’s a tiny bit more substance here than you might expect, it’s only a bit. Nobody is going to see this movie for the plot, so if you’re looking for something that will challenge you intellectually and force you to think more deeply about everything you hold dear, you’re going to be pretty disappointed. To the surprise of no one, the real draw here is the action, and on that count, Ballerina absolutely shines. In typical John Wick fashion, we get everything from guns to hand-to-hand-combat to improvised weapons, and it’s all choreographed and executed to perfection. In fact, I’d even say there’s a real beauty to all this violence. There’s a reason why martial arts are called martial arts, and I’m not just talking about unarmed combat styles like judo and karate. Even in weapons-based systems like kendo and fencing, well-executed moves can be genuine wonders to behold, and like all the other films in this franchise, Ballerina puts that beauty on full display. That being said, even the best action is only as good as the cinematography that captures it. Western movies often chop their fights up with so many cuts you can’t really tell what’s going on, and when that happens, it can completely ruin what would’ve otherwise been a great experience. It’s the bane of this entire genre, but thankfully, Ballerina avoids that all-too-common pitfall. You can see every stab, kick, and throw in all its glory, so fans are definitely going to get their money’s worth. Along somewhat similar lines, the action here is also much more intelligent than you might be expecting. Female-centric action films often get criticized for unrealistically depicting women tossing around big, strong men like ragdolls, but this one takes a different approach. It understands that Eve will always be at a physical disadvantage in almost any fight, so it portrays her as a cunning, smart fighter who will do whatever it takes to get the upper hand. She’ll use anything she can as a weapon, and when all else fails, she has no qualms about fighting dirty. There are even a number of times when her male opponents overpower her and gain a temporary advantage, so she’s way more than just John Wick with two X chromosomes. Eve has a style all her own, complete with her own set of strengths and weaknesses, so seeing her practice her craft is a very different experience from seeing the Baba Yaga show why he’s the most feared assassin on the planet. Last but not least, I want to say a few words about some of the characters in Ballerina. Most obviously, we have to talk about Eve, the titular ballerina herself. She’s played by Ana de Armas, and this woman is wonderful in the role. Not only does she prove herself to be a genuine action star, but she also has that intangible “it” factor that makes her character incredibly likable and super easy to root for. To be fair, part of that comes from Eve’s tragic backstory, and some of it is connected to a little girl Eve has to protect, but most of it is de Armas’s great performance. Even without much help from the script, she still manages to make the ballerina feel like a real person rather than a generic cardboard cutout, and that injects the story with a sense of humanity that most lesser action flicks only wish they could achieve. Ballerina also features a handful of John Wick staples, like Winston (the manager of the Continental), his faithful concierge Charon, and John Wick himself. None of those side characters have huge roles in the movie (although John has some great action scenes!), but for fans of the franchise, they add a sense of familiarity that makes the whole experience go down that much more smoothly. At the end of the day, I can’t quite say that Ballerina is one of the best films of the year. It just doesn’t have enough moral and thematic substance to stand alongside movies like There’s Still Tomorrow, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and Bring Her Back. But the way I see it, that’s okay. Ballerina shines as a showcase for its gorgeous action, and with just enough storytelling substance to keep it afloat, fans of the genre are sure to eat this film up. Coming into 2025, Bring Her Back was one of my most anticipated films of the year. It was made by the Philippou brothers, the directing duo that burst onto the scene with the 2023 breakout hit Talk to Me, and if you’ve seen that movie, you know why I was so excited for the pair’s sophomore feature. Talk to Me is one of the best horror flicks of this millennium, so of course I couldn’t wait to see what the Philippous would do for an encore. I was sure the brothers would knock it out of the park once again, and now that I’ve finally seen Bring Her Back, I’m happy to report that it does not disappoint.
