Only now does it occur to me... that the "McConaugh-aissance" which we are currently enjoying might have begun a little sooner had more moviegoers seen TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION back in 1994.
While recent projects like KILLER JOE, BERNIE, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, and TRUE DETECTIVE have revealed him to be in possession of Gary Busey-esque acting chops and boundless eccentricities, an early project like TCM: THE NEXT GENERATION really lays out how freakily committed he can be to a role, even (especially?) a terrible one.
Essentially, he plays a member of Leatherface's twisted family who wears a bizarre, pneumatic leg made from vacuum tubing over a mechanic's coveralls (which sort of makes him look like a Ghostbuster).
The rest of the movie is dreadful– there's kind of a misguided transgender Leatherface thing happening that feels like a "Buffalo Bill" SILENCE OF THE LAMBS rip-off,
and when in doubt the film always goes to a single, predictable place, and that single, predictable place is "shouting crazy people." McConaughey realizes this, and tackles it with a level of commitment that is astonishing.
Oh yeah, did I mention that half of the movie is Oscar-winner McConaughey tormenting Oscar-winner Renée Zellweger?
Just walk away, Renée
McConaughey proceeds to swill beer like a madman,
tell us that this "this ain't Saturday morning cartoons!" and instruct his victims that killing them "ain't no fuckin' biggie" in lines that my gut tells me are improvised, Busey-style,
thwack himself in the face while screaming like a mental patient,
and howl "GET THAT BITCH" to the night sky like it's his job, which, I suppose, it is.
"WOOOOOOOOOO!" –Matthew McConaughey
Finally, the film ends with a spooky hospital cameo by original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE star Marilyn Burns, who is credited as "Anonymous."
If you had any involvement with this, you'd probably spring for anonymity, too, though Marilyn acquits herself admirably.
In basic conclusion, this is a terrible movie, unworthy of the glorious firsttwo installments of the series, and somehow it manages to be even worse than LEATHERFACE: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III. But there's some magnificently devoted McConaughey madness in here, too, which is maybe worth checking out... for the morbidly curious.
Stars: 2 of 5.
Running Time: 85 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Ken Foree (DAWN OF THE DEAD, FROM BEYOND, THE WANDERERS), Miriam Byrd-Nethery (Clu Gulager's wife and star of SUMMER HEAT, DEADLY GAME, FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM), Viggo Mortensen (APPALOOSA, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, CRIMSON TIDE), Tom Everett (AIR FORCE ONE, DIE HARD 2, EERIE INDIANA), Duane Whitaker (Maynard in PULP FICTION, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, HOBGOBLINS).
Tag-lines: "There's Roadkill All Over Texas." AND "The most controversial horror film ever is finally here." Ummm, not quite.
Best one-liner(s): "I like liver."
I'd like to preface this by saying that I respect director Jeff Burr (FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM, STEPFATHER II) as a person, and as a friend and promoter of the Gulager family, but LEATHERFACE: TCM III is an unadulterated mess- particularly in the wake of Hooper's initial TEXAS CHAINSAW masterpiece and his own uniquely-crafted Gran Guignol follow-up. Blandness and mediocrity rule the day here. They didn't even film it in Texas. It plays out like a vague remake of Part I, but eagerly subverts everything that made Part I work. Just because you smudge dirt on the face of a TJ Maxx model doesn't mean they can suddenly play "Texas Hillbilly Cannibal." Chilling.
The Sawyer family home is not dingy, terrifying, or filled with big filthy chickens in tiny cages– instead, it looks like it could be featured in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Kinda looks like it could be in a gated community. Perhaps in a cul-de-sac?
Most of the cast is embarrassed and uncomfortable using words like "y'all," "ain't," and "darkie." Viggo Mortensen and Miriam Byrd-Nethery (R.I.P.) rise above the muck to deliver nuanced performances, but that doesn't change the fact that 'terrifying country bumpkin' Viggo has frosted blonde highlights and carefully blowdried hair. I think I forgot to mention that Viggo's in partial drag sometimes, too. But instead of being scary, it's kind of whimsical, like SOME LIKE IT HOT or VICTOR/VICTORIA.
