Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) User Reviews

"It's been an abomination. You really must accept my sincere apologies."

[lnvicta · 3/10 · 3 July 2015]

Well said, Rothman. Whatever this movie is supposed to be, it fails on every level. It's not scary, it's not disturbing, it's not entertaining, it's only funny periodically when you can't believe how stupid it is, and it essentially killed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise until it was rebooted a decade later.

The only reason anyone would have any inclination to watch this is because of its leads - Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey - who were young and naive back then, but they did they best they could with the material they had. Renee played a fine damsel in distress and McConaughey was perfect as an insane cannibalistic psychopath. You can tell he was having fun with the part, and the fun he has is contagious sometimes especially knowing how huge he has become since.

The movie itself is downright horrendous. It starts off as a typical slasher: a few teens leaving prom get stranded in the woods, then they encounter strange characters, and from then it devolves into a nonsensical screaming battle between everyone. Literally there are scenes in this movie where the only lines are "AHHHH!" Leatherface has gone full transvestite for this installment. They also end the movie with some sort of conspiracy that these cannibals have been around for thousands of years and there are men in suits that check up on them or something. It makes absolutely no sense and trying to piece it together will ensure a loss of brain cells.

This is the worst of the pre-millennial TCMs by a long shot. Only watch if you're a die-hard TCM completist or you want to watch McConaughey yell like crazy for a while. Either way, you're bound to be disappointed.

SO FUNNY IF YOURE DRUNK

[laurenminder-353-403062 · 3/10 · 22 May 2020]

I had a few glasses of wine and let me just tell you that this made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt. Probably not worth it if you don't have alcohol handy. By the way... Renee and Matthew have OSCARS. THEY HAVE OSCARS and they were IN THIS FILM. So , never give up, okay hunny? <3

Cult horror

[courtney_h-11835 · 4/10 · 26 January 2020]

This movie is definitely not winning any awards., but it is definitely a guilty pleasure for alot of people who like B quality horror movies and ridiculous cult movies. You know the ones, "So bad that it's good."

"I Don't Understand!"

[Muffy-5 · 10 April 2001]

At one point, a terrorized Jenny screams "I don't understand!" And Vilmer replies "Welcome to the real world." For me, this sums up everything I like about this movie.

The TCM series has -- at the best of times -- been about random violence...usually for the sake of sensationalism. But underneath it all is the creepy realization that not everybody thinks like you do. Some of them do things which make no sense to you. When you step into their reality, you're at their mercy, and you'll never understand exactly why.

This installment plays the "why?" theme to the hilt, eventually copping out somewhat near the end when they should have just left us wondering. Darla is wonderful as Vilmer's girlfriend, alternately getting hung up about seemingly trivial things -- having a quiet dinner for a change -- and goading Vilmer into continuing their twisted, mutually abusive relationship. Vilmer himself has fantastic moments, though none of the actors quite live up to Perensky & Zellweger's standards of convincing nuttiness and terror, respectively. Though Newmyer is also great in a role which is too small.

Outside of the mayhem, there's some wonderful dialogue, especially the first few lines in the movie: the teacher who simpers around the students and then gripes, "f*** I hate kids." Heather's friend with the absolutely bizarre mannerisms explaining that the gossip-monger is just trying to cause trouble. Heather saying that they might end up slaughtered and hidden away in somebody's basement, with Sean retorting, "that's stupid, the houses around here don't have basements." And finally, my favourite line: "Too bad about her face, Leather, but you can have her shoes!"

Despite all the bad press this movie's received, I hope Kim Henkel enjoys what she created as much as I enjoy watching it. Goofy, funny, real, unreal, terrifying and witty: good job.

Insanely bad!

[Maciste_Brother · 1/10 · 21 October 2003]

I decided to watch the original "Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE", TCM 2, LEATHERFACE TCM 3 and TCM 4 in a row. I already seen the two first and I think they're great. But Leatherface and TCM 4 were new to me. Leatherface was extremely flat and boring but TCM 4 was, well, INSANELY BAD. I simply could not believe what I was watching. My jaw was on the floor. Is this a movie? It's a joke, right? I never laughed so much in a very long time. There are simply no words to describe how bizarre, SURREAL, and bad this movie is. Nothing makes sense so there's no point of trying to make sense of it. It's insane. Insanely bad. Insanely funny. Insanely directed. Insanely insulting to the whole series. Insanely watchable AND unwatchable. Yes, it's INSANELY entertaining to the masochist in me, who likes to witness the worst of the worst in movies, and TCM 4 is WRETCHED to the nth degree! It feels like the Hitchhiker from the original TCM directed this "movie". I have to admit that as bad as TCM 4 is, at least it's looks and feels more like the TCM world created by Tobe Hooper than the ultra boring and flat looking LEATHERFACE TCM 3.

