TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D (18, 92 mins) ** Starring Alexandra Daddario, Tremaine ‘Trey Songz’ Neverson, Tania Raymonde, Keram Malicki-Sanchez, Shaun Sipos, Dan Yeager. Director: John Luessenhop

In 1974, director Tobe Hooper gave birth to a memorable big screen bogeyman – Leatherface – with the release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The film fell foul of British censors and was banned for more than 20 years. Given the picture’s notoriety, a cult following was guaranteed.

Sequels, prequels and remakes have followed, but the original film remains a classic of the horror canon.

Director John Luessenhop attempts to reinvigorate the franchise with this lacklustre and gory instalment that begins directly after the events of the original.

Despite her mother’s warnings, Heather (Daddario) heads to her hometown to the mansion she inherited from a grandmother she never knew existed, with her boyfriend Ryan (Songz), best friend Nikki (Raymonde) and Nikki’s current squeeze, Carl (Malicki-Sanchez), in tow.

En route, they pick up a hunky hitchhiker called Darryl (Sipos), and they arrive in Newt, population 2,306, full of expectation.

Alas, the out-of-towners unwittingly stumble into a bloody battle for survival against hulking Leatherface (Yeager), who lives in the basement of Heather’s new home.

The film is a pointless addendum to the Leatherface mythology, essentially regurgitating the original film while simultaneously sowing the seeds of further sequels.

Some of the performances are embarrassingly wooden, while death sequences are predictable.

Aside from Daddario’s damsel in distress, the script doesn’t develop supporting characters before they are scythed in half.

Director Luessenhop makes almost no concessions to the 3D format, so if you’re compelled to watched toned midriffs spill glistening entrails, save your pennies and witness the carnage in traditional 2D.