I guess Leatherface does some mean stylin' on the side. Speaking of Leatherface, it's almost like they had no concept of the character: here, he's basically just Frankenstein with a chainsaw. Oh, and he drives a car, listens to heavy metal, and plays with a child's computer. Chilling.
It would have been better to just go the completely ridiculous route, like LEATHERFACE TAKES MANHATTAN or LEATHERFACE IN SPACE, rather than just limply rehash the original with groan-mustering elements. At least Ken Foree (Peter in DAWN OF THE DEAD, FROM BEYOND) is likable as a survivalist hero. Ken Foree is a likable guy.
Overall, though, I can only give this two stars, and it earns both of them from the solid performances of some select actors.
Miriam Byrd-Nethery is a real trouper. You don't get to be Clu Gulager's wife by half-assing things.
My advice is to just pretend that Part II was the final installment of the series, and leave it at that.
Stars: 5 of 5. Running Time: 100 minutes. Notable Cast or Crew: Tom Savini's makeup (DAWN OF THE DEAD, FRIDAY THE 13th), Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams (STEPFATHER II), Bill Moseley (ARMY OF DARKNESS, CARNIVALE, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS), Jim Siedow ("Old Man" and the only returning cast member from TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 1), Lou Perryman (POLTERGEIST, THE BLUES BROTHERS), and a cameo from novelist Kinky Friedman. Produced by Golan and Globus' Cannon Films, the team that brought us everything from THE APPLE to THE DELTA FORCE to RAPPIN' to OVER THE TOP to 52 PICK-UP to BARFLY to COBRA to DEATH WISH 3 to NINE DEATHS OF THE NINJA to RUNAWAY TRAIN to BREAKIN' 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO to a hundred others. Tag-lines: "After a decade of silence... The buzzz is back!" Best one-liner(s): "You have one choice, boy: sex or the saw. Sex is, well, nobody knows. But the saw, the saw is family. "
"'Nam Land!' It's what the public wants!" TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 is a masterpiece, a complete reinvention of the series' low-key art film roots, and horror-comedy-drama of the highest order- an epic Gran Guignol. And indeed it even begins with a ghastly puppet show of sorts, the striking image of Leatherface atop a car, fluttering in the night wind to Oingo Boingo's "No One Lives Forever," operating a human corpse as a marionette; our post-modern grim reaper bearing a chainsaw instead of a scythe.
The TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE movies couldn't take place anywhere but Texas. And when Clu Gulager-esque, improvising machine Jim Siedow (the 'Old Man' and the only returning cast member from part 1) screams "I love this town! This town loves prime meat!" to a crowd, and the crowd responds with wildly enthusiastic cheers, you believe it, for better or worse, because it's Texas. Texas is the perfect, over-the-top stage for such a present-day American Gran Guignol. It's the only place you could set it. Other filmmakers have taken note of the locale, the style, or the flavor: this film, for all of the critical (and even fan) animosity, has helped shape the direction of modern horror, obviously persisting as a key influence on the likes of Robert Rodriguez (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, PLANET TERROR), Peter Jackson (BAD TASTE, BRAINDEAD), Rob Zombie (HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS), and Quentin Tarantino (NATURAL BORN KILLERS, DEATH PROOF).
This film has it all: a fantastic, carefully chosen soundtrack featuring The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Timbuk 3, Lords of the New Church, Stewart Copland and Concrete Blonde, among others. It has a totally insane Dennis Hopper, out for revenge, kicking Leatherface in the nuts and dueling him Dark Ages-style while wielding two-chainsaws, wearing a ten-gallon hat, and screaming things like "It's the devil's playground!" and "May the Lord have mercy on our souls!" It has the lovely Caroline Williams (STEPFATHER II) totally prefiguring the Juliette Lewis-type in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN as our likable DJ heroine. It's got the wildly improvising Bill Moseley as a 'Nam vet and the possible inspiration for the title character in BEETLEJUICE.
