Watch The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre For Free

Redundant and unnecessary.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

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, the fourth in the original series of CHAINSAW films, is without a doubt the oddest yet. Gone is the grinding horror of the original movie, in favour of an out-and-out comedy. It's easy to see why no more sequels were released after this, at least until Michael Bay's franchise 'reboot' – the formula had been worked into the ground and only repetition could follow. THE NEXT GENERATION is widely regarded as the worst of the series, a total non-event with more horror to be found in a pair of smelly socks, but I think critics are missing the point. This isn't MEANT to be a horror flick – instead it's a comedy.The threadbare plot is nothing new, a simple sequence of events designed to get some innocent teenagers into the chainsaw household. Once here, the sole surviving female finds herself menaced by a group of mad men (and a woman!). Director Kim Henkel, who wrote and produced the original classic, has plenty of affinity with his material and his focus here is to create new extremes out of old. The film is a chronicle of screeching insanity with every actor encouraged to go way over the top in the call of duty, and I have to admit, I enjoyed the film simply because it's so odd.Of course, it's saddled with cheesy '90s production values and a dearth of characterisation. The teenage 'good guys' are utterly devoid of interest, and the only interesting thing about the main character of Jenny is that the actress portraying her is Renee Zellweger, years before she became really famous in Hollywood. There's no sign of future greatness here, Zellweger is no different from a hundred other teenage scream queens. No, the real interest comes from the complete nutters portraying the 'family'. Leatherface is back, acted by a different actor and this time dressing up as an old woman; he's not menacing at all here, but instead slightly endearing and completely loopy, screaming just as much as Zellweger! The real star of the show, though, is another pre-stardom actor, Matthew McConaughey, playing demented murderer Vilmer. Interesting, McConaughey takes over from ANOTHER pre-stardom actor, Viggo Mortensen, who played virtually the same character in the previous sequel, Leatherface. McConaughey goes above and beyond with a performance of immense energy and physicality and watching him creeping around, complete with bionic leg (!) and harassing people is what makes the film.So there you have THE NEXT GENERATION. It's an overpadded film, full of long, slightly dull chase scenes and an overacting McConaughey literally chewing up the scenery. It may not be art, but I did laugh a lot in comparison to many other so-called Hollywood 'comedies'.

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.

A group of stupid teenagers coming from a prom get into a car crash in the woods of Texas, prompting some Texas hillbillies & the infamous Leatherface to torture them. Why, why, why, why, why? Was the constant question that kept popping up in my brain while watching this turkey. I saw the cut version and I highly doubt I missed anything noteworthy. Added gore wouldn't change my opinion on this dreck. There is no suspense what so ever (Aside from an admittedly decent rooftop sequence), it is rather dull, and it really doesn't take itself all that seriously. Where to begin on all the flaws. I'll start with Leatherface. Gone, is the terror that Leatherface provides, replaced by a shrill scream that can give even the calmest people of headaches. It got to the point where I almost muted my T.V. He also wears lipsticks, dressing up like a transvestite. For someone who wanted to make a true sequel to the original, Kim Henkel pis**** all over it instead. I didn't give a damn about any of the characters in this one, I wanted them all to perish. Also, how is it that the villains are so attractive? I had a hard time believing that someone with Matthew McConaughery's looks could be that sadistic, as well as Renee Zellweger being "ugly" , as she is inexplicably called in this film. Zellweiger does what she can with the awful material, but her character is stupidly written to the point where I wanted to smack her one. This was released in 1997 to try to take advantage of Zellweger & McConaughery's surging popularity. Speaking of McConaughery... he is probably the best thing in this film. He gives a completely over the top and unhinged performance. He was a blast to watch on many occasions. He knew what a piece of crap this was, as evident when he tried to prohibit this from being distributed in theaters, so he had some fun with the role. Robert Jacks is a disgrace to Leatherface. It isn't entirely his fault though. The rest of the cast isn't worth mentioning, aside from the Marilyn Burns cameo at the end. Blink and you'll miss it.Final Thoughts: Even the most die-hard fans of TCM will despise this film. If you're a masochist, then by all means view this movie. If you have enough beers, this MIGHT be good for a few laughs, but it would take quite a few beer DUD