The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
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43% of critics liked it
(23 reviews) -
50% of users liked it
(49,928 ratings)
Over ten years after making the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tobe Hooper returns to his deranged family of reclusive cannibals for another round of chainsaw chases and non-stop screaming. Hooper brings a real budget this time (having recently directed Poltergeist for Steven Spielberg) and the… More Over ten years after making the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tobe Hooper returns to his deranged family of reclusive cannibals for another round of chainsaw chases and non-stop screaming. Hooper brings a real budget this time (having recently directed Poltergeist for Steven Spielberg) and the talents of veteran make-up artist Tom Savini. This means he can make things bigger, louder, and gorier than ever before -- and they are. He also brings a wacky, self-deprecating sense of humor, as if deliberately flaunting Texas Chainsaw Massacre's status as one of the first and still greatest "splatter" movies. The result is an impish take-off on the original film (and contemporary horror movies in general) that elevates its own clichés -- buckets of blood and gore, droll dialogue, the screaming female lead -- to the level of high camp. The movie is loosely concerned with a small-town disc jockey named "Stretch" (Caroline Williams, who does most of the screaming) and an embittered Texas Ranger named "Lefty" (Dennis Hopper). They team up and decide to put an end to the murderous activities of the Sawyer family once and for all (that is, of course, until Texas Chainsaw Massacre III). The real highlight of the film is when Stretch and Lefty find their way into the Sawyer family hideout -- a ruinous, winding abattoir underneath an abandoned amusement park -- and engage in a chainsaw-battle-to-the-death with Leatherface (Bill Johnson) and the rest of the clan. Jim Siedow is back from the first film as the acerbic Drayton Sawyer, the family cook and owner of the Last Roundup Rolling Grill. Chop-Top (Bill Moseley) and Leatherface do most of the movie's dirty work. ~ Anthony Reed, Rovi
- Directed By
- Tobe Hooper
- Written By
- Tobe Hooper, Kim Henkel
- Genres
- Horror, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Aug 22, 1986 Limited
- On DVD
- Aug 1, 2000
- Studio
- Media Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Walter Goodman, New York Times
No matter how adeptly Chainsaw 2 was put together, it would remain just another exploitation flick for fans who get a tingle from watching blades slash into flesh and innards peep out.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Part 2 has a lot of blood and disembowelment, to be sure, but it doesn't have the terror of the original, the desire to be taken seriously. It's a geek show.
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Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
Seems intent on mocking the first film, rather than paying respect to it and sewing a new narrative.
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Eric Melin, Scene-Stealers.com
But time has been kind to this strange movie, and now it plays like a bizarre satire of 80s excess-kind of like a backwoods version of American Psycho with equal parts gross-out humor and over-the-top acting.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A good deal gorier and more disturbing than the original. Certainly it's far better than the soulless 2003 remake.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Dennis Hopper
as Lt. "Lefty" Enright
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Caroline Williams
as Vanita "Stretch" Brock
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Bill Johnson
as Leatherface
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Jim Siedow
as Drayton Sawyer the Cook
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Bill Moseley
as Chop-Top
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Lou Perry
as L.G. McPeters
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Barry Kinyon
as Mercedes driver
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Chris Douridas
as Gunner
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Wirt Cain
as Anchorman
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Ken Evert
as Grandpa
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Kinky Friedman
as Sports Anchor
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James N. Harrell
as CutRite Manager
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Daniel Jenkins
as TV Commentator
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Harlan Jordan
as Patrolman
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Judy Kelly
as Gourmet Yuppette
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Kirk Sisco
as Detective
- Tobe Hooper
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Joe Bob Briggs
as Gonzo Mothcock