All of this, and it still has a tremendous amount of class: the downright Lynchian crying of the old man at the chainsaw shop; the pull-in, pull-out tracking shot of Grandpa's dinner arrival that recalls a similar shot down a hotel hallway in F.W. Murnau's THE LAST LAUGH; the pathetically poignant 'Leatherface Waltz' sequence, which brings to mind Jean Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; the slapstick of Grandpa's failed hammering attempts which channels Buster Keaton's ONE WEEK; and the incredible pathos you feel for all of the characters (save for the 100% psychotic Chop-Top and the two D-bag victims at the start).
There's even a peculiar impotent-chainsaw dry-humping episode that's a disturbingly bizarre and completely surreal in its exploration of unfocused childish psychosexual tension. It culminates in frustration (the sort that doggedly pulling the starter cord on an impossible chainsaw would inspire) and aimless destruction- an analysis worthy of Catherine Breillat, or at the very least, Sigmund Freud.
It's a first-rate film that didn't supply the scares (the poster parodies THE BREAKFAST CLUB for God's sakes!) or the laughs (there's too much depth for it to feel satisfying as purely a comedy) that its target audience might have liked, but it becomes something much more: one can view it as a tale of revenge with a nihilistic ending, a chaotic, visceral ourobouros connecting to the first film; or simply as top-notch entertainment that continually surprises with its boldness and artistry. Bravo, Mr. Hooper. At perhaps the partial expense of your career, you created something NEW instead of trying to retread unrepeatable ground. Five stars.
Stars: 5 of 5. Running Time: 83 minutes. Notable Cast or Crew: Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, Kim Henkel, Jim Siedow ("Old Man" and the only cast member to return for part 2), Daniel Pearl (cinematographer who went on to shoot everything from ZAPPED! to IT'S ALIVE III to Michael Jackson's video for "Billie Jean" to The Police's music video for "Every Breath You Take"), Dorothy J. Pearl (make-up artist who went on to do the make-up for everything from TOOTSIE to POLTERGEIST to GROUNDHOG DAY to BIG FISH). Tag-lines: "Who will survive and what will be left of them?" Best one-liner(s): "Look what your brother did to the door! Ain't got no- no pride in his home!"
Excellent, subtle, low-key horror film that has more in common with Eric Rohmer or Jacques Rivette than it does with a traditional slasher flick. Kinda like CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING AND GET CHAINSAWED TO DEATH BY A FAMILY OF TEXAS PSYCHOPATHS. Or maybe CLAIRE'S KNEE...IS QUITE DELICIOUS WITH BARBEQUE SAUCE ON THE SIDE. The story unfolds with a documentarian's pragmatism and with sometimes beautiful, sometimes gritty, naturalistic 16mm cinematography. A series of events happen. And Tobe Hooper's camera-eye watches it and records it, passively, with a detachment that sometimes verges on boredom. He doesn't need to editorialize or create a context for these horrific events: it's simply "something that happened." For example, when the kids first encounter Leatherface's eerie home, they discover a tarp that camouflages several rusty vehicles. Only later does the viewer make the connection that the cars must have belonged to countless previous victims. At no point does one of the kids exclaim, "My God...those cars we found earlier must have belonged to...my God, they've been killing ever since...!" or something shitty of that nature. The event of the kids discovering the cars exists only as one of many points in time, catalogued by the film's indifferent gaze. This film doesn't care about it's characters. This film doesn't care about YOU. And that's why it's scary. I also must give special recognition to Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface), whose evil, babyish frustration bridges the gap between mentally disabled child and slaveringly vicious wild animal. TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE seems to me to be the perfect illustration of when Werner Herzog says "I believe the common character of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder." It's not trying to be anything. It simply is. Five stars.
COMING SOON: A review of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2.