"…As long as it isn’t a Part 1." by Lindsay Costello 13. ALL THINGS BEING SEQUEL: …As long as it isn’t a Part 1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 One thing to know about me going into this review is that I largely agree with this tweet, which, unsurprisingly, had people frothing at the mouth. Not only for horror but maybe one of the five best American films ever made, yeah https://t.co/7QQ6t2lyno — Brandon Streussnig (@BrndnStrssng) October 10, 2024 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the perfect New Hollywood film. It's moody, atmospheric, lo-fi, anti-establishment, and thoroughly imaginative, wrenching the slasher genre from its hiding place in the dark of night and shoving it into the bright Texas sunshine. Gas stations, chickens, pick-up trucks, and the entire state of Texas have been freaky since the day this film was released in 1974. Its detached grittiness coaxed the rise of found-footage horror decades later, and Sally Hardesty's maniacal laughter revealed the psychological toll on the final girl for the first time, a theme that's repeated with Halloween's Laurie Strode, Scream's Sidney Prescott, and countless other slasher survivors. I would posit that only Alien has had a wider cultural impact on horror, but Ridley Scott actually cited TCM as an influence on his film.  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's sequel, however, is something completely different. And by "completely different" I mean that Tobe Hooper directed a black comedy, and it's awesome. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 opens with two high schoolers prank-calling a radio station as they cruise down a rural highway, soon to be slaughtered by Leatherface. The murder is overheard (and recorded) by local disc jockey Stretch. Former Texas Ranger Lefty (Dennis Hopper!) gets involved when he catches wind of the recording. Turns out he's got skin in the game—he's the uncle of Sally and Frank Hardesty, two of Leatherface's previous targets. When Stretch plays the recording on her radio show to drum up public response, she accidentally summons Leatherface and his psychotic, hippie-adjacent relative Chop-Top, who had a metal plate grafted onto his skull during the Vietnam War. The pair show up at the radio station to kill her, a protracted scene in which Chop-Top hollers the film's most important line: "Lick my plate, you dog dick!" The central thrust of TCM 2 is that Leatherface is horny now. He illustrates this by positioning a chainsaw dangerously close to Stretch's (jeanshorted, thankfully) vulva. Against a soundtrack of Oingo Boingo, Concrete Blonde, and the Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck," Stretch is forced to use her sweet Texan charm to fend off Leatherface's chainsaw, which is exactly as awkward and gross as it sounds. It also only works for so long. Soon, Stretch tumbles down a slide into the Sawyer clan's subterranean hell dungeon, where she has other psycho-killers (like silent, hammer-wielding Grandpa) to contend with. There are surprisingly few kills in this sequel, but lots to love. It had roughly 39 times the budget of the original (TCM filmed for around $120,000; TCM 2 for $4.7 million), so the sets are far out, and the gore is squelchy. Hooper also crafts something pretty unusual in the slasher horror genre: The sequel is funny and bizarre, of course, but balances that weirdness with more of his relentless, imaginative gnarliness. If you're keen to check in on Leatherface without quite the isolated brutality of the original, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a prime cut. The Stranger is participating in Scarecrow Video’s Psychotronic Challenge all month long! Every October, Scarecrow puts together a list of cinematic themes and invites folks to follow along and watch a horror, sci-fi, or fantasy flick that meets the criteria. This year, Stranger staffers are joining the fun and we’re sharing our daily recommendations here on Slog! Read more about Scarecrow’s 2024 challenge—and get the watch list—here. And you can track our daily recommendations here! 💀