The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995)

Truly Dreadful Film

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Ok look I know it's bad, I do. I'm not saying that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is a great film. All I'm saying is that it's a guilty pleasure of mine... like I had a lot of fun here! To me, this is just one of those films where you know it's bad while you're watching it, but you're just never bored and you're having fun. You got two leads who were very young at the time, who would later become Oscar winning A list actors.... that's pretty shocking to see in a film like this lol. I loved Renee Zellweger here, I actually think she and Matthew are the only good actors here, the rest are pretty laughable. But ya know this film really doesn't take itself very seriously at all, so it's fun to laugh at the atrocious acting, mainly given by the actress that plays Heather. Matthew McConaughey is absolutely bonkers here, like sometimes he's just crazy to be crazy. That's one of the many reasons this film is never boring... it's entertaining as hell to watch Matthew play this crazy over the top character. I had fun with the chainsaw chase scenes and actually did get kinda tense while Leatherface was chasing Jenny. I have absolutely no clue why Leatherface is a transvestite in this film, that's just one of the weird things they put in here, like the mechanical leg and the weird government thing. But overall, I think this film knows what it is and it just goes completely off the rails crazy. It's a guilty pleasure for me, I'm not saying this film is good, but I can't deny that I did have fun watching it.

In a long line of sequels to the cult classic 1974 slasher film by the late Tobe Hooper, this has to be one of the worst of the bunch. To director Kim Henkel's credit, the aim was to connect to the original film which is admirable though the effort ultimately falls flat on its face.Following the franchise's cliché of young teens getting lost only to wind up being victims of the chainsaw wielding Leatherface (played here by Robert Jacks instead of original actor Gunnar Hansson), the real villain is the iconic maniac's deranged brother, Vilmer, which isn't a bad move. Riddled with the typical antics of the dumb teens lost in the woods who are then picked off just makes you want the film to end as quickly as possible.In one of her earliest roles is future Oscar winner Renee Zellweger as the virginal heroine, Jenny. Zellweger hits the traditional scream queen requirements with lots of screaming and desperate running from the bad guys and of course surviving in the long run. However there is little to care about when the actress says such cliché lines as "why are you doing this?" to "please don't kill me" even though she is the final girl and is meant to get away. Jenny's best quality is that she isn't quite as dumb as her friends who quickly bit the bullet within twenty to thirty minutes of each other, but of course Jenny stupidly ends up falling into a trap set by the villains and flimsily tries to escape.The film's sole bright spot has to the absolutely outlandish and utterly deranged performance of future Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey as the psychotic Vilmer. The native Texan's initial appearance is abrupt and unsettling as we don't know what will happen, but when McConaughey subtly starts making threats it's clear there is something wrong with him. Even the actor's laughter is hauntingly melodic and deeply frightening as he first chases one of the teens with his truck and then effortlessly runs down the teen. Vilmer becomes even more psychotic once he and his crazed pack get their paws on Renee Zellweger's Jenny as Vilmer terrorizes the teen in horrifying ways from his disturbing hits on the pretty blonde, to his cannibalistic attack on ill-fated Heather and then his deranged ramblings. McConaughey switches from a caged tiger waiting to explode to going ballistic within a matter of seconds where he hollers, turns animalistic with utter cruelty and displays a sickening charm putting the viewer on edge, feeling defiled as the actor commands the screen.

This extremely erratic remake/sequel tries to follow the template of the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", nevertheless twisting it into a bizarre modern blend of dark comedy and tasteless antics. Its the usual story of high school prom night turned bad as the typical airhead girlfriend, moron boyfriend and likable nerdy girl (Renee Zellweger) fall victim to a rural Texas dysfunctional family led by madman (Mathew McConaughey). If you've seen the previous "Chainsaw" films, then you should know what to expect, but this comes off so eccentric, that its impossible to take seriously. Mathew McConaughey tries way too hard to be insane as the maniacal Vilmer, and Renee Zellweger tries way to hard to be scared as the female lead. The rest of the characters are either mindless fodder or laughable afterthoughts such as Tyler Cone as Barry who's every line in the film is a literary quote, and Leatherface in drag and constantly screaming in dress and makeup is just way too wacky. McConaughey's character's leg is controlled by a remote actuator, and he slaps and cuts himself repeatedly while abusing everyone around him, especially Zellweger. Somehow a powerful organization is behind the control and funding of the torture tactics implemented by Vilmer and his clan, a strange plot device that completely throws the film into left field. Its a masochistic freak show, and little gore, hardly any chainsaw action, and plenty of silly inconsistencies (at one point a chainsaw cuts bricks off a chimney with no effort???) make this effort a real blunder. Its entertaining for its ineptness and craziness if anything.

On Prom Night, some friends crash their car into a tree in the woods. When trying to find help, they stumble upon a farmhouse where inside Leatherface and his cannibal family await. This film starred: Renee Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey & Robert Jacks.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4:The Next Generation is again a bad TCM movie. However I do give praise to Matthew McConaughey because he saved this movie from a 1/10 to a 4/10 because everybody else in this film was awful. Well I suppose Renee Zellwegar was OK but she didn't do enough to save it from a 1/10 like Matthew McConaughey did. Not recommended because like the 3 before it, it's bad. In my opinion going best to worst out of the first 4 films...1. TCM 3 - 5/10 2. TCM 4 - 4/10 3. TCM 2 - 2/10 4. TCM 1 - 1/10*/***** Very poor.