"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2"

So having just watched "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) two nights ago, I thought it entirely appropriate to watch the sequel last night. Filmed in 1986, this one stars the always wonderfully insane Dennis Hopper (think of the ether-huffing Frank in "Blue Velvet") as the uncle of Sally and Franklin from the first film (you'll remember that Franklin was ceremoniously skewered on Leatherface's power tool). Sally escaped and survived the first film, but fell into a catatonic state at a mental hospital as the result of the trauma of that ordeal. Hopper plays Lefty, a former Texas State Trooper and current Lieutenant Detective of a local police precinct who has an understandable interest in the most recent spate of chainsaw murders. Teaming up with a sexy female local radio DJ, Stretch, who accidentally caught two teenagers' murders on the air, Lefty looks to find the cannibalistic family and take them out for good.

This film has some fundamental differences from the original. For one, the original was meant to inspire stark terror and view almost like a documentary. Part 2 doesn't take itself too seriously as Hopper's character is wonderfully campy (who can't love the scene where he purchases three chainsaws and then hacks the shit out of that poor piece of wood in front of the chainsaw store? And where the fuck else in the world have you ever seen an all-chainsaw store?). The flick could very well have been ruined in the hands of a lesser actor, but Hopper is awesome. Secondly, Leatherface is much different in the follow-up. No, he's still retarded. And yes, he still wears other people's skin on his face, but he shows what seems to be either a twinge of conscience or a retarded schoolboy's crush on our DJ Stretch, using his chainsaw as a phallus in a couple of scenes. He also refuses to kill her when ordered by his family. The old Leatherface would have had that chick on a fucking meathook faster than you could say "Black and Decker." Lastly, Bill Moseley is a fucking revelation as Chop-Top, Leatherface's absolutely demented, Vietnam Vet (complete with a visible metal plate in his head), skin-eating (and I mean his own skin) brother. Moseley seemingly studied the Hitchhiker from the first film and thought "I wanna do that, only a thousand times more bat shit and for the entire film." This fucking guy spends a significant portion of the flick toting around a decomposing corpse. His performance undoubtely swayed Rob Zombie when deciding to cast Moseley as Otis Driftwood in 2003's "House of 1,000 Corpses" and 2005's "The Devil's Rejects".

This film is extremely enjoyable if you go into it with the right mindset. If you're looking for a realistically horrifying vision in the vein of the first installment, you will no doubt be disappointed. This one is more akin to Shaun of the Dead or The Evil Dead 2--gory and silly, but fun and way over the top.

Bottom Line: Essential viewing for all "Chainsaw" fans. It doesn't hurt this film's cause that Part 3 sucked donkey dick.

Rating: 3 out of 5 bloody razors.