There are so many moments in TCM 4 that have to be seen to be believed. The funniest being the moment when Renee and Matthew are battling over remotes that controls Matthew's piston powered leg (got that?). Or the funny scene of Leatherface (a cross-dresser here) standing behind clueless Heather and playing with her hair. Heather has to be one of the funniest characters I've ever seen. She's played by Lisa Marie Newmyer, who's a bimbo but with a lot of insight. In this "movie", Heather is attacked by Leatherface, placed in a freezer. Then she's hung on a hook, and for some unexplained reason, she got off the hook and tried to crawl away from the house only to be brought back to the house, where she lies on the floor, too bored or lazy to runaway. LOL!!! The whole thing is played as a comedy. But the comedy is often so bizarre that it's not really funny. What's also remarkable is that Renee and Matthew do have "star quality" and watching these "stars" in this insane movie just adds a lot more bizarre, wonky quality to the movie than it really deserved. The whole cast is game but I wonder, what did the director or producers do to have the cast go all out like that? Was it drugs? Was the whole crew and cast on drugs or drunk?!?! Matthew is very good in his role as, well, I don't know, a buff psycho? And Renee goes all out in her role as "survivor", running across the forest like an athlete trying to win a medal.

After I watched TCM4 for a second time, I've finally realized that it's all flippant parody of the first movie. I've noticed bizarre details, like the sound of crickets during the opening scene inside Jenny's house. The director, who co-wrote the original TCM, didn't take this new foray into the TCM universe seriously for one second. In the end, TCM 4 looked like an amalgamation of 'THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE' and TWIN PEAKS. The director was obviously influenced by the David Lynch TV series. When you look at the movie in this light, it's not the total disaster that everyone says it is BUT the movie still ends up looking pretty bad because of one major weak aspect about it: it's TOTALLY POINTLESS. If there's was a movie that was totally pointless, it's this one. Why basically remake the first movie a la David Lynch? What's next? The Quentin Tarantino version of TCM?

Anyway, personally, I prefer TCM 4 over LEATHERFACE TCM 3, which is just plain bad and is the worst movie of this bizarre so-called series. At least TCM 4 is so consciously bad that, even if it's an almost total embarrassment to the two first films, it's actually fun to watch if you're looking for something to laugh at or with, something that's insanely wacky, full of energy and 100% OVER-THE-TOP!

As a straightforward film, TCM 4 rates at a big fat ZERO. But as a "it's so bad it's good movie," TCM 4 rates a perfect 10. It's ranks up there along with GLEN OR GLENDA, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, TERROR IN THE JUNGLE, and THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE as the very best of the worst.

The First Movie Again, Just a Lot More Embarrassing

[huzaifazahidmalik · 1/10 · 22 February 2022]

This was hard to sit through. Everyone puts on a career worst performance. Its exactly the first movie, with none of the tension, gore, horror and is just EMBARRASSING.

No stars.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 1/10 · 6 December 2004]

The third sequel in the Texas Chainsaw series is now more famous for starring Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger, neither of whom, at the time the film was made, knew better than to accept such trashy roles. The film begins by asking us to care about a group of teens who leave their prom due to a couple having a fight and end up lost in the woods. This mere minutes after having driven away from their high school, which presumably resides in their hometown. Clearly they have not learned their way around much, but no matter. Before too long, they very soon find themselves running for their lives away from the famous freaky family, not only lost in their home town but, before long, also without their car.

One of the biggest gripes that people have with this film (which is saying a lot, because there is nothing but stuff to gripe about) is that Leatherface seems to have become a transvestite. You can almost watch the transformation in the film, which seems to me to be sort of the result of trying to make Leatherface too complex. There is a point in the film where the trapped Jenny (Zellweger) tries to get Leatherface to help her escape, talking to him exactly like a psychiatrist would talk to a disturbed child.

