10/19/16 – day nineteen of thirty-one days of horror!

When cheap-o schlockmeisters Cannon films hired Tobe Hooper to make a
sequel to his seminal horror classic TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, they
probably had no idea he’d deliver a full-on comedy. But Hooper had
always felt that people missed the intentional comedy of his 74
original, so decided to make it more overt in 1986, and the resulting
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 is, in my opinion, better for it. The gonzo
gets cranked up to cartoonish levels here, aided by the addition of crazy
Dennis Hopper as the Texas lawman gunning for the original Chainsaw
cannibal crew with a saw or two of his own. Also added to the lineup is
feisty DJ Caroline Williams as our heroine “Stretch”, and Bill Mosely in
his horror debut as the unforgettable new family member “Chop Top”.
Things go off the rails quickly as the now named Sawyer clan – led again
by loveably daffy Jim Siedow – go from a chili cookoff to a DJ station
to some kind of insane underground lair, raising the hysteria of the
original to new heights of absurdity. Unloved upon its release, this
worthy sequel is its own animal entirely, and has its place among the
pantheon of great horror comedies like EVIL DEAD 2 and DEAD ALIVE. So
sit back, ladle yourself a nice hot bowl of chili and see what the
Sawyers’ got cookin’!