The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 1998 Horror Movie Review

This wild, operatic 1986 sequel to 1974’s low-budget horror hit—The Texas Chainsaw Massacre—is an extraordinary film that demonstrates just how far filmmaker Tobe Hooper had grown in the interim between the two movies. (Between the two movies, Hooper directed, among other things, the Spielberg production Poltergeist, the critically admired Lifeforce, and the spooky remake of Invaders from Mars.) In Massacre 2, Hooper enlists Dennis Hopper as a Texas Ranger seeking vengeance against the flesh-eating family that was introduced in the first film. Meanwhile, a radio deejay (Caroline Williams) is kidnapped by the family and brought to their underground lair. The performances are crazed, terrifying, and comic; the chainsaw fights are practically epic; the lighting and camera work are artful; the emotions are strong; and the ending is astounding, unparalleled in its imagery and force. —Tom Keogh