ridiculous rating

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

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.

I am a huge fan of horror. I'm the sort of viewer that tracks down obscure movies that most people have never heard about before. In all of my travels through the world of horror, my absolute favorite film still remains THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE. So, it is with some embarrassment that I admit I am also a big fan of the sequels. As a horror fan, you have to generally accept that sequels are rarely good and never match up to the original. The further into a series you get, the lower the quality generally continues to drop. Generally, these movies can make up for it somewhat by upping the body count or going way over the top in the plot lines.I say all of this to acknowledge that I love the Chainsaw series. I own this movie on DVD. I know that horror sequels are usually bad. Yet, this movie is REALLY BAD. I mean, it makes other horror sequels look good in comparison. There is really nothing redeeming about this movie that I can even say, it's bad but..No, it's just bad.We can start with the obvious horror fan complaint that the body count is pretty low in this movie and what deaths we do see on screen are low-key, boring and not inventive at all. There is very little gore, no atmosphere and no real scares to be had. The original is actually pretty low on gore, as well, but viewers hardly noticed because of the terrifying atmosphere established by director Tobe Hooper. Without that atmosphere to lean back on, a movie like this usually has to give the audience something else, but sadly fails to do that.The movie can't decide if it's a sequel or a remake, so goes for some mixed up combination of the two. It remakes many of the iconic scenes of the original (the hook in the back, the window escape, the dinner party) but these are such pale imitations that it just makes the movie look even worse in comparison. The biggest factor in this is that the characters are just awful. I'm not speaking of the acting necessarily, but they're just never given anything to do. Renee Zellwegger is the greatest example of this. She might be the worst final girl in the history of horror. Not really because Zellwegger fails to act up to the part, but because the part is so horribly written. There is no real background given to her, no character development, no emotion almost at all. She is simply a plot contrivance for things to happen to and around, but never really feels like an involved part of anything.The one solid thing about this is McConaughey who plays the only character that's worth of the TCM family. Yet even this character becomes a joke in the end as we have the ridiculous plot device of him having a bio-mechanical leg constructed from old wires and a vacuum cleaner that is, for some reason, controlled by old television remotes. Yes, a sinister organization would replace a leg yet make it controllable by generic remotes. There is no biological reasoning for this. It serves only as a stupid plot tool so that several characters can control him using one of the multitude of handy extra remotes lying around the home.We won't even get started on the ludicrous Illuminati plot. It's so bad, I think writer Kim Henkel was actually trying to make it bad. It's almost like the rights would revert back to someone if they could make a sequel that was so horrible it would sink the franchise forever.I still watch this every few years when I go through an inevitable TCM marathon, but each time I'm a little more embarrassed that I own this on DVD. It's really just plain awful.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is just horrible. The plot revolves around the most annoying teenagers ever(with the exception of one girl) getting into a car wreck in the woods after leaving their high school prom early and running into Leatherface and his family.This movie has virtually no redeeming qualities, the dialogue is horrible AT BEST, the acting is atrocious, and worst of all, the villains in this movie are not at all intimidating.Leatherface in this movie is played by Robert Jacks, who screams and whines throughout his time on screen and wears dresses. There's some gruesome scenes of torture, but that doesn't make the film scary. there's also some stupid subplot about a secret society that forces the chainsaw family to commit their crimes, which just adds to the stupidity of the film. The only redeeming quality of this film is Renee Zellweger's character, but even she isn't given much to do. My advice is whether you are a fan of this series or not, avoid part 4 at all costs!

This TCM;Next Generation is an accidental cult classic.I wasn't scared watching this movie,but finally figured out i'm not supposed to be horrified.It is subtly funny,and it is obvious Renee and Mathew and the others were trying not to burst out laughing half the time.It was a load of fun to watch.The actors were having too much fun to try to give Oscar performances and for that their performances are brilliant.This is Renee's best role.Not that she isn't a great actress in general...i just love her so much in this role.She is a young actress who seems like she is just having fun.Mathew is amazing..how on earth this movie gets such low scores is beyond me.Watch it...you'll love it.