Reviews (129)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4 (1997) d: Henkel, Kim
The film was surrounded by controversy from day one. After waiting for Renee Zellweger's hit film Jerry Maguire (1996) to finish its theatrical release, Matthew McConaughey's agents [Creative artists Agency] then began pressuring Columbia / Tri-Star to put the movie on hold. I don't know how true all this is, but I do know that I originally had to get my copy bootlegged from a Japanese Laser Disc just to see the film in North America. If horror films are too embarrassing to your career, then don't act in them, and if they are not worth marketing, then stay away, we don't want to give you our money anyways. Are you listening Universal [House of 1,000 Corpses (2001)] Pictures? Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Next Generation was a remake not a sequel. Emotionally damaging for the bruised and beaten actors, director Kim Henkel, who wrote the original finally got to tell the story the way he wanted it told. I thought the added secret society plot was brilliant, yet the film doesn't have that grimmy, dirty feeling that the original gives you. Perhaps it was a backlash against the peace loving sixties, which made the films of the 1970's very dark and depressing, unfortunately this remake doesn't seem to capture that mood

Pure crap
I'm already wasting time writing this. But, this movie is a discrace to horror movies everywhere. A negative 5 !!!!!!

twisted weirdness
I just saw this movie a few days ago and it surprised me by how weird it is!
Great INSANE performances and the return of Leather Face's feminine side from the end of the first massacre as well as some crazyness beyond description make this a wild ride!
Check out the reviews for the other dvd version of this film here on Amazon too before picking this one up. You'll either love it or hate it!

This movie is bad.
I was surprised about how bad this movie was considering it was written by the co-writer of the original film.When Kim Henkel wrote this I belive she was trying to write an entirely different story from the original film.Now in its own right this is a good film.If they didn't give it the same name and wrote Leatherface into a different character the movie would've been better.But considering this was an installment into the series it really sucked.I'm a huge fan of the TCM films,i've seen every one including the remake and this is at the bottom.The movie is did introduce two of todays biggest stars which are Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey who was recently in a good horror film called "Frailty".This movie is one of the only two box office flops in the TCM series and its not to hard to understand,considering Leatherface is wearing a dress and lipstick and the fact that when that woman flashes her boobs you can see that they're fake.The makeup is bad,the script is awful,

the acting is bad even from Zellweger and McConaughey and it's a bad movie,but if you have to see all the movies in the series,if you have to.

a MASTERPIECE one of my alltime favs.
The New York Times even said it "was one of the few sequels that is as good as the original". The irony is gorgeous. Leatherface is now a sensitive crossdressing type that keeps to herself and gets upset when there is quarreling in the house. Except at the end when SHE'S DRESSED LIKE STEVIE NICKS AND DOES STEVIE NICKS TWIRLS WAVING A CHAINSAW OVER HER HEAD IN A SUNNY WHEATFIELD. It will bring a tear to your eye. This movie is chilling, hilarious, well written and well acted. No boring parts, no confusing parts, just an imaginative rollercoaster ride through hell and back. Conceptually is does stray from the other Chainsaws, but in a delightfully twisted way, which HAS to be why some purists were confused and gave it a bad review. Who the hell cares about Renee or that other guy anyways. ... Read more

Album Description

Full title, 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation'. Canadian edition of 1995 horror film. Starring Renee Zellweger & Matthew McConaughey.Summary - In this third sequel to slasher classic 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', four Texas teens are abducted by a family of psychos on their way home from the senior prom. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Star-studded Cast
I took one look at the cover of this movie and nearly coughed up blood. In my mind, Matthew McConnaghey(whatever his name is) and Renee Zellweger DO NOT belong in my Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. It seems downright blasphemous.. until you watch it.

This movie is highly hilarious. Here's your summary:

Four teens(including Zellweger) go on an after prom ride into the boonies, only to find a nearly dead kid on the road. The teens split up to find help with a broken flash-light, only to run into a crazy redneck(McConnaughey) and his equally crazy family. Hijinx ensue.

The old chainsaw family is replaced with a new one which, while my purist side balks, is almost equal to the original characters. Here we have McConnaughey as a crazy mofo with a robotic leg, his quote-spouting brother, his lusty and very battered wife, and, of course, good old Leather. A winning combination.

Most TCM fans are angered by the inclusion of Leatherface cross-dressing, and I can't blame them. If the thought of that turns you green, stay away from this movie. I, however, can't argue with Leatherface doing the chainsaw dance in a dress, no sir.

This movie is definetely not for purists;. I would, however, recommend it as a good time. Some times you have to be afraid of angry retarded men with chainsaws, and sometimes you have to laugh with them. This movie is for your laughs.

So bad it made even my Dvd player getting the hic ups ..
This movie is so bad you gotta see it to believe. This movie it pure, total 100% crap! No humor, bad (over)acting, (or no acting at all) no story, no horror(!), no nothing. Even the quality of the sound and images are way below standard.

Only bought & saw it cuzz it was only 3 Euro's, wich is way, way, way, waaayyyyyyyy too much money for such a shamefull dud.

My tip? Throw it in the open fire place, it may stink a bit, but at least it warms ye up for a few wee minutes..

Ps. It's not possible to give no stars.. so henceforth the one :(

Do Not Buy This DVD!
Not for the reason below, but because it is simply the worst Chainsaw movie ever. I thought nothing could be as bad as Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, but this takes the cake.

Do Not Buy This DVD!!!
Even though it's easily available elsewhere, Columbia has not chosen to release the uncut version of this movie on DVD. The case claims that it has the 94 minute version but it doesn't. The production notes they list are also not on this DVD. Normally this company is trustworthy but here they're just slacking and lying about it.