Come on, we know Leatherface is disturbed; I just don't understand why cross-dressing had to be added to his impressive list of deviations from the pattern of behaviors generally associated with reasonably well-adjusted people. On the other hand, Kim Henkel did co-write the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Tobe Hooper, and has thus been granted at least some right to tamper with the character. What you see in the movie, however, is a lot of tampering gone horribly, horribly wrong. If it ain't broken, as they say, don't fix it. You may end up making it worse.

What is amazing to me is how far McConaughey and Zellweger have both come in spite of this film. As I was watching the film, I couldn't believe I was watching the same actor who had turned in such wonderful performances in movies like Bridget Jones' Diary and Cold Mountain, as well as another actor who displayed strong acting presence in movies like EdTV and U-571. Why the focus on Leatherface being a transvestite? Leatherface is a side character anyway, it is Vilmer (McConaughey) who is the star, which is sad because he plays such a belligerent, disgusting character. If you don't believe me that he's more the star than Leatherface, count how many people Leatherface, or anyone else, kills with a chainsaw in the movie (hint: none).

Vilmer is the new head of household in the backwoods family, working as a tow-truck driver/reckless murderer and who has the fascinating addition of an electric leg that is operated by remote control. At one point, a high school kid pleads for help, then when he realizes Vilmer's one of the bad guys, he runs away from the truck (running straight down the street rather than into the woods to relative safety, of course), Vilmer gleefully chases him down, laughing and hooting and hollering all the while, and then runs him over five or six times before stashing his body on the back of the truck to later taunt one of his little friends with.

As is to be expected, there is never any motive given behind any of the random killings, this is all just the sickening actions of an insane family in the woods, evidently comfortably separate from any sort of law enforcement or even the most tenuous interaction with greater civilization, waiting for unsuspecting teenagers to stumble into their midst. Interesting that the movie starts out as such a gigantic horror movie cliché, and still manages to go downhill from there.

Horror movie sequels are first faced with the usually daunting task of justifying themselves. A horror movie sequel has to have a premise that gives it a reason for having been made, otherwise it is clearly a cash cow made to cash in on the success of the original film. Texas Chainsaw 4, instead, simply passes itself off as something of a remake of the original, rather than another sequel, and turns from the more plodding and slow-moving original to the mindless, completely over-the-top belligerence that you see here.

The scenes at the house are peppered with stupid violence, at one point Vilmer throws Darla to the ground and steps on her neck with his powerful leg, nearly killing her by suffocation or by breaking her neck, clearly not caring which. Naturally, she gets up and complains that she could easily leave him and go back to her husband. Charming. Add cannibalism to the mix and you have a hilariously bad movie.

Jenny spends much of the latter half of the movie trying to escape from the hungry hungry hicks, as we are constantly bombarded with the stupid, stupid characters and plot twists that the movie makes as it ineptly tries to combine the horror and comedy that even the most mildly competent horror film can display. This is exactly the kind of thing that really makes me wonder why, every time a new movie comes out in a certain series, I always go back and watch the whole series before watching it. I'm still working on The Friday the 13th movies, the Nightmares on Elm Street, and the Child's Play films, which are decidedly more fun than the Texas Chainsaws. And to make matters worse, I have heard nothing but bad things about the 2003 Texas Chainsaw.

And given how right all the bad reviews of this movie are, that is certainly a sinking feeling.

Incredibly bad

[grantss · 1/10 · 30 August 2021]

How on earth did Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey's careers survive this pile of excrement? You couldn't make a worse movie if you tried! Plot is non-existent. The direction is terrible - a goof-fest from end to end.

Surely one of the worst movies ever made.

it,s bad... but not the worst I've ever seen

[joshm1977 · 5/10 · 5 January 2006]

I would like to say first of all this movie is by far the worst TM movie of them all, there is no debating that but I wouldn't say it's the worst movie I have ever seen. I would rather watch this instead of house of the dead, or say the ring. I could make a list of worse or less entertaining movies, but i won't go into detail because that could take a while. Though this is a quite stupid movie I would say i've definitely seen a lot worse. Nothing will ever touch the original of this series, which is a true masterpiece in horror. I feel bad for the one's who had to see this one first before they seen the other's. Let us hope the new prequel of the Texas chainsaw massacre goes back to the roots of terror.

There are not enough words in the English language to express my disappointment.

