The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
Director: Tobe Hooper
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Jim Siedow, Bill Mosley
Scream Factory
April 19, 2016
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
I can remember being a teenager, sitting in a theater, when the trailer for this film came on. This was back before the internet (yes, I am old) and while I got the occasional Fango from time to time, I had heard nothing about this movie coming. When the trailer started I was interested. When they showed someone oiling up a chainsaw, I remember saying aloud, “no way.” When it was over I had a big goofy grin plastered on my face. I loved, loved, loved the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre and I could not believe they were doing a sequel to it. Not just someone, but Tobe Hooper, the man who made the first film. And then it came to theaters and my friends and I snuck in in to see it, as we did for all the R-rated horror flicks of the time, but this one was unrated, so that added an extra air of forbidden to it. Then for the next hour and 41 minutes we were assailed with the most non-TCM-like sequel imaginable. Yes, it took place in Texas and there were chainsaws in it, but other than that, it was nothing like the original. Not in tone, style, scope, or the level of humor and gore.
And. It. Was. Awesome!
TCM 2 answered the question of: how do you make a sequel for a movie as influential as the first Texas Chain Saw Massacre was? Most would have done a copy-and-paste job, and that can be fine. As much as I love all of the early Friday the 13th movies, they’re pretty much just more of the same. But TCM 2 dared to be different. Drastically, defiantly different. Yes, Leatherface and his crazy cannibal clan were back, but everything was turned up way past 11 to somewhere around 29 or so. The cannibalism and onscreen violence, where it was only suggested in the first film, was in your face, red, raw, and runny. The big guy with the chainsaw was, more often than not, upstaged by his kooky bothers. Back was the awesome Jim Siedow as “the cook” now with a rolling roach coach and an askew honest businessman shtick. And then there was newcomer and the breakout star of the show, Bill Mosley, as the incredibly over-the-top ball of frenetic energy and insanity: Chop Top. Every second Bill was on screen he stole the show, and that’s something, considering they also got 60s cinema icon Dennis Hopper to play an unhinged policeman in search of the murderous family. Add the lovely and talented Caroline Williams as a radio DJ that gets wrapped up in the madness and the late, great Lou Perryman as one of the most big-hearted, and spit-est, radio engineers ever, and you have a recipe for amazing.
And yet this movie wasn’t a huge hit when it came out. I think it was too different, it focused too much on the silly that fans of the original, serious movie didn’t know how to take it. But over the years, much like Halloween 3, it has found its audience and has achieved true cult classic status. For me it’s every bit the equal of the original movie, just different. No really, I mean it. It is easily the only TCM sequel worth a watch.
So yeah, I’m thrilled that Scream Factory brought this out on Blu-ray, but what about the extras? Well there are so many of them that they warrant their own Blu-ray. First, there are two versions of this movie here. No, not a director’s cut or anything like that, but disc one has a new 2K HD scan from the introspective film element and disc two has the original HD remaster supervised by the director of photography. So that may be a case of splitting hairs, but I’d rather have it and not want it than want it and not have it.
Disc one has three, yes three commentary tracks. The first is with the director Tobe Hooper. The second is with the DP Richard Mooris, the production designer, Cary White, script supervisor Laura Mooris, and property master Michael Sullivan. The third commentary is with actors Bill Mosley, Caroline Williams and special effects guru Tom Savini. As for other extras, there are deleted scenes, an alternate credit opening sequence, a compilation of various behind the scenes footage, TV spots, still galleries, theatrical trailers, and some extended outtakes from a feature length doc we’ll get to on the next disc.
Disc two has the featurettes “House of Pain” which is a 42 minute interview with a whole bunch of people from the make-up special effects crew that’s very fun and informative, but oddly (and sadly) no Tom Savini here, although he is talked about a lot. “Yuppie Meat” has interviews with actors Chris Douridas and Barry Kinyon who play the first two victims in the movie, and that runs 19 minutes. “Cutting Moments” is a talk with the editor that’s over 17 minutes. “Behind the Mask” is an interview with stunt man (and the guy who was Leatherface) Bob Elmore, that’s nearly 14 minutes. There is a Horror’s Hallowed Grounds with Sean Clark where he visits the real world locations from the film that runs 24 minutes (I always love the HHG segments). Last but in no way least there is a feature-length documentary (1 hour and 22 minutes) from a few years back called It Runs in the Family that pretty much speaks to everyone in the movie, including the late Lou Perryman but not, for whatever the reason, the director, Tobe Hooper.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is an awesome movie. It is every bit as good as the original, but in a completely different way. That is a rare and wonderful thing, it should be celebrated, and it should be part of every horror lover’s home library. And this Scream Factory edition of the movie is THE version to have of it. Consider it beyond highly recommended. I love this weird, fun flick, and you will too.
