Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) – The Test of Time
Horror franchises can be a goldmine for studios and theaters alike. They are typically on the inexpensive side to make and typically bring back not only a good profit but also more than enough to keep churning them out. Even straight to video franchises like what Hellraiser became or the Puppet Master and other monster collaborations from Full Moon continue to get made and sought out by fans. While we have the newer mainstays like Insidious, The Purge, and the recently up in the air Saw franchises, the classics continue to try and even pass between rights holders to get new looks. One of the most surprising franchises that somehow became a slasher mainstay has two big anniversaries this year. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is fun, and I plan to dissect that closer to Thanksgiving for its 35th anniversary but the more controversial Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is 30 now, as it had its official world premiere at SXSW on March 12, 1995. While it has two very surprising casting choices and brings back one of the original creators, it’s also a very divisive movie so let’s see if has gotten better with age or stands the test of time as a throwaway entry.
The Plot
After New Line Cinema, also known as The House That Freddy Built, got the rights to the Texas Chainsaw franchise from a spiraling Cannon films, they thought they had a license to print money. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, while having one of the coolest previews of all time, only made about 5 million total and they wouldn’t try again for 13 more years with the far more successful Platinum Dunes remake in 2003. A couple years after the release of Leatherface, original Texas Chainsaw writer Kim Henkel and Robert Kuhn optioned a film idea from original rights holder Chuck Grigson. Henkel would pretty much be forever known for his contribution to the horror and slasher genres but did also write Eaten Alive that friend Tobe Hooper directed, The Unseen from 1980, and Last Night at the Alamo. This would be his only directorial effort, but it did become pretty infamous.
Both Henkel and Kuhn wanted to go back to the roots of the original film after the previous sequels couldn’t quite figure out what they wanted to do. Henkel didn’t want to direct originally but Kuhn insisted after the script was written and the quest for financing was started. Henkel made the characters almost cartoonish versions of American youth and for the murderous family, he based many of the characters on real life killers including Ed Gein and Elmer Wayne Henley with the character of Darla being based on Karla Faye Tucker. Most of the cast are Austin-based performers that have a few other major roles scrapped between them. Joe Stevens showed up in American Outlaws and The Alamo and Tonie Perensky shows up in Varsity Blues but that’s pretty much it. Even Leatherface in this iteration was played by a local DJ who didn’t do much else, Robert Jacks. Oh, and Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. Alright Alright Alright, I guess those two are a big deal.
Also Austin based actors that hadn’t quite hit it big yet, Zellweger and McConaughey now have 3 Oscars between them. In the summer of 1993, however, when filming took place, Renee had only done a couple TV movies and an uncredited role in Dazed and Confused. Matthew had also just finished Dazed and Confused but the success of that movie and his now iconic line had not yet planted themselves into the pop culture zeitgeist. Zellweger would go on to only make one other horror movie with Case 39 while McConaughey would dabble with things like Frailty, Reign of Fire, and that first glorious season of True Detective. Oh, and Dark Tower, but we don’t talk about that. There would be some controversy too with the studio changing the name from The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Next Generation while also seemingly trying to capitalize on the two stars new fame, but a scattered release would do nothing for the profits or reviews.
The movie kind of follows the plot of the first movie and can be seen as a soft reboot except for the fact that they mention the previous movies. Texas Chainsaw 4, as we will call it to split the difference, follows 4 teens ditching their prom in Texas. They get into an accident and unfortunately find their way to run afoul of the famous family who kills them one by one in a very similar fashion to the victims of the first movie. The final girl Jenny ends up trapped in the house and we find out that the family is killing people on order from the Illuminati to find enlightenment and the family took the methods too far. She escapes and kills one of the members before being rescued and taken to the hospital by the same secretive people that came to the house earlier, where we see a very familiar face being wheeled away on a gurney.
