I decided to watch the original "Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE", TCM 2, LEATHERFACE TCM 3 and TCM 4 in a row. I already seen the two first and I think they're great. But Leatherface and TCM 4 were new to me. Leatherface was extremely flat and boring but TCM 4 was, well, INSANELY BAD. I simply could not believe what I was watching. My jaw was on the floor. Is this a movie? It's a joke, right? I never laughed so much in a very long time. There are simply no words to describe how bizarre, SURREAL, and bad this movie is. Nothing makes sense so there's no point of trying to make sense of it. It's insane. Insanely bad. Insanely funny. Insanely directed. Insanely insulting to the whole series. Insanely watchable AND unwatchable. Yes, it's INSANELY entertaining to the masochist in me, who likes to witness the worst of the worst in movies, and TCM 4 is WRETCHED to the nth degree! It feels like the Hitchhiker from the original TCM directed this "movie". I have to admit that as bad as TCM 4 is, at least it's looks and feels more like the TCM world created by Tobe Hooper than the ultra boring and flat looking LEATHERFACE TCM 3.
There are so many moments in TCM 4 that have to be seen to be believed. The funniest being the moment when Renee and Matthew are battling over remotes that controls Matthew's piston powered leg (got that?). Or the funny scene of Leatherface (a cross-dresser here) standing behind clueless Heather and playing with her hair. Heather has to be one of the funniest characters I've ever seen. She's played by Lisa Marie Newmyer, who's a bimbo but with a lot of insight. In this "movie", Heather is attacked by Leatherface, placed in a freezer. Then she's hung on a hook, and for some unexplained reason, she got off the hook and tried to crawl away from the house only to be brought back to the house, where she lies on the floor, too bored or lazy to runaway. LOL!!! The whole thing is played as a comedy. But the comedy is often so bizarre that it's not really funny. What's also remarkable is that Renee and Matthew do have "star quality" and watching these "stars" in this insane movie just adds a lot more bizarre, wonky quality to the movie than it really deserved. The whole cast is game but I wonder, what did the director or producers do to have the cast go all out like that? Was it drugs? Was the whole crew and cast on drugs or drunk?!?! Matthew is very good in his role as, well, I don't know, a buff psycho? And Renee goes all out in her role as "survivor", running across the forest like an athlete trying to win a medal.
After I watched TCM4 for a second time, I've finally realized that it's all flippant parody of the first movie. I've noticed bizarre details, like the sound of crickets during the opening scene inside Jenny's house. The director, who co-wrote the original TCM, didn't take this new foray into the TCM universe seriously for one second. In the end, TCM 4 looked like an amalgamation of 'THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE' and TWIN PEAKS. The director was obviously influenced by the David Lynch TV series. When you look at the movie in this light, it's not the total disaster that everyone says it is BUT the movie still ends up looking pretty bad because of one major weak aspect about it: it's TOTALLY POINTLESS. If there's was a movie that was totally pointless, it's this one. Why basically remake the first movie a la David Lynch? What's next? The Quentin Tarantino version of TCM?
Anyway, personally, I prefer TCM 4 over LEATHERFACE TCM 3, which is just plain bad and is the worst movie of this bizarre so-called series. At least TCM 4 is so consciously bad that, even if it's an almost total embarrassment to the two first films, it's actually fun to watch if you're looking for something to laugh at or with, something that's insanely wacky, full of energy and 100% OVER-THE-TOP!
As a straightforward film, TCM 4 rates at a big fat ZERO. But as a "it's so bad it's good movie," TCM 4 rates a perfect 10. It's ranks up there along with GLEN OR GLENDA, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, TERROR IN THE JUNGLE, and THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE as the very best of the worst.
There are so many moments in TCM 4 that have to be seen to be believed. The funniest being the moment when Renee and Matthew are battling over remotes that controls Matthew's piston powered leg (got that?). Or the funny scene of Leatherface (a cross-dresser here) standing behind clueless Heather and playing with her hair. Heather has to be one of the funniest characters I've ever seen. She's played by Lisa Marie Newmyer, who's a bimbo but with a lot of insight. In this "movie", Heather is attacked by Leatherface, placed in a freezer. Then she's hung on a hook, and for some unexplained reason, she got off the hook and tried to crawl away from the house only to be brought back to the house, where she lies on the floor, too bored or lazy to runaway. LOL!!! The whole thing is played as a comedy. But the comedy is often so bizarre that it's not really funny. What's also remarkable is that Renee and Matthew do have "star quality" and watching these "stars" in this insane movie just adds a lot more bizarre, wonky quality to the movie than it really deserved. The whole cast is game but I wonder, what did the director or producers do to have the cast go all out like that? Was it drugs? Was the whole crew and cast on drugs or drunk?!?! Matthew is very good in his role as, well, I don't know, a buff psycho? And Renee goes all out in her role as "survivor", running across the forest like an athlete trying to win a medal.
After I watched TCM4 for a second time, I've finally realized that it's all flippant parody of the first movie. I've noticed bizarre details, like the sound of crickets during the opening scene inside Jenny's house. The director, who co-wrote the original TCM, didn't take this new foray into the TCM universe seriously for one second. In the end, TCM 4 looked like an amalgamation of 'THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE' and TWIN PEAKS. The director was obviously influenced by the David Lynch TV series. When you look at the movie in this light, it's not the total disaster that everyone says it is BUT the movie still ends up looking pretty bad because of one major weak aspect about it: it's TOTALLY POINTLESS. If there's was a movie that was totally pointless, it's this one. Why basically remake the first movie a la David Lynch? What's next? The Quentin Tarantino version of TCM?
Anyway, personally, I prefer TCM 4 over LEATHERFACE TCM 3, which is just plain bad and is the worst movie of this bizarre so-called series. At least TCM 4 is so consciously bad that, even if it's an almost total embarrassment to the two first films, it's actually fun to watch if you're looking for something to laugh at or with, something that's insanely wacky, full of energy and 100% OVER-THE-TOP!
As a straightforward film, TCM 4 rates at a big fat ZERO. But as a "it's so bad it's good movie," TCM 4 rates a perfect 10. It's ranks up there along with GLEN OR GLENDA, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, TERROR IN THE JUNGLE, and THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE as the very best of the worst.