A new segment to my humble little blog, "In Defense of," where I do my best to defend a movie, album, band, etc. that I feel doesn't get the credit that it deserves. For this installment, I'm going to try to defend the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre II.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released in 1974. It's considered to be essential viewing, and one of the cornerstones of the horror genre by most fans. The gore is subtle, and there's not much blood, especially compared to modern horror fare. And yet, people remember it as being shocking and violent. It is shocking, and truly disturbing, but not because of gore or blood, or even the violence, which is relatively subdued. Texas Chainsaw Massacre delves into the psyche of a twisted family of killers, who have degraded themselves so far for so long that they can no longer differentiate between human beings and cattle raised for the slaughter. Before they slaughtered humans, they slaughtered cattle as their family business. But their livelihood and way of life has been threatened and permanently changed by new technology and new practices in the slaughterhouse industry. Their way of life, and all that they've known is now considered inhumane and barbaric. But they're good at it. And they love their work. What's a group of skilled and passionate slaughterhouse butchers to do when the business dries up? They start using humans for their meat supply.
Everyone remembers Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, as he's become the figurehead of the franchise, in the same vein as Jason from the Friday the 13th movies, and Freddy from A Nightmare On Elm Street. Leatherface is a brute; a hefty man who wields a chainsaw and hunts like a bloodhound. But he's not even the most frightening character in the film. His family is far more twisted than Leatherface is. Leatherface is the muscle of the family, not the mastermind. In fact, Leatherface is arguably the most compassionate of them all. He hunts and kills. It's as simple as a job task for him. His family, however, enjoys torturing their food. Leatherface is also the closest thing to a female or motherly influence that the family has. There is no mother character, and the grandmother, it turns out, is a corpse. Leatherface wears makeup and an apron in some scenes, and it's his job to prepare "meals" for the family, much like the stereotypical 50's housewife archetype. They boss him around like unappreciative children, and even beat him when he disobeys. And that's what's so terrifying about Texas Chainsaw Massacre; the 6 foot tall, couple hundred pound, chainsaw wielding madman, who wears the sewn-together flesh of his victims as a mask, is the least damaged villain in the group. It's a compelling story, and it's truly scary, without relying upon shock value and visceral overload. And that's why it's a classic.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre would have been fine as a one time, stand-alone entry in the horror pantheon. So understandably, many fans didn't believe that a sequel was necessary. And the tone of Texas Chainsaw Massacre II is much different. Director Tobe Hooper, who also directed and created Texas Chainsaw Massacre, has always claimed that the original film was intended to be much more comedic than people realized. That's a little hard to believe given the subject matter of a homicidal, cannibalistic family that takes such joy in torturing their victims, especially their final victim, a helpless young woman. At any rate, the comedic elements are ramped up and far more obvious in the sequel. Many fans disliked the change, and it's one of the reasons why they dislike the sequel.
I feel that the comedic elements are in good taste. They're not so idiotic that they're distracting. They're still very much in the dark comedy realm, and the film still has a dark and unsettling feel to it. In fact, the comedic elements only help to show just how detached and twisted the family really is. The villains are even crazier, with the introduction of family member Choptop; a shell shocked Vietnam War veteran with a steel plate in his head, who lights the end of a bent clothes hanger and uses it to scratch at the headwound around the plate, which removes flecks of dead skin... which he then eats. He's easily the most entertaining lunatic in the family, played by the always brilliant Bill Moseley. Leatherface is back, of course, and he's just as threatening, But he's growing as a person, at least as much as possibly for Leatherface, and his "compassion" is starting to get in the way of his work. He's starting to discover women and his natural human urges toward them, to the displeasure of his brother Choptop and his father. And also, to the displeasure of many fans.
Leatherface is a cold blooded killer, afterall. There's no room for humanistic behavior or compassion in a killer. Yet Leatherface hesitates killing the female lead in Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, and even decides to help her escape from the family. He has feelings for her. This is, of course, contradictory of the original film, where Leatherface just killed without question. And arguably, he killed much better looking (all due respect to actress Caroline Williams) and crush worthy co-eds than the female lead in part II. The idea of Leatherface feeling any compassion was a tough pill to swallow for most fans. But to me, it makes perfect sense.
The events of part II supposedly happened 14 years after the events of part I. As I stated before, I believe Leatherface is the most human of anyone in the family. He doesn't speak in anything more than ape-like grunts, but you never got the sense that he particularly enjoyed hurting people; he just did his job, usually without question. He's always been the motherly figure in the family, and he was at the mercy of his alpha male brothers and father, often treated like a slave or a pet rather than an equal. So to me, it makes sense that he would relate to a victim. He fears his family in the same way that his victims fear them. He doesn't want to get hurt any more than they do, but he knows that they'll hit him if he disobeys or fails. And he's maturing. He's becoming more like a teenager, which means he's starting to get interested in girls, albeit in a far less developed way that normal human beings. He's testing the waters, as it were. His brothers , only slightly more developed than Leatherface, have always been rebellious and disobedient to some extent. Leatherface is starting to rebel in his own way, by disobeying his father and trying to change their ways.
Then again, maybe that's just reading too much into things. It could be that it's just a fun horror movie. Much less serious than the original, sure, but disturbing nonetheless. Not only are the family members cruel and twisted, but they also have fun being insane and cruel, which in turn makes them even more frightening. Not to mention, they've somehow managed to keep their evil deeds a secret for more than 14 years, while selling their cannibal meat to the unsuspecting townspeople. The gore is amped up in part II, brought to you by practical effects master Tom Savini. It's gross, to be sure, but it's not overwhelming or gratuitous. Just enough to be viscerally shocking, without inducing too much disgust or nausea.
All in all, it's a fun horror movie. Is it flawed? Of course. Some of the acting outside of the main cast is really, really poor. The opening sequence is just bizarre and goofy, with stereotypical 80's yuppies freely shooting their gun at road signs and drinking beer while driving. The transition from night to day is alarming and very sudden. And it's hard to believe that the family simply packed up everything and moved upstate, undetected and unquestioned, taking refuge in an abandoned amusement park, or that they did all of that and set up a company that sells chili and other foodstuffs to unsuspecting citizens. Bill Moseley is completely over the top (over the Choptop?) which, while entertaining and suited to the character, isn't very developed. He wasn't in the original, and how he came to be with the family isn't explained. He just shows up, and he's insane like the others, so you accept that he's just another one of the clan. It would have been nice to get just a bit more backstory on the family. Then again, maybe the fact that we really don't know much about them makes them all the more terrifying. Some of Tom Savini's effects are a bit cheesy as well; in particular, the first kill. Although, it seems like it was intentionally so. The ending is also a little unsatisfying, as you're left not really knowing what happens to some of the characters. But the humor adds to the atmosphere, it's just as scary as the original, and there's not a dull moment to be found. There are some genuinely effective jump scares as well, that still work today, and better than a lot of modern attempts.
And there's a chainsaw fight... between Leatherface and Dennis Hopper. And it's glorious.
Oh, and Primus sampled a line of dialogue from the film in their song Jerry Was A Racecar Driver.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre II is on Netflix as a physical disc mailing. It can also generally be found for $5 or so at places like Five Below and Big Lots. If you haven't seen the original, by all means check that one out first. If you enjoy it, give part II a shot.
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