Bring Her Back was directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, and it stars Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, and Sally Hawkins. In the film, Andy and Piper are siblings who live with their father. They appear to lead a fairly typical suburban life, but their entire world gets turned upside down one day when they find their dad dead in the shower. Since the kids are both under eighteen, Andy and Piper have to go into foster care, and they end up in the home of Laura, a tender woman with a tragic past of her own. She lost her young daughter some time ago, and she currently houses a mute foster child named Oliver. At first, this seems like a perfect place for our teenage protagonists to work through their grief and trauma, but in typical horror fashion, Laura isn’t quite as loving as she seems. Not long after we first meet her, concerning cracks begin to appear in her warmhearted veneer, and it soon becomes clear that she’s harboring a grisly secret that just might cost Andy and Piper their lives. Before I say anything else, I have to let you know that Bring Her Back isn’t the kind of fun popcorn horror that casual fans typically expect from this genre. In fact, “fun” is just about the last word I’d use to describe it. Bring Her Back is grief horror in the vein of Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Dark and the Wicked, and just like those movies, this one will hit you like a ton of bricks. Instead of jump scares every few minutes and an endless stream of overused cliches, the film takes a more measured and atmospheric approach to its grim subject matter. It’s saturated with the kind of disturbing creepiness that seeps into your bones and stays with you long after the credits begin to roll, so even when nothing overtly horrific is happening on screen, the implications of what might be lying just beneath the surface are more than enough to send shivers down your spine. This is slow-burn horror at its finest, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Unlike some of its cinematic peers, Bring Her Back is more than mere insinuation and suggestion. When things go south for the characters, this movie gets very gory, and there were a number of scenes that made me literally squirm in my seat. It’s that gruesome, but perhaps surprisingly, the blood and guts are almost never gratuitous. Aside from a couple of brief shots, the carnage always serves a clear narrative and thematic purpose, so it feels like a natural part of the story rather than an inappropriate exercise in senseless violence. In a word, this film is the best of both worlds, but like all truly great horror, it doesn’t get by on its scares alone. It’s rooted in believable characters brought to life by amazing performances, so let’s talk a bit about the major players in Bring Her Back. First up, we have Sally Hawkins. She plays Laura, and if you’re familiar with her work, you won’t be surprised to hear that she’s fantastic in this role. From the moment you first meet the woman, you totally buy into her warm, affectionate demeanor, but you can’t help but think there’s something not quite right with her. She almost seems a bit too nice, and that’s largely due to Sally Hawkins’s subtly nuanced performance. You’ll feel a similar way about Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, the actors who play Andy and Piper, but without the sinister undertones. These two performers are just incredibly likable, so you can’t help but instantly fall in love with their characters. They ground Bring Her Back in a sense of genuine humanity, so when things start to go south for the siblings, you’ll naturally start rooting for them to make it out alive. Rounding out the main cast, we have Jonah Wren Phillips, the kid who plays Oliver. He doesn’t get to do much talking, but he doesn’t have to. He exudes a nearly tangible aura of creepiness just by standing still and staring into space, and no matter what Oliver does, Phillips never falters. He even nails it when he finally gets to show some real emotion, so I can’t wait to see where this kid’s career goes from here. Last but not least, I have to say a few words about the deeper themes of Bring Her Back. As I mentioned before, this is grief horror, but it’s a very specific kind of grief horror. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that it’s about the dangerous lengths people sometimes go to in order to ease the seemingly unbearable pain of losing a loved one, and as a Christian, I can’t help but think of St. Paul’s poignant words of encouragement on this very topic: “But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) Beneath all the blood, guts, and fantastical scares, Bring Her Back feels almost like an extended meditation on that ancient teaching. Granted, this is by no means a Christian movie, but it forms something like a photographic negative of the Christian attitude towards death. It shows us the horrors that can be brought on by unbelief in the face of our inevitable mortality, so in a somewhat paradoxical way, the film points to the good news of the Gospel by highlighting the “bad news” of our hopeless fate without God. Along with the great horror or the excellent characters, that deep resonance with our faith makes Bring Her Back one of the best movies of the year. It might even be better than the Philippous’ feature debut, but I need to let the film sink in a bit more before I can say that definitively. Either way, I think Bring Her Back is destined to become a genre classic, so if you enjoy this particular brand of terror, I highly recommend that you check it out. You won’t be disappointed. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
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