From what I have discovered, 1986 was really a great year for horror sequels. With one of my all time favorites, Evil Dead 2, being released this year, it was hard to believe it had an equally as bizarre twin lurking around. Late last night I decided to get an early start on my list and slapped on "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" to knock off the first item.... and, to say the least, it was nothing like what I had suspected.
Ok, so we all remember Tobe Hooper's original, right? Well, even if you're completely out of touch with the horror genre, here's a quick recap: A bunch of dumb-ass kids driving through hickville Texas for fun stumble onto this remote, archaic house that's home to most sadistic, inbred killers of all time. Hooper really helped define the modern slasher-horror genre with this film. Seeing it when I was only a kid terrified me - scarring me with a phobia of Texas I still carry to this day. Needless to say, the prequel is a classic, and it's horror and suspense is still hard to beat even by today's standards... but my guess is that Hooper understood this when he first made the film because his sequel shared none of its predecessor's stunning qualities. When Hooper returned behind the camera nearly a decade later to complete this add-on, he tried for something completely different.
It's a dark comedy. An over-the-top slasher romp that will either have you rolling your eyes or laughing uncontrollably throughout the whole picture. Want to know which one you'd be doing? Just check out the poster up at the top of the post.
A clear rip-off from "The Breakfast Club." If you can laugh at that, then there's a good chance this film's for you. It's meant to be a parody... crazy and insane, with a heaping dose of gore.
The premise of the sequel is simple: One night as a couple of douche-bags are driving across Texas to get some action, they play chicken with an unknown truck on the highway causing the truck to swerve off the road into a ditch. The kids take off, laughing at their jackass-ery, when all of a sudden the truck returns with Leatherface on the roof waving his chainsaw and wearing a corpse as a costume. Of course he hacks up the kids causing a big car accident. The next day Lt. "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper) - a Texas Ranger - appears at the crime scene still trying to solve the disappearance of his niece and nephew who perished in the first movie. Let me just say this one thing: Lefty it insane! After buying three chainsaws to arm himself at the beginning of the film, Lefty spends the entire movie searching for the Sawyer family's home; thirsty for blood. By the end of the film Lefty and Leatherface have a full on sword battle with chainsaws. Absolutely epic.
The best thing about this whole film - aside from the bloody chainsaw battle - was the Sawyer family. Of course we all know Leatherface and L.G. McPeters (The crooked sheriff from the first film), but this time they also included Chop-Top. This guy's ridiculous.
Apparently he's a Vietnam vet (which explains his absence in the first movie) that suffered some sort of head injuring causing that delightful metal plate you see in the photo. During his introduction, he constantly picks at it with that rusty coat hanger (no, it's not just for abortions) then eats the scabs he pulls off. He and the lead girl Stretch (a radio D.J. that tragically became involved when she was witness to Leatherface killing those jackass kids) have an all out brawl during the climax where she cuts him down with a chainsaw. Chop-Top falls to his death after being hacked, then we pull out to Stretch standing on the roof of the Sawyer house waving around the chainsaw like a lunatic with the sun setting behind her. Beautiful... and fucking hilarious.
A worthy watch if I do say so myself. Shame it took me so long to pull it off the shelf. Now if there was only one way to top this bloody masterpiece? "Oh, wait," say Director Tobe Hooper, "Lets grab Stewart Copeland of The Police and have him sing over the credits with a really gay, upbeat song!"
Brilliant.
No comments:
Post a Comment