Horror 2020 Countdown: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) dir. Tobe Hooper, the Cannon Group, Inc.

Hooper's career was always one of hits and misses, and TCM2 just about sums that up.

Over ten years after Sally Hardesty survived her encounter with a group of backwoods cannibals things have been quiet deep in the Heart of Texas. Sure, there's been gruesome traffic accidents, but those were just accidents. The police couldn't find any trace of Leatherface and his killer clan and the case of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre officially remains closed. 

 None of this matter to late night DJ Stretch (Caroline Williams). No, her biggest problem is two jerks tying up the phone lines at her station. The yuppie scum keep calling thanks to a car phone and yanking it up the whole way, all the way to the point when a beat up truck pulls up beside them and a certain masked psycho (Bill Johnson) pops up with his favorite cutting tool. 

Stretch hears the gruesome demise of the pair, even if her engineer LG (Lou Perryman) dismisses the whole thing. Stretch keeps a copy of the tape though. 

At the scene of the wreck, Lt. Lefty Enright (Dennis Hopper) of the Texas Rangers arrives. His appearance isn't wanted and the local PD make it clear he is to get on the first plane out of town ASAP. Seems Lefty went a little nuts after his niece and nephew got attacked by what he swears is a chainsaw totting nut. He heads back to his hotel, which is hosting the annual Texas Chili Cookoff which is won by current defending champ, Drayton Sawyer (Jim Siedow), who keen eyed viewers might recall when he was a simple gas station BBQ cook, although the unfortunate Hardesty twins might recall him better. 

Drayton accepts the trophy, saying there's no real secret. It's meat, and his family's always had an eye for prime meat. Stretch gives Lefty a copy of the tape. He must think it's real as we next see him buying a set of chainsaws of his own; one giant and two holster size. He also swings by the station and asks her to play the tape regularly on the air as to smoke the killers out. 

The plan works, as Drayton hears the sound of the murder while driving his RV back home. Annoyed, he sends his two brothers to the station. Leatherface we know, but here we get to meet Chop-Top (Bill Moseley). Chop-Top's absence from the previous is explained as him being off in Vietnam where he picked up some wicked flashbacks and a nifty metal plate in his head. 

The two brothers attack the station and beat LG with a hammer. Leatherface tries to kill Stretch but finds he can't. They leave with Stretch hidden and end up taking her back home to an underground amusement park. Lefty follows for a showdown as epic as it insane. 

There doesn't seem to be any middle ground on this film. Either you love it and its different take on the story or you hate its comedy and rehashing of the previous film. I'm more in the former camp. Hopper is over the top even when he's just closing a door. They already went hard on the horror before, so why not go with comedy? The comedy isn't very funny though. Hooper seems to think loud = funny but to each their own.