| Year of Release | 1994 |
| Director | Kim Henkel |
| Starring | Renee Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey |
Well, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The Next Generation is an interesting film. I’m not sure on the continuity of this one, and how it relates to part 1 and 2. Is it a reboot or a sequel or what? Remains a little unclear to me. Over all it was a reasonably solid and engrossing affair. I won’t go as far as to say it is as good as either part 1 or part 2 (both of which I enjoyed immensely) but yeah, it was a pretty decent watch and I really can’t complain too much. I will say the potential was there to make it a lot better!
IN SEQUENCE?
The opening spiel at the start of the movie stated it was in fact, a continuation of the story. I’m not buying it. It felt more like a retelling of the first story, but without the high impact violence and gore. It did feel a little like a watered down version of events or maybe retold to be more relevant to the current day viewers of the time (mid 90’s) to appeal to a wider market. Whatever the reason it was still a pretty good watch. Young up and coming stars Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey did really good work in their respective roles. This probably what brought the film into the realms of decentness, rather than being stuck in B Grade limbo.
Basically the story revolves around a bunch of teenagers who after their prom get lost in the back-woods of texas. They fall prey to a family of perverted and mentally deficient rednecks (much the same as the first film). It lacks the punch of the first classic film and while some interesting new takes on the story are present, the box office reaction to this film, basically backs up what I’m saying. It was quite OK but nothing special. Regardless you can basically guess the story from there, so there’s no real point in me discussing it any further.
Don’t bust a gut or pay big money to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The next Generation. If like me you like haunting the second hand markets and find it going cheap, its a worthy watch. It just falls short of the first two films which is kind of a shame really. I do believe director Henkel actually did work on the first film of the series as well as Tobe Hooper… which lends it some authenticity but it is really a tale of squandered pontential.
For more great horror flicks be sure to check out https://www.gorenography.com.