Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) Review, Or: SUPER TRANNY LEATHERFACE!

Apparently not happy with the direction of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series after the original’s release, co-writer Kim Henkel decided to take over and direct the fourth installment of the series, aptly titled Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. After a tumultuous release history with Columbia Pictures resulting in a change of title to Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, the film was dumped into a handful of theaters and faded into obscurity. Unfortunately, this would be much more surprising if Henkel wasn’t a fucking lunatic.

Beginning with a high school prom night somewhere in Texas, the film introduces protagonists Jenny (Renee Zellwegger), Heather (Lisa Newmyer), Sean (John Harrison), and Barry (Tyler Cone), who are all thoroughly unlikable. After an… odd… reaction to Barry cheating on her, Heather drives off with him away from prom, along with Jenny and Sean who sneak into the backseat… for some reason. Eventually they get into a car accident in the backwoods that appear to be about five minutes away, cuing the possibly cannibalistic, possibly related psychotic family living there. What follows is, well, confusing.

Why Henkel decided to add a secret, possibly government-oriented organization to the simplicity of the first film is beyond me. Suffice it to say that none of the film really makes any sense, whether it be in simple characterization or the *shudder* plot. If the group of antagonists were just remorseless killers, it might have all come off as a regular TCM sequel, but this is something much more, which requires some explanation.

From what I understand, Henkel wanted this to be the true sequel to TCM, even though the opening text appears to reference the previous two. As such, some characters were originally meant to return. Obviously Leatherface (Robert Jacks) is back, with more emphasis placed this time around on his transvestite tendencies (woo-hoo!). Where it gets confusing is the addition of Vilmer (Matthew McConaughey) and W.E. (Joe Stevens), who were apparently supposed to be the Hitchhiker and Cook characters. The most obvious problem with this is that they don’t look or act, for the most part, like their old selves. Vilmer cuts himself and acts like a nutball, sure, but he’s not really much like the Hitchhiker at all in any other respect. Heck, he even has a girlfriend in the form of crazed real estate agent Darla (Tonie Perensky), who he’s possibly brainwashed into believing he has more control than he really does.

Well, you’re saying to yourself, obviously that’s just what Mr. Henkel wanted originally, and changed it for the final product. In that case, why are there references to the characters kept in the script? At one point, W.E. refers to Vilmer having been shot and run over without dying. This of course would infer that the Hitchhiker didn’t die from being run over at the end of TCM and became Vilmer. Or something. This is all speculation, but it seems odd that there are so many references to the original (the opening text, old lady mask, hook-in-back, freezer box, etc.), and yet the the scenario and characters are so very different.

Speaking of characters, the acting in this flick is atrocious. Zellwegger’s performance makes me yearn for Bridget Jones’ Diary, while all of her friends are so mindlessly stupid that the whole atmosphere becomes that of a parody. Even with the deleted scenes of Jenny dealing with her abusive father edited back in, I can’t imagine it could save the rest of the characters’ dialogue and actions. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to decide if Henkel fucked up as a director or a writer. Was he going for comedy? Horror? A smooth mixture of both? Was this all simply a retitled sequel to Forbidden Zone? I have no clue.

All of that being said, this is a damn entertaining film. Where it fails in acting, direction, writing, and general atmosphere it more than makes up for in it’s nut ball approach to the subject matter. There’s the secret organization experimenting in horror, the complete lack of an actual chainsaw-related death, Vilmer’s battery-powered leg, and the use of a random crop duster to dispatch of one of the villains. We are also treated to Super Tranny Leatherface (STL), who is surprisingly delightful in the feminine characteristics he takes on, which are similar to the grandmother mask’s effects from the first film.

Also, what’s up with the random Marilyn Burns, Paul Partain, and John Dugan cameos at the end? They serve no purpose but to entice long-term fans into liking the film while confusing anybody unfortunate enough to not recognize the fucking people. And guess what? It just adds to the almost profound weirdness of the film! Their addition creates so many questions about what we’ve just witnessed that it feels almost mythical in it’s retardation. Being off-the-wall batty actually HELPS this film!

If you’re looking for a straight sequel to TCM… well, what the fuck are you still doing watching this series? If you want to watch one of the craziest sequels in film history, check this sucker out.

6/10 (Because sometimes too much shit is a good thing.)