[schmofldofl · 1/10 · 31 October 2022]

I have never written a review about anything in my whole life. But this movie has crossed a line at which it is not possible not to share how I want my brain to explode after seeing this.

There was not a single scene without a quadrillion inconsistencies. From minor mistakes to plot holes the size of Alaska. Sometimes you will have no idea what's going on, sometimes you will cry in pain by the non-sense you are seeing with your, at this point, surely bleeding eyes. If the main goal of the movie was to increase suicide rates, then they did a great job. From any other perspective this movie is a war crime and should be considered a public enemy.

If you, for whatever god forbidden reason, let it be euthanasia or some kind of chainsaw-kink, still decide to watch this movie, then at least take some advice. Get drunk. Get high. Surgically remove your eyes, ears and possible your brain. Do anything in your power to reduce the time looking at the screen to witness any of the approximately 139,680 frames of the movie. Personally, I started blinking very rapidly to decrease the watch time.

And whatever you do, do not share this movie with friends. They will hate you as much as I hate the one that shared this movie with me.

• schmofldofl.

Compared with the other chainsaw movies

[tekintaskin · 1/10 · 18 January 2020]

This one is a cheap slasher; bad acting, profound logic errors and lack of spirit. They should add a swamp monster and a few troglodytes to spice up this mess.

highly different and surreal

[nick121235 · 8/10 · 19 February 2017]

One reviewer said that this film is like watching Twin Peaks fused with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I absolutely agree. This film is bizarre, and surreal, and strange. Sometimes it even borders on artistic. For me, this is the best in the series, right after the first one. If you're expecting it to follow in the vein of the second or the third then you will be very let down. I understand why most hated it, but for me it's lots of fun.

A (very) guilty pleasure......

[davispittman · 7/10 · 17 July 2018]

Ok look I know it's bad, I do. I'm not saying that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is a great film. All I'm saying is that it's a guilty pleasure of mine... like I had a lot of fun here! To me, this is just one of those films where you know it's bad while you're watching it, but you're just never bored and you're having fun. You got two leads who were very young at the time, who would later become Oscar winning A list actors.... that's pretty shocking to see in a film like this lol. I loved Renee Zellweger here, I actually think she and Matthew are the only good actors here, the rest are pretty laughable. But ya know this film really doesn't take itself very seriously at all, so it's fun to laugh at the atrocious acting, mainly given by the actress that plays Heather. Matthew McConaughey is absolutely bonkers here, like sometimes he's just crazy to be crazy. That's one of the many reasons this film is never boring... it's entertaining as hell to watch Matthew play this crazy over the top character. I had fun with the chainsaw chase scenes and actually did get kinda tense while Leatherface was chasing Jenny. I have absolutely no clue why Leatherface is a transvestite in this film, that's just one of the weird things they put in here, like the mechanical leg and the weird government thing. But overall, I think this film knows what it is and it just goes completely off the rails crazy. It's a guilty pleasure for me, I'm not saying this film is good, but I can't deny that I did have fun watching it.

Possibly the worst movie I have ever seen!

[bigpapapumpct · 1/10 · 15 February 2021]

My God.....I have almost no words for this dismal piece of crap of a movie. This movie is beyond atrocious! Whaaaat were they thinking?! They completely destroyed Leatherface and made a full blown mockery of him. Nothing makes sense. Everything about this movie is horrendous. And I'm serious when I say, this may very well be the worst movie I have EVER seen in my entire life! I mean it. To call it an abomination isn't nearly severe enough. It's WORSE!

Wow, one of the most bizarre horror franchises ever!

[Jesse-45 · 27 May 2000]

The latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is absolutely no rest from the bizarre first three horror films. Leatherface here is performed just like Gunnar Hansen's take in the 1974 granddaddy of all horror films, " The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." The actors seem to overact sometimes, it's pretty corny...still the humor and craziness of the flick are entertaining, as well as the music and atmosphere. Definitely the best film of the two leading stars, who would go on to become Hollywood heartthrobs. You'll have a lot of fun if you're a horror fan who likes to see some weird B-ish stuff.

