Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Die Rückkehr

Let's be frank. You don't complain to the manager of your local McDonald's when you don't get a five star meal. Guess what folks, you just ordered the value meal that's been sitting in the warmer just a little too long. The fourth installment of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre sucks... appropriately so.

Let me reiterate that this is the third sequel to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If anyone is still surprised that it didn't land any Oscars, please please seek help. Personally, for yet another recycled dimestore drive-in flick, I thought this one paid off quite nicely... true, the writing was just this side of atrocious (although I had heard word of an original cut of the film I have had neither the luck to procure one nor the drive to even attempt to), the acting - for the most part - was terrible, but it's still fun to single out the future stars who actually did give performances of startling quality. I must say that I enjoyed the movie for being a regurgitated horror film... I got a few good scares out of it and quite frankly some scenes flat out disturbed me. Sound design was nice, and there were quite a few decent shots here and there, making good (though endless) use of lighting through dust and fog. Editing was nothing superb but oftentimes, the better the cutting, the less we notice it. Altogether, it was a technically aware movie. Not one to expect the unexpected I wasn't disappointed with the film's shortcomings, and when you try to dissect the plot there are some pretty substantial ones. Still, a fine delivery, particularly after the style-sterile attempt of the third film.

Not the greatest film ever, but far from being the worst.

Anyone expecting oscar caliber film material when they popped this nugget in their VCR is kidding themselves.

Saying this movie sucks is similar to the people who stand in front of me at McDonald's complaining that their burger wasn't prepared properly. This aint Western Sizzlin, ya know!

So it was mindless, laughable, and possessed all of the other attributes that all TCM movies have. So what.

Can we really say that the original TCM had any kind of cinematic value. It was intense, graphic...yes. But the dialogue, (the small amount that it required) was no more cerebral than any TCM produced after.

I agree with the viewer in Baltimore that the mechanical leg was very funny. I preferred the trailer park babe who was constantly making references to her fake breasts. She was funny. The movie did go downhill with the arrival of the freak in the limo. It became very disjointed. So did all of the others, though. All TCM movies have always been about one subject...mindless violence and shock value.

If you didn't like it...fine. I was disappointed that the two main characters are embarrassed about making the movie. It's not something to be proud of, no. But it is still a piece of film that they got paid for. Also a break that they were given, as unknown actors. Just goes to show that once actors make it to the top, they forget the mere humans at the bottom, that boosted them up.

Well said, Rothman. Whatever this movie is supposed to be, it fails on every level. It's not scary, it's not disturbing, it's not entertaining, it's only funny periodically when you can't believe how stupid it is, and it essentially killed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise until it was rebooted a decade later.

The only reason anyone would have any inclination to watch this is because of its leads - Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey - who were young and naive back then, but they did they best they could with the material they had. Renee played a fine damsel in distress and McConaughey was perfect as an insane cannibalistic psychopath. You can tell he was having fun with the part, and the fun he has is contagious sometimes especially knowing how huge he has become since.

The movie itself is downright horrendous. It starts off as a typical slasher: a few teens leaving prom get stranded in the woods, then they encounter strange characters, and from then it devolves into a nonsensical screaming battle between everyone. Literally there are scenes in this movie where the only lines are "AHHHH!" Leatherface has gone full transvestite for this installment. They also end the movie with some sort of conspiracy that these cannibals have been around for thousands of years and there are men in suits that check up on them or something. It makes absolutely no sense and trying to piece it together will ensure a loss of brain cells.

This is the worst of the pre-millennial TCMs by a long shot. Only watch if you're a die-hard TCM completist or you want to watch McConaughey yell like crazy for a while. Either way, you're bound to be disappointed.

This movie is definitely not winning any awards., but it is definitely a guilty pleasure for alot of people who like B quality horror movies and ridiculous cult movies. You know the ones, "So bad that it's good."

I can't believe this is rated as a bad film by so many. It is one of my favorites. It's pretty twisted and sick in a realistic way. Indeed it's not like the other TCMs but it's the same plot line , but completely different in a way. Mr. McConaughey has a great role and is acting like never before. Try seeing the movie and finding the good qualities instead of searching for whats bad about it like everyone else does. The psycholigy is brilliant. A must see for all !