By Geno McGahee
One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1974 classic THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. The success of this film has led to many follow ups and many films that were heavily inspired by it. We’ve seen remakes and re-imaginings and a re-launch recently, but in 1994, there was an attempt to get the train back on track.
In 1986, we saw a comedic follow up that didn’t sit well with the fans of the original. In 1990, LEATHERFACE tried to turn the series into a FRIDAY THE 13TH clone. The essence was lost, but in TCM: THE NEXT GENERATION, we had a return to form, more or less. Leatherface was changed back to his whimpering mentally challenged character, but new characters made their way into it and that’s when it got strange.
A group of kids get lost on a back road when Vilmer (McConaughey) of “Illuminati Towing” pulls up and proves to be a killer and part of the Leatherface clan. The focus of the family is on Jenny (Zellweger) and they quickly kidnap her and kill all of the others. There isn’t much more to say about it other than that.
A sophisticated character and love interest to Vilmer, Darla (Tonie Perensky), is introduced and I enjoyed her. She actually seemed pretty real and that’s a lot of credit to the actress playing the role. The rest of the characters are very unbelievable and annoying at times. Leatherface (Robert Jacks) was very close to the first and made the connection, but the house was different and the family didn’t resemble what we saw in the first.
This is not a good movie. I’ll get that out of the way, but Zellweger’s performance has to rank up there with one of the worst in horror history and I’m counting all of the performances in TROLL 2. She shows no emotion and no interest. Maybe she scored her Hollywood deal right before she filmed this and she couldn’t get out of this and just went through the motions, but the film really suffered for it and shame on her for not giving any effort.
Praise has to be given to McConaughey for his performance. He didn’t have much to work with, but he gave his all and was very amusing. He is the leader of this cult and he is off his rocker. He is cold and violent and has this fun element to him, but all his madness cannot make this worth a watch, but as a die-hard TCM fan, I had to stick with it.
We learn something new about the “Slaughter” family. Are you fucking serious? They named the family the “Slaughter” family? On IMDB, they call Leatherface “Leatherface Slaughter.” Stupid. Well, anyway, the new revelation about this group is that they are linked to the Illuminati and under their control. The violence and terror is there as some sort of experiment. OK, I’m lost.
The writer, Kim Henkel, obviously tried to put out a message in this film. He wanted the world to know that the Illuminati were giving him shit and he wanted to shove it up their ass. Considering the fact that the film was buried, it’s fair to say that his message didn’t come through. Unfortunately, the Illuminati storyline seemed too forced in. I liked how Darla mentioned the JFK assassination and the secret society that rules the world. Considering what we have learned about the true movers and shakers of the world, it’s safe to say that Henkel was ahead of his time, but even this cool addition couldn’t help this wreck.
The Illuminati shows up at the door and Jenny gets away but is then picked up by a limo with the New World Order spokesman, driving off and leaving many questions. Perhaps there was a plan to send this movie into a new direction and further expose the true power behind the world, but it is strange to use the TCM as a launching pad for it.
TCM: THE NEXT GENERATION was a baby step in the right direction for the series but as familiar as it tried to be, it was rather strange and new. I think that all TCM fans would find something redeeming in this and I did. I did enjoy seeing Leatherface back to proper form in this but questionable characters and an unusual storyline leaves most scratching their head and wondering what the hell we just watched.
Rating: 3.5/10 – Leatherface is in the Illuminati
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