Its really not that bad

[emperor_bender · 5/10 · 25 September 2007]

This movie is really not as bad as everyone keeps saying it is. I'll admit, its a horrible low-budget B-movie....but come on, all GOOD horror movies are B-movies and/or low budget. This movie is tolerable, the characters aren't the greatest in the world, but they fit into the plot. Matthew McCaunaghey(pardon the spelling, I cant remember how to spell it) is definitely the best actor in this film. He portrays the character of "Vilmer" quite well. I didn't like Heather or Barry that much, Barry was only cool in the part where he locks W.E out of his house and says "HAHA Dumbass" and stuff. Heather is just a screaming bitch who should have died first. Sean wasn't bad, but he wasn't in the movie too long so you couldn't judge him really. My personal favorite part was the car accident scene, where the cars collide and the guy (named 'I'm Not Hurt' in the credits) gets out all shaky and says "I'm not hurt! I'm not hurt!" before passing out.

Over all this movie is definitely not the best, but it is tolerable. Fans of the other 3 movies should definitely see this one.

In my opinion, Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre beats the 2003 version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre by far.

OK movie, 5/10

a ridiculous, overacted mess

[kclipper · 5/10 · 27 September 2014]

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.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995, Kim Henkel) Off the rails plot going for horror and comedy and winds up a trainwreck

[hoernkeem · 1/10 · 10 October 2023]

Eric's Grade: F This is the 4th outing in 'Texas Chainsaw' franchise. Oddly this film was originally produced and released in 1995 before being acquired by Columbia TriStar, who re-edited the film, re-titled it and then re-released it in 1997. The original title of the movie was 'The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. All of the maneuvering was for naught as the movie was a box office flop failing to recoup its paltry $600,000 budget. The film does feature Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey in early roles. 'Next Generation' is written and directed by Kim Henkel who was co-writer on the original 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.

Four teens, including Renee Zellweger's Jenny, leave prom, and on a back road collide with another car. Some wander off searching for aid while some stay to watch the injured person from the other vehicle. Before long a deranged tow truck driver shows up and first kills the injured stranger and then stalks the others. The ones looking for help make it to an isolated rural house where, of course, McConaughey's murderous tow truck driver Vilmer is at as well as Leatherface. With the teens gathered they torment and torture and kill. Out of the bizarre blue yonder some high society guy shows up in a limo intimating that this crazed family is somehow working for his secret society of pain and fear. The teens are culled until only Zellweger remains and as she flees Vilmer is killed by an airplane, and Jenny is picked up by the aforementioned sophisticate's limo where she is transported to a hospital. Left all alone twirling his chainsaw around is an angered and distraught Leatherface.

On a scale of one to bad this movie is pretty awful. I think it would have to be the worst movie ever to feature two future Oscar winners. The characters are all awful to one another and the script borders on incoherent. None of these pieces come anywhere near making any sense. McConaughey just plays Vilmer off the rails and for no discernible reason he has a brace on his leg that is controlled with a TV remote. As if the movie wasn't silly and confusing enough the appearance of some bizarre fetishist dandy adds yet another layer of ridiculousness to it, and then in the waning moments they do some quick slipshod effort to tie this film to the original. I feel I am being about as incoherent as this movie is, but I am truly at a loss to understand why anyone thought anything on this project was viable. Leatherface is reduced to a campy buffoon whereas McConaughey's character is the real crazed villain. Some praise this as a meta tongue in cheek comedy horror mashup of some sort, but I am just not seeing it. This farce has very little in common with the original which is a horror masterpiece, and I am hard pressed to even find any cult level of interest here. This movie is a hot mess, and should have been scrapped before it ever saw the light of day.

Awful

[the_clown_606 · 1/10 · 29 October 2007]

Possibly one of the worst films I have ever seen. The action was slow and Leatherface has turned into some bumbling, screaming transvestite who is hopeless at killing. If you are a fan of the original, then this film will be an enormous disappointment. Many of the original elements have been reused, such as Leatherface cutting down the door, the dinner scene near the end and Jenny jumping through windows to escape, just a Sally did in the original. It ends in the same way the original ends, with Leatherface swinging his chainsaw wildly. However, in the original, the shot was beautifully done, set against a red setting sun. In this he just screams and swings in a feild. This film is neither scary nor funny, simply a waste of time. It stinks of original elements being used to try and cash in on the success of the original and in turn, fans of the genre. Leatherfaces incompetence means the element of fear people had from the other films is lost, his character almost comedic.

Fans of the films and the genres: STAY AWAY from this film. You will only regret watching it...

