Director: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Jim Siedow, Bill Moseley, Bill Johnson, Ken Evert and Lou Perryman
Certificate: 18
Running Time: 101 minutes
Synopsis: Tobe Hooper’s sequel sees Leatherface and Company continue their murderous exploits. This time around, local DJ Stretch runs afoul of the Sawyers when she gets mixed up in the brutal slaying of two youngsters. However, Lieutenant Lefty Enright is hell-bent on avenging the murder of his nephew Franklin in the first film!
Missing the shear intensity and tone of Hooper’s macabre 1974 masterpiece, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 may not come close to matching the director’s original gritty classic, yet it certainly has balls for sidestepping in a totally different direction. Leatherface and his cannibalistic clan are finally given a name with the returning Jim Siedow without doubt the highlight as the all-smiling patriarch of his dysfunctional family. Bill Moseley’s crazed Nam-vet Chop Top may be the most memorable in the eyes of horror fans. Still, it’s the weathered and late returnee from the first film that steals the show with his quotable and hilarious performance as ‘The Cook’ and Chilli Champion, Drayton Sawyer. “It’s all in the prime meat!”
The demented opening music is an immediate clue to the more comedic approach (and pretty much continues without much change throughout) Hooper and his screenwriter M.T. Kit Carson were going for. Immediately taking a pot shot at the yuppie class system as our chainsaw-wielding killer proves the saw is still family. Looking back, TCM2 is gonzo filmmaking at its finest but coming 14 years after the visceral horror hit which shocked a generation, it has continually been looked at as a black sheep of the entire franchise. However, it was always the intention to go that way and Hooper and his team make no apologies for not wanting to retrace the same steps. There are obvious nods to the original – a metallic sliding door at the radio station; a skeleton in a wheelchair hinting at a past character’s demise; an almost exact replica of the infamous dinner scene – which is an obvious attempt at tying it in and appeasing faithful fans (and studio chiefs at the notorious and now defunct Cannon and Golan-Globus companies).
Long-legged scream queen Caroline Williams, like Moseley, went on to make a name for herself as a genre veteran and is terrific alongside the late Lou Perryman’s L.G., while Dennis Hopper is oddly cast as the perusing Lieutenant Enright. Obsessing over capturing the killers of his brother’s kids from the original. It was marked as Hopper’s comeback from a hell-raising period in his life of drug and alcohol abuse. It’s a crazed performance that is almost as unhinged as our flesh-masked, sexually inept maniac (Bill Johnson taking over the chainsaw from Gunner Hansen). Another worthy mention is effects maestro Tom Savini, whose team as ever put on a gore-some show. Particularly with two prolonged hammer-swinging scenes and the chainsaw face-off between Lefty and Leatherface. Not forgetting the freaky first-rate make-up on Ken Evert’s Grandpa!
Perhaps what lets this new edition down, despite its Blu-ray debut, is the transfer. It’s not as crisp or clear as I’d have liked but is a marginal step up from previous DVD and laserdisc releases. Thankfully the special features are outstanding, even with some carried over from those aforementioned formats. More exciting than anything is the chance to catch Hooper’s experimental short films and his full-length debut EGGSHELLS for the very first time. All are included on an extra third disc. Packaging as ever from Arrow is top class!
Film
Overall package
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 is released on limited edition Blu-ray from the 11th November via Arrow Video.
Extras:
- High Definition digital transfers of three Tobe Hooper films
- Original uncompressed audio tracks for all films
- Limited Edition Packaging, newly illustrated by Justin Erickson
- Individually Numbered #/10,000 Certificate
- Exclusive Limited Edition Extras
DISC 1 THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation from a digital transfer supervised by Director of Photography Richard Kooris
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with director and co-writer Tobe Hooper, moderated by David Gregory
- Audio commentary with stars Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams and special-effects legend Tom Savini, moderated by Michael Felsher
- It Runs in the Family A 6 part documentary looking at the genesis, making-of and enduring appeal of Hooper s film. With interviews including star Bill Johnson, co-writer L. M. Kit Carson, Richard Kooris, Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Tom Savini, Production Designer Cary White and more!
- Alternate Opening sequence with different musical score
- Deleted scenes
- Still Feelin’ the Buzz – Interview with horror expert Stephen Thrower, author of Nightmare USA
- Original Trailer
DISC 2 BLU-RAY & DISC 3 DVD TOBE HOOPER S EARLY WORKS LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition (DVD) presentation of two of Tobe Hooper s early works, available on home video for the first time in the world
- The Heisters (1964) Tobe Hooper s early short film restored in HD from original elements [10 mins]
- Eggshells (1969) Tobe Hooper s debut feature restored in HD from original elements [90 mins]
- Audio Commentary on Eggshells by Tobe Hooper
- In Conversation with Tobe Hooper – the legendary horror director speaks about his career from Eggshells to Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
- Trailer Reel
