About The Film
production information
In 1974, director Tobe Hooper and screenwriter Kim Henkel unleashed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, one of the most influential horror films in movie history. Twenty years and two sequels later, Robert Kuhn, one of the original film's investors, finally got Henkel to not only write THE RETURN OF THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, but direct it as well.
Henkel: "My partner, Bob Kuhn, bullied me into doing it, to tell you the truth... particularly the directing... I had the good fortune of having a great cinematographer, Levie Isaacks, who shot Children of the Corn II- The Final Sacrifice. I would have been in real trouble without him."
Although Henkel's script was the fourth entry in the series, it was not written as a sequel, but as a semi-remake of the original. Henkel: "What I did was approach it with the feeling that the series needed to be revitalized. So, I went back to the original structure. The structure is very similar and the characters have the same names, but they are very different people from the original, although they do share similiar qualities."
One of those qualities was creative freedom. As with the original, the filmmakers eventually decided to finance the project themselves to ensure that the project would not be compromised. Henkel: "We approached some mainstream sources, and what they wanted to do in essence was take the project out of our hands in return for putting up the capital. In other words, we would retain no real control. So we had to raise money by non-traditional means by going directly to individuals for funds. We were always in the situation where we didn't know where the next dollar was coming from, and that was difficult. But at the same time, it yielded a major freedom to us that would not have otherwise been possible."
To star in the film, Henkel and Kuhn recruited a cast of unknowns, although two of them would go to major stardom: Matthew McConaughey [ A Time To Kill ] and Renee Zellweger [ Jerry McGuire ]. THE RETURN OF THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was filmed entirely on location just outside the rural community of Pflugerville, Texas. Shot during the summer of 1994, the production was completed in six weeks.
Making it's debut at the South by Southwest Film and Media Conference on March 12, 1995, THE RETURN OF THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was released theatrically as TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION on August 29, 1997, "an unnerving shriekfest, blackly comic and extreme" (Hollywood Reporter).
Click Here to read an extensive set-preview article that
was issued in Fangoria magazine in September 1994.
did you know...
The original version of this film was titled "The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and was released at the South by Southwest Film and Media Conference on March 12, 1995. It was then later released theatrically at select theaters across the US as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" on August 29, 1997.
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre includes 9 extra minutes of footage that was cut from the theatrical version [ The Next Generation ]. The version of the film that includes the cut footage is only available on the Japanese laserdisc and the 2000 Lion's Gate DVD release, which are both out of print and hard to find. ![Heather [Lisa Newmeyer] learns the dangers of hanging around with the Chainsaw family](https://www.angelfire.com/ga4/tcm4/images/longhook.gif)
In the uncut version, the scene with Jenny escaping the house at dawn is tinted blue, and the following scene with the motorhome and towtruck was tinted orange.
Near the end of the movie when Jenny is at the hospital, you will find cameo appearances by cast members from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Marilyn Burns [ Sally ] is a mysterious woman being carried away on a gurney, Paul Partain [ Franklin ] is a hospital employee pushing the gurney, and John Dugan [ Grandpa ] is the police officer speaking to Jenny.
This film was intended by director Kim Henkel to be the "real" sequel to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The characters of Vilmer and W.E. were intended to be the Hitchhiker and Cook characters from the original film. Jim Siedow was approached to reprise his Cook character, but was unable to.
Actor Robert Jacks [ Leatherface ] and Actress Renee Zellweger [ Jenny ] were both so emotionally damaged by the third week of filming that they called for a meeting with the director and producer, claiming they were so beat up and bruised that they couldn't take it anymore.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation was filmed entirely on location just outside the rural community of Pflugerville, Texas, and was completed within six weeks.
The film was rated R by the MPAA for "demented mayhem and torture, and for strong language".
The chainsaw that is used in the film is a McCulloch 10-10S.
Robert Jacks [ Leatherface ] co-hosted an Austin, TX radio show titled "The Gibby and Robbie Show". Mr. Jacks passed away August 8th, 2001. In memory of Leatherface!
The taglines for this film include "Still buzzing after all these years" and "If looks could kill, he wouldn't need a chainsaw".
The theatrical release [ The Next Generation ] of this movie was only shown on 23 screens and made $53,111 on it's opening weekend . By September 7th it had raised $94,558. The original uncut release [ Return ] made a total of $45,086.
Joe Bob Briggs [ The Movie Channel ] quoted this movie "The best horror film of the '90s" and gave it four stars * * * *.
Matthew McConaughey's management put pressure on Kim Henkel [ writer/director ] and Robert Kuhn [ co-producer / executive producer ] to stop the theatrical release of the movie.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
"It is what it is. It's a classic B-movie.
In 20 years from now it will probably be
as popular as the original."
- Lisa Newmyer [ Heather ]
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