Truly the worst movie ever made. Seriously. Zero Stars out of ****.

[Movie-12 · 1/10 · 17 February 2000]

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION / (1994) Zero Stars

Starring: Renee Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, Robert Jacks, and Tonie Perensky Directed and written by Kim Henkel. Running time: 86 minutes. Rated R (for bizarre violent and sexual content, and for strong language).

By Blake French:

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" is so bad it is virtually mind numbing. It is the worst movie I have ever seen. Even the most horrible of bad movies tower far above this romp that wonders between insipid concepts and horror free events. I have a real hard time excepting the fact that such badness can actually qualify as a mainstream film production. This picture is disturbing, bizarre, and god awful. I wish I could provide you with a more thought out opening paragraph, but what else can I say?

There is absolutely zero character development in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation." Due to this, we really couldn't care less about what happens to the main characters. The film's logic free story consists of several high school students becoming lost in the depth of a wooded area where they stumble upon a sickening family of psychopaths that put new meaning to the word dysfunctional.

There are two deaths in the film, both of side characters. One is run over with a truck. The other has his neck broken. In a movie titled "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation," one would expect gory murders a plenty--though that is far from reality in this case. There is no blood, no guts, and no chainsaw killings. The Leatherface character does absolutely nothing in the film. Excuse me. He does do something. He dresses up like a woman and shrieks his chainsaw above his head while screaming wildly.

Who are the villains? What do they want? What conceivable reasons do they have for living the lifestyle they inhabit? There are no answers provided. I am not necessarily stating that the majority of viewers will even care enough about the plot to even ask any questions. I am just backing up my theory of the terrible qualities this production contains.

It is quite the surprise to witness some big names in the film's cast list, such as Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. Neither of the two are capable of rescuing the movie, nor are they able to perform with fine dramatic tension. What a complete waste of talent director and writer Kim Henkel constructs with this piece of trash.

After screening "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" I honestly felt sick to my stomach. I love movies so much, but this so-called movie is a disgrace to all film's associated with. It is so hard to understand what the individual's intentions were when they produced this heap of garbage. Did the filmmakers desire to give movies a bad name? Or did they actually believe "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" was worth a penny? After seeing this movie's poster, and seeing the tagline "Still Buzzing After All These Years," I had a question for it. Why is the series still buzzing when it ran out of fuel long before this film was made?

one of the best TCSM movies

[Horror_Addict · 5/10 · 28 January 2008]

well, i love the original, -humph- who doesn't , i've seen the the 2nd one , i hate the 3rd one, and the rest of them are good! the only guys to play leather face, should be IMO, Gunner Hansen, Bill Johnson, Andrew Bryniarski but above all, i love Matthew's character, i could play his character so good, no joke, i can even play leather face, the funny part in " the next generation" is Renee saying "I'm leaving, and no one is gonna stop me", then leather face, screams, and Renee says YOU SIT THE F*CK DOWN! LOL, AND BTW,Darla is so fine, them boobs are nice, but heather is OK looking, and the other funny scene is when Renee is about to shoot leather face, his look, is like oh s*it, click , then he gets mad, his expression is funny!

Impressively bad

[backup-50362 · 1/10 · 18 April 2022]

The acting from the girls is so cartoonishly ditsy, lazy and bad... It's almost like an ironic low-budget movie. But it's riding on this huge name, so you'd expect... something.

I LOVE this movie and could watch it over & over again

[amberlykd · 9/10 · 1 August 2007]

