We all know how the story goes. "On the afternoon of
August 18, 1973, five young people in a Volkswagen van ran out of gas on a farm
road in South Texas. Four of them were never seen again. The next morning the
one survivor, Sally Hardesty, was picked up on a roadside. Blood-caked and
screaming murder, Sally said she had broken out of a window in Hell."
Thirteen years separate the first two movies in the series, and
that's a very long time in the world of horror. Tobe Hooper directed the
original, one of the most shocking movies ever made. Raw, uncompromising and
scary as Hell, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most celebrated horror
movies of all time. Any attempts at a sequel would - inevitably and potentially
unfavourably - be compared to the original. For better or worse, changes were
made stylistically.
"Officially, on the records, The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre never happened. But during the last 13 years, over and over again
reports of bizarre, grisly chainsaw mass-murders have persisted all across the
state of Texas. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has not stopped. It haunts Texas.
It seems to have no end." Looking back now, it's easy to see where they
were going with this. Over the years, we have had to endure three sequels to
the nerve-shredding original: a solid if unspectacular remake, a dire prequel
and a risible 3D make-over.
In the thirteen years that passed between the first two
instalments, the face of American horror had changed. Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead
arrived in 1981, bringing with it a knowing sense of goofy humour. By now, bogeymen
were jumping out of every closet and every open doorway. The horror genre had
gone mainstream, and the likes of Freddy (1984) and Jason (1980) were leading
the charge. It wasn't enough to be scary anymore; horror icons had to be larger
than life, pop stars of the horror constabulary if you will. Bigger, brighter
and more showy than ever before.
Tobe Hooper had witnessed the change first hand. In between
his mismatched siblings, Hooper had been responsible for The Funhouse (a
demonic clown stalks four teenagers at a carnival), Lifeforce (space vampires
stalk the whole of London), and most notably, Poltergeist (creepy ghosts stalk
a small town suburban family). Tobe Hooper, it would seem, had already gone
mainstream. He had two options with a proposed sequel. He could attempt to
recreate the uncompromising power of the original movie, or he could have a
little fun with it. Audiences weren't ready for the change of direction. TTCM2
bombed in spectacular fashion, hated by fans and critics alike.
Young DJ Vantia Block (Caroline Williams) is hosting a music
show when two renegade hoodlums (you'll wish them dead after approximately twelve
seconds) call her up and start making trouble. The situation changes rapidly as
the kids head towards a passageway, where they 'make nice' with the local madmen
and get sawed to pieces as the shocked DJ listens on. Local sheriff, Lieutenant
'Lefty' Enright (Dennis Hopper), approaches Block and convinces her to play the
recording of the phone call on radio, hoping that the lunatics will show up and
he can exact revenge on the killers of his nephew, Franklin.
Despite the change of direction horror had taken for the MTV
generation, it's easy to see why Tobe Hooper's misfiring sequel hit such a raw
nerve with fans. The two teenagers that kick off proceedings hammer the point
home effectively. TTCM2 is woefully misjudged, keen to replace the original's drip-feed
of terror with an ill-conceived tone and cringe-worthy humour.
Thankfully,
Dennis Hopper turns up after just twelve minutes, but he certainly didn't
become a screen-legend based on this performance alone. Thankfully, Blue Velvet
was released that very same year. Hopper spends most of the movie yelling and
screaming like a crazed lunatic, and he's supposed to be the good guy. He's not the only guilty party of course, but you would expect some
wayward acting from the eccentric family vintage. Picture the dinner sequence
from the original, now amp it up way past eleven and extend it to ninety
minutes of farce. That's what TTCM2 has to offer us.
Jim Siedow (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Bill Moseley (The
Devils Rejects) and Bill Johnson (Talk Radio) take the art of over-acting to a
whole new level. Leatherface is unrecognisable here. Gone is the strong, silent
threat of the original movie. Leatherface is reduced to comedy sidekick for the
most part, a hapless goon that falls in love with the onscreen heroine. Falls
in love for Christ's sake. It's reckless decisions like this that threaten to take
the jagged edge off the original classic. The blades on his chainsaw don't even
spin when he goes into battle - just one of the many blunders that could have been
avoided, like for example, the entirety of the movie.
Caroline Williams (Leprechaun 3) plays the token scream
queen/heroine, and first impressions are quite positive. She certainly looks
the part, but as the film progresses, and Leatherface makes his true feelings
known, 'Stretch' lurches from plucky heroine to annoying blonde girl. You won't
believe the amount of opportunities she's granted to escape his evil clutches,
but rather than make her daring escape, Vanita chooses to stand in the corner
and scream her lungs out. There's zero tension throughout, just a steady stream
of implausibility's and inconsistencies.
Visually, TTCM2 is quite appealing to this day, with its 80s
day-glow vibe and fiendish flavour. The underground setting is both audacious
and memorable, though it would feel more at home in a Nightmare on Elm Street
dream sequence. Ignoring the sublime
family lineage, the off-the-wall surrealism of TTCM2 - particularly in the
final act - could be the reason why it has accumulated a small but dedicated
fan base around the world. The final act comes on like a cross between The
Goonies and The Evil Dead, and it's easy to see why some people might hold it
so close to their hearts. TTCM2 will certainly grab your attention, and despite
the inexcusable waste of potential, fans of 80s horror comedy might get a kick
out of its all too obvious failings.
Arrow Films are set to release a 3-Disc Limited Edition Set
in the U.K. which includes High Definition digital transfers of three Tobe
Hooper films, with limited edition packaging newly illustrated by Justin
Erickson. Two audio commentaries are included, with director and co-writer Tobe
Hooper, moderated by David Gregory, and stars Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams
and special-effects legend Tom Savini, moderated by Michael Felsher. “It Runs
in the Family” is a documentary looking at the genesis, making of and enduring
appeal of Hooper’s film. With interviews from Bill Johnson, co-writer L. M. Kit
Carson, Richard Kooris, Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Tom Savini, Production
Designer Cary White and more.
Discs 2 & 3 are home to Tobe Hooper's early works, with
High Definition Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentations included. The
Heisters (1964) and Eggshells (1969) - Tobe Hooper’s debut feature restored in
HD - are available on home video for the first time in the world. If that's not
enough for you, why not check out the 100-page book featuring new writing on
the film by John Kenneth Muir, an overview of the Chainsaw franchise by Joel
Harley, and an investigation of Tobe Hooper’s three-picture Cannon deal by Calum
Waddell, illustrated with archive stills and posters. Indisputably, Arrow Films
has provided the perfect companion piece for fans of both the movie and the
series.
Misguided, ill-conceived and largely humourless, TTCM2 is a
cinematic oddity that sticks out like a sore thumb. There's a good chance you
won't forget it in a hurry, but that's not necessarily a good thing. The years
since have been kind to Tobe Hooper's unorthodox sequel, and you can judge it
for yourself in November with this unparalleled release. Tobe Hooper set out to
make a sequel that stood out from the crowd, and he's done just
that. We're just not entirely sure a parody is what he had in mind. AW
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