Wow. I've never seen a sequel that spoofs its predecessor harder than this one does. 10 years after the original TCM, Leatherface is back, making a stunning entrance atop a speeding pick-up truck with his legendary chainsaw held high. After dispatching two incredibly annoying, cell-phone wielding yuppies, the cannibalistic Sawyer family is after Stretch, a DJ who was on the phone with the two idiotic victims and heard everything that happened. Simultaneously using Stretch as bait and protecting her from the Sawyers is bug-eyed weirdo Dennis Hopper, playing the demented, chainsaw packing sheriff and uncle to one of the previous films unfortunate victims.
This movie is definitely played for comedy, black as it may be. It's almost a retelling of the first tale, as Stretch runs screaming through the Sawyers underground abode, only to end up bent over a washtub while Grandpa feebly whacks away at her head with a hammer. There's a great chainsaw-as-penis scene, where Leatherface suddenly discovers sex and orgasms and promptly loses interest in chainsawing Stretch to death. There's also a hideous hammer murder and a gruesome "defacing" scene, just so you don't forget that, no matter how hilarious, this movie is still about over-the-top gore, mutilations, cannibalism and fates worse than death. Just when your stomach starts lurching, along comes another sickening joke to relieve the tension.
This is a brilliantly done film, made even better by its offbeat humor and oddly likable characters. In my humble opinion, it's the perfect sequel, done the way more sequels ought to be done.