Not nearly as bad as I was led to believe.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (Kim Henkel, 1994)

Everything about Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation points to it not only being a huge underground success, but achieving some mainstream notoriety as well, just as its grandpappy did twenty years previous. The original writer comes back to helm the flick in his directorial debut, and the casting folks manage to land a few stars who look like they're on their way up. And my, did they strike a goldmine: two of the movie's stars are Renee Zellweger (Chicago, Bridget Jones' Diary) and Matthew McConaughey (Reign of Fire, Amistad). I mean, this has every necessary Hallmark of underground reverence.

It has gotten exactly the opposite. Listed near the bottom of IMDB's bottom 100 and universally reviled by the reviews posted there. Why everyone's hatin' on Leatherface is beyond me. My best guess is that a whole bunch of people who had never heard of any of the films, but were Renee Zellweger fans, rented it as a kind of completist thing. Because really, it's not that bad. I've seen at least five films that make this look like Doctor Zhivago in the past year alone (and one of them was nominated for a few Oscars).

If you've seen, or heard about, any of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre flicks, you know what to expect. The main differences is the bevy of teenagers are out on prom night; the brainless jock-type Barry (Tyler Cone [The War at Home]) and his equally annoying girlfriend Heather (Lisa Marie Newmyer [The House on Todville Road]), and the geek, Sean (John Harrison [The Substitute Wife]), with the plucky heroine (Zellweger). Following an accident with another teen (listed in the credits, amusingly, as "I'm Not Hurt"), various members of the bunch, trying to find help, meet up with various townsfolk at various times, and realize there's something very odd going on...

There was great potential here (unlike the other films, Leatherface's house this time is located close to a decent-sized commercial area) to have some real fun with the concept, but instead Henkel and company went with the same straight horror-comedy mix that the whole series works with. (Only the recent remake of the original takes itself at all seriously, which is not necessarily a bad thing.) The comedy is as mean-spirited and ugly as it is in the first film, which some people are going to hate and some will take as a welcome return to form (one figures Henkel was probably responsible for most of the original film's gallows humor). As usual, there's a lot going on that makes no real sense within the story (McConaughey's Rube Goldberg-esque prosthetic leg, the insane CIA agent played by a chilling John Gale, etc.), but again, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some of the acting really sucks, but you expect that from a B-grade horror flick. But it succeeds at what it attempts, in a gruesome, low-budget sort of way, and doesn't deserve anywhere near the amount of revilement it has received.

Don't expect greatness, but you'll chuckle a few times. ** ... Read more

Reviews (129)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4 (1997) d: Henkel, Kim
The film was surrounded by controversy from day one. After waiting for Renee Zellweger's hit film Jerry Maguire (1996) to finish its theatrical release, Matthew McConaughey's agents [Creative artists Agency] then began pressuring Columbia / Tri-Star to put the movie on hold. I don't know how true all this is, but I do know that I originally had to get my copy bootlegged from a Japanese Laser Disc just to see the film in North America. If horror films are too embarrassing to your career, then don't act in them, and if they are not worth marketing, then stay away, we don't want to give you our money anyways. Are you listening Universal [House of 1,000 Corpses (2001)] Pictures? Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Next Generation was a remake not a sequel. Emotionally damaging for the bruised and beaten actors, director Kim Henkel, who wrote the original finally got to tell the story the way he wanted it told. I thought the added secret society plot was brilliant, yet the film doesn't have that grimmy, dirty feeling that the original gives you. Perhaps it was a backlash against the peace loving sixties, which made the films of the 1970's very dark and depressing, unfortunately this remake doesn't seem to capture that mood

Pure crap
I'm already wasting time writing this. But, this movie is a discrace to horror movies everywhere. A negative 5 !!!!!!

twisted weirdness
I just saw this movie a few days ago and it surprised me by how weird it is!
Great INSANE performances and the return of Leather Face's feminine side from the end of the first massacre as well as some crazyness beyond description make this a wild ride!
Check out the reviews for the other dvd version of this film here on Amazon too before picking this one up. You'll either love it or hate it!

This movie is bad.
I was surprised about how bad this movie was considering it was written by the co-writer of the original film.When Kim Henkel wrote this I belive she was trying to write an entirely different story from the original film.Now in its own right this is a good film.If they didn't give it the same name and wrote Leatherface into a different character the movie would've been better.But considering this was an installment into the series it really sucked.I'm a huge fan of the TCM films,i've seen every one including the remake and this is at the bottom.The movie is did introduce two of todays biggest stars which are Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey who was recently in a good horror film called "Frailty".This movie is one of the only two box office flops in the TCM series and its not to hard to understand,considering Leatherface is wearing a dress and lipstick and the fact that when that woman flashes her boobs you can see that they're fake.The makeup is bad,the script is awful,

the acting is bad even from Zellweger and McConaughey and it's a bad movie,but if you have to see all the movies in the series,if you have to.

a MASTERPIECE one of my alltime favs.
The New York Times even said it "was one of the few sequels that is as good as the original". The irony is gorgeous. Leatherface is now a sensitive crossdressing type that keeps to herself and gets upset when there is quarreling in the house. Except at the end when SHE'S DRESSED LIKE STEVIE NICKS AND DOES STEVIE NICKS TWIRLS WAVING A CHAINSAW OVER HER HEAD IN A SUNNY WHEATFIELD. It will bring a tear to your eye. This movie is chilling, hilarious, well written and well acted. No boring parts, no confusing parts, just an imaginative rollercoaster ride through hell and back. Conceptually is does stray from the other Chainsaws, but in a delightfully twisted way, which HAS to be why some purists were confused and gave it a bad review. Who the hell cares about Renee or that other guy anyways. ... Read more