This movie to me, was totally entertaining for what it is; the what, 7th movie in a string of horror movie sequels? Come on! Give these people some credit. Once they make about 3 or 4 movies, you're a moron if you're expecting an Oscar worthy film. Matthew McConaughey is INCREDIBLE AS A PSYCHO! His lines are delivered so INSANELY (mind the pun!) PERFECT that you wonder if he really is a bit nutty in real life. The things he says cracks me up. When he runs over the character Sean with his tow truck saying "Yep, that shoulda done' it... that shoulda done it riiiight there." I just laugh so incredibly hard at how crazy he is throughout the entire movie. You have to let go of your cirtical, Siskel & Ebert serious side & just have some fun with this movie! The Next Generation isn't much for blood and guts like the original, it more so focuses on demented psychopaths who live amongst body parts and filth and who torture for fun. They try to give you the meaning of "HORROR" even that crazy-skin-flesh-nipple-ring guy admits that the whole "psycho killer" set-up is, & I quote: "appalling" as far as horror goes. So there, they admit it but the characters are still great in my opinion. But the scene with the prom kids in Darla's office is a load of laughs because Tonie Perensky portrays the hot psycho chick to a "T". She's completely cool and collected about her lifestyle and just pulls off the greatest pin-up type homicidal bimbo character ever. And she manages to still look hot despite almost getting choked to death (by a TV remote controlled leg) and smacked around a few times by Vilmer. Renee is EXCELLENT as the virginal victim who, unlike most innocent horror movie victims who do the stereotypical "running up the stairs when they should be running out of the front door," Renee gets some courage to climb a 3 story roof, swing from a cable line, jump out of a window, & is even brave enough to point in Leather's face and tell him to "SIT THE F*CK DOWN!" GO JENNY! Jenny's friend Heather is a little annoying with her little girl voice and airhead paranoia but she acknowledges the error of her ways and ultimately gets the grossest punishments. So we can pardon her! The only one I can say that really didn't impress me was Leather himself. This if the first Texas CM movie I've seen where Leather runs around pulling at his hair and screaming endlessly like a little girl instead of getting down to some real deal chainsaw business. After a few minutes of them introducing Leather (continuously screaming like a sissy) you're looking for the MUTE button on your remote. This movie doesn't lose the original concept of the Ed Gein theme by showing briefly the woman-skin suit hanging behind a bathroom door, however in this TCM movie we get to see Leather decked out for dinner in a fancy gown, red lipstick and a black wig he must have stolen from Tina Turner.

All in all, I really find this movie entertaining and think that Matthew and Renee got off to a GREAT start with these characters. I give it 1½ thumbs up! =]

Creepy in many ways (I'm in the minority again)

[hoversj · 7/10 · 22 April 2003]

I liked this movie. I liked it in whole and in parts - meaning I enjoyed the film as a whole (and have watched it several times, inflicting it on various friends...), but there were touches in it that really creeped me, and that isn't something that happens every day.

The film is your basic teenagers on the way home from the prom get lost and stuck and run into spooky family in the middle of nowhere - mayhem ensues. Actually, this is the movie I thought of (fondly) when I first heard about "House of 1000 Corpses". I like this movie much better, and not just because I REALLY want to bring it to a "Matthew McConaghy Fan Club" movie night.

(SPOILERS)

It's the details that make this movie. The wall of drivers' licenses that you can see in the background in one room of the creepy family's house, which implies they've been at this for a while. The filthy bathroom where you can't see the human skin hanging on the back of the door until you're already inside with the door closed.

I've always found it hard to imagine a female villain character who actually "works" in a movie like this, unless she's either essentially browbeaten and incapable of individual action, or is utterly, irredeemably psychotic. This movie has a creepy female character who both casually flashes passersby from her office window (explaining only that she just got implants and everyone seems to want to see them) and flirts with cops while she has a girl tied up in her trunk. She also gives a variety of weird "conspiracy theory"ish explanations for why she goes along with what the spooky family does.

Most unusual of all is the weird guy in the limousine who shows up for no particular reason and implies that he put these people here for some reason - presumably to generate exactly the type of urban legends they are generating - and who might be.... Satan? Some underling, anyway. Maybe Ranger Asmodeus (from Equinox) has a cousin. ..

The movie left me wondering - in the best possible way. Not the usual "why did they make this?" or "how could they have thought this was good?" But instead "who is that guy? Does he have other enclaves of evil out there just waiting for his visits?" and "that woman - was she a victim at one point who talked her way into joining them as a survival mechanism, and then convinced herself that it was OK?"

Ya know?

P. U.

[smatysia · 2/10 · 5 June 2000]

This film sucks. Okay, the correspondent who said that the movie was ruined by cutting, well, true, I didn't see the original cut. It's hard to imagine, though, that it could make that much difference. Some elements, I'm sure, were intended as camp. When filmmakers aim for camp and miss by so wide a margin, the result is boring ugliness. The part of the film that wasn't (supposed to be) campy, was just sadism and psychopathy. While these can make a good horror film (such as Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left") here the result was just painful to watch. The only positive in this movie was Renee Zellweger. Her initial mousiness blossoms into fierce beauty.