Signs of the Time
A couple of the major signals of the early 90s are of course no cell phones and the music. The cell phone thing is kind of a staple on this show, and I only mention it because I always find it funny how easily these movies could all be solved with the simple use of the mega-computers we carry in our pockets. The music, including the score as well as diegetic and non-diegetic music, tell us exactly what time period the movie takes place in and when it was filmed. While most of the performances are nothing special, this is peak Matthew McConaughey. He is a mix of over-the-top and weird southern charming. His audition apparently took the producers by quite a surprise, and he scared his scene partner so badly that it helped him secure the part. His mannerisms and silliness are kind of what people describe his style as but it’s much more subdued normally than this. The performance here is what people think of for his zaniness, and it tracks with his Tusken Raider scream out of Star Wars and how wild his emotions swing.
Related to that is his co-star, Renee Zellweger. Both actors would go on to win Oscar gold and while they were basically unknowns, the movie was re-released with its alternate title with the ad campaign focusing heavily on the two stars because by 1996, they had both blown up a bit. The final sign of the times is that this is where the contemporary slashers that had been around a bit got a little… weird. Michael Myers was a tool in the cult of Thorn, Freddy was about to become a meta nightmare demon, Jason was eating people’s hearts to switch bodies, and Pinhead and the gang had gone to space. The Illuminati controlling the Sawyer family really wasn’t that far out of the realm of normal at this point. None of these styles would work, however, and all of the series would move on to a more traditional tactic. Halloween would reboot with H20, Hellraiser would go straight to video but drop the gimmicks, and Jason and Freddy would fight each other before joining Leatherface in the remake realm.
What Holds Up?
The movie is seen as a borderline parody and soft remake of the series as a whole except for the fact that the other movies are mentioned in the opening crawl. This makes sense when we remember that Kim Henkel came back to write, produce, and direct this movie. I will say that some of the callbacks feel great, from the camera noise at the house and prom being the same noise as the original, and some of the aspects feel like the 74 original without being a shot for shot remake like Psycho later in the decade. Some of the humor can be fun and we see that right off the bat with the teacher at the school saying how much he hates kids as well as some of the one-liners from the bad guys. The kills and gore work well here, especially as a mini commentary about how nonviolent the original is compared to what people thought they saw. The kills are mostly subdued but still feel painful and visceral at the same time. The first appearance of Leatherface is also pretty tense and terrifying while also giving the character a lot more depth than most other entries.
What Doesn’t Hold Up?
I fully welcome counterpoints to this but most of this movie doesn’t hold up well and feels unnecessary. The opening voiceover feels off and it’s something they fixed by bringing back John Larroquette for the remake. Much of the acting, apart from Matthew and Renee, feels forced and the quotes that W. E. throws out are cringey and eye-rolling at best and distractingly bad at worst. Most of the characters, while redone to not be exactly what they originally were, don’t hit right and the main characters are all awful. While I like rooting for jerks to die, I also have my limit on how much I want to deal with it. Most of the music and even some of the sound effects don’t hold up and the retread idea just doesn’t make sense. While parts 2 and 3 are goofy or less than spectacular, at least they are different enough and stand out in positive ways. Finally, the Illuminati thing just really falls flat for me. Whether its because it feels half-baked and not explored enough or just that it gives a reason for what the family does, which is a cardinal sin for horror in general and classic slashers specifically, its just not the way to go here.
Verdict
I eagerly look forward to being told I’m wrong, but Texas Chainsaw 4 just doesn’t hold up. If that means that it somehow got worse over 30 years or that it stayed bad is up for debate, but it is definitely in the pile of movies in this series that I don’t want to revisit. It’s not so bad it’s good enough to throw on in the background and it’s not good or different enough to be a good break in the series run. I’m bummed it did so poorly at the box office because its creators had the right thoughts going in but I see why it was such a mess to make and release. Texas Chainsaw 4 needs to be left to the backwoods of Texas as it does not stand the Test of Time.
A couple of the previous episodes of The Test of Time can be seen below. To see more, click over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
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