The story opens as two rowdy high school seniors race out of control along an abandon stretch of Texas highway in route to a weekend of fun in Dallas.  Heavily intoxicated and in the mood for some fun, these two hellions use their cell phone to call in and harass  on-air DJ, Vantia "Stretch" Block (Caroline Williams). Unable to convince the boys to hang up, Stretch is forced to keep the line open and later with what began as a simple game of chicken with a few good ole boys quickly turns into a nightmare as their gruesome deaths are caught on tape at the radio station. After a fourteen year absences, a legend has now emerges from the shadows.

In steps Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper), former Texas Ranger and uncle of Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother Franklin. It seems Lefty has spent the last fourteen years chasing their ghosts while investigating reports of mysterious chainsaw killings across Texas. Branded a kook by his peers, he is able to get the local paper to carry a a tiny article about his quest and this sparks the interest of Stretch who brings him a copy of the tape. At first mortified, Lefty asks Stretch to play the tape on her nightly show. She does so as a special request from Lefty and terror comes a calling.

As the sounds of this horrible incidents echoes across the airwaves of Texas, a few of Stretch's fans decide to drop by for an unexpected visit. While preparing to leave for the night, she finds Chop Top (Bill Moseley), twin to the "Hitchhiker" (who was stationed in Vietnam during the first film) waiting out in the lobby. When she tries to get rid of him, out of the darkness comes Leatherface ready to rip her in two.  But it seems the "saw"  has taken a shining to Stretch (lookout for some weird pseudo-chainsaw sex) and let's her live. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 Cast & Crew Info Go to the Leatherface FBI File OUR RANKING IN THE SERIES: #2

Stretch follows along as the boys head back to their subterranean hideout beneath an abandon theme park (home of the "Last Roundup Rolling Grill Catering").   Now the ultimate battle of chainsaws begin as Lefty seeks freedom from the pain that has burned deep within his soul for so long. As for the ending, I will leave you with this question ...."Who will survive and what will be left of them?"

One of the best sequel to any horror film. Directed by the master of the macabre, Tobe Hooper who crafted a wonderfully black and gore-filled follow-up to the original classic. I particularly enjoyed the characterizations of both Bill Moseley (Chop Top)  and Jim Siedow (Drayton Swayer...the Cook). Even Bill Johnson (Leatherface)  was an ample fill-in for Gunnar Hansen who didn't return to reclaim the part he made famous. Plus the added bonus of have Tom Savini doing the the special effects make this a "must see"  for any horror fan. A classic film!!!!!

The film begins with reports of a gruesome discovery of a mass grave on an abandon stretch of Texas highway. Playing like news footage from a WWII concentration camp, this stench of death only foreshadows the terror that lies ahead.  All the while, a couple (Michelle and Scott) is making their way across country trying to patch up their failing relationship. As these travelers try to erase these dark images from their mind, they pull into the "Last Chance" gas station for a quick fill-up.

After a run-in with a sicko station attendant, who apparently kills a hitchhiking cowboy, Scott and Michelle barely escape with their lives. As the they speed off down the road, they unwise decide to take a uncharted shortcut. Wary that trouble may be coming, they try to make sense of the madness behind them unaware that they have taken a detour onto the highway to hell.

Before they know it, they are forced off the highway by a mysterious pickup truck, narrowly escape a deadly encounter with Leatherface, and finally have their world come crashing to a complete stop. At the same time, an ex-Ranger (Ken Foree) good ole boy happens to be come around the corner and just misses colliding with them as he veers off the road. Now the cat and mouse begins as Leatherface and his "new family" begins their hunt for tonight's supper. Only problem this time is that the prey is packing a high power firearm and more than willing to fight back. As for the ending, I will leave you with some questions ...."Who will survive, what will be left of them, and who cares?"

Leatherface Texas Chainsaw Massacre III Cast & Crew Info Go to the Leatherface FBI File OUR RANKING IN THE SERIES: #3

My major disappointment in this third installment in the "chainsaw saga" is that the story neglected any reference to the true "family". Other than Leatherface, Grandpa is the only returning member and this time around, he is just a sawdust filled corpse. Sure they were replaced by an equally demented bunch of sicko, which includes a pig-tail little girl with a baby's corpse as a doll, but these characters lack any depth, conviction, and believability that brought true fear to the first two films. The story was written by David Schow, who went on to script "The Crow", but again his failure in recognizing Leatherface's lineage cause this film to fall far short at least in my opinion. This film is far from the worst of the chainsaw movies, that honor would have to go the fourth installment. Overall, it is a so-so film that any chainsaw should see at least once.                                     

The story being with a bunch of kids leaving the Prom early to go on a little join. Too bad for them (and us), they make a wrong turn and end up lost in the woods. But you can't guess who lives out there?? No, it ain't the Brady Bunch, although they would be scarier. Throw in a chainsaw or two, a meathook, and Leatherface and you think you could make a TCM movie. Well, at least that is what the makers of this film thought they could do. Of course they failed miserably. The plot gets confusing when "The Family" is linked to the "Illuminati". We go on to find that "The Family's" reign of terror has solely been directed by this group and that killing and cannibalism are just a job. Sounds pretty stupid to me too.

I really consider myself a big fan of the series and being the horror completest that I am, I began searching for this movie as soon as I heard it was available. I have watched the series slowly deteriorate since the first film, but thought having Kim Henkel (co-writer TCM )behind the camera would offer a ray of hope. Boy was I wrong, I now consider Kim Henkel, the "John Russo" of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, well without those sleazy "Scream Queens". What I mean by this is the Henkel has only made one really good movie (TCM) and he used that name to get this film made, and there is nothing wrong with that. This film is just one big rip off of the first film. You will see many duplicated scenes in "TCM 4", just without the style of execution of Tobe Hooper.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation Cast & Crew Info Go to the Leatherface FBI File OUR RANKING IN THE SERIES: #4

This is one of the biggest mockery of "The Family" to ever grace a TCM movie. First, Leatherface was a complete idiot. Just take a look at the cover to see where I am coming from. Gunnar Hansen probably can't sleep at night know that a character he so masterfully crafted has turned into a drag queen wannabe wielding a chainsaw. Who would be afraid of that? You wouldn't even know that this was a "Chainsaw" film, if the title didn't appear at the begin of the movie. I do have to say Matthew McConaughey (Contact, A Time to Kill) did pretty good as the Vilmer, the psycho leader of the clan and in fact if you were to remove any linkage to TCM (i.e. Leatherface and the name) this probably wouldn't have been a bad movie, but since you can't do that it sucked. Avoid this film at all cost, unless you are a sadist like myself. ((**For all of you who email me about the mystery woman on the gurney, that was Marilyn Burns, "Sally" from the first TCM , the guy wheeling her was Paul A. Partain (Franklin) and the Cop at the end was John Dugan (Grandpa from the first TCM).  

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