The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995)

If looks could kill, he wouldn't need a chainsaw.

A group of teenagers get into a car crash in the Texas woods on prom night, and then wander into an old farmhouse that is home to Leatherface and his insane family of cannibalistic psychopaths.

Date of release
1995-09-22
TMDB
4.6 / 10 (786)
Runtime
1h 35m
Genres
Horror, Comedy, Thriller
Director
Kim Henkel
Collection
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Collection

Casting

Interesting facts

The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, later released as Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, is a 1995 American black comedy slasher film written, co-produced, and directed by Kim Henkel in his directorial debut, and starring Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Jacks. It is the fourth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The plot follows four teenagers who encounter Leatherface and his murderous family in backwoods Texas on the night of their prom. It features cameo appearances from Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, and John Dugan, all stars of the original film.

Production

Henkel and producer Robert Kuhn optioned the project through Chuck Grigson, a trustee for the copyright owners of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and established their own independent production companies, Ultra Muchos and River City Films, to produce it.

In a 1996 documentary on the making of the film, Henkel stated that he wrote the characters as exaggerated "cartoonish" caricatures of quintessential American youth. Henkel cited the murder cases of serial killers Ed Gein and Elmer Wayne Henley as influences on his involvement in both The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The character of Darla was loosely based on Karla Faye Tucker, a woman sentenced to death for murdering two people with a pickaxe during a 1983 burglary in Houston.

Renée Zellweger, a then-unknown Austin-based actress and recent college graduate, was cast in the lead role of Jenny. According to Henkel, Zellweger was the first choice for the role: "From the moment she read for the part, I didn't even consider anyone else." Commenting on the part, Zellweger said, "It's kind of a dark film.

Henkel cast Matthew McConaughey, another then-unknown Austin actor, as Vilmer. At the time of auditioning for the film, McConaughey had recently completed filming Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused (1993). McConaughey initially auditioned for a minor role in the film before deciding to re-audition for the role of Vilmer.

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