The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: Collector's Edition

Twelve years after the micro-budgeted, seminal classic terrorized audiences with the terrifying, jarring sounds of a chainsaw, Tobe Hooper returned to Texas in this sequel that catches up with the raving lunatic family of cannibals. Only this time, the director departs from the intensely apprehensive cinéma vérité atmosphere of the original. Instead, he doubles the grisly mayhem with lots of in-your-face bloodletting gore, whereas as before, the violence was implied off-screen, left to the imagination of the viewer. He also doubles the insanity with the Sawyer family — Drayton the Cook (Jim Siedow reprising his role as the maladjusted father), Chop-Top (Bill Moseley as the Hitchhiker's twin) and "Bubba" aka Leatherface (Bill Johnson) — acting even zanier and over-the-top than previously remembered.

There is a strong resemblance to the first movie in the way the narrative plays out, following a very similar structure in that the entirety of the second half is set inside the gruesomely decorative home of the Sawyers. And like its predecessor, spending more than a few frenzied minutes with these inbred psychotics at the dinner table becomes the movie's most memorable legacy. As a direct follow-up, the family eluded capture by taking refuge inside an abandoned amusement park, which is elaborately ornamented by the bones and other leftovers of their victims. Texan resident Cary White worked on the production design, which incidentally launched a lasting career for him, and with the assistance of set decorator Michael Peal, created an eye-dazzling haunted carnival ride with fantastical, childish appeal that's also dizzyingly terrifying and nightmarish.

Unlike the original, however, the uniquely scintillating set design participates in the movie's intentions of generating laughter more than scares, expanding the graphically horrid shocks into a schlocky funhouse sensibility. With stunning special effects by legendary make-up artist Tom Savini, aka "The Sultan of Splatter," the bloody slaughter appalls and disgusts, often with a wince-inducing cringe and a bad-aftertaste grimace. Such is the case in a sequence involving Leatherface, a skinned-alive country bumpkin (Lou Perryman) and an electric carving knife meant as a comically smaller version of a normal size chainsaw. By the time we come to when hapless radio DJ Stretch (Caroline Williams) is hit over the head with a hammer by Grandpa (Ken Evert), an evocative scene harking back to the 1974 classic, it becomes all-too clear what Hooper is actually doing.

2012 MGM Release (Top)

Scream Factory (Bottom)

Working from a script by L.M. Kit Carson ('Paris, Texas'), Tobe Hooper, the director of cult favorites 'Salem's Lot,' 'Lifeforce' and 'The Funhouse,' took his original creation into wickedly, ultra-black dark-comedy territory. 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2' is a twisted, farcical satire of itself, its memory and its impact on the horror genre in general. Hooper shows he has sense of humor of the film which put him on the map and brought him to the attention of Hollywood, allowing and welcoming viewers to laugh at the gonzo absurdity that once scared the bejesus out of everyone. The film also comes with a sort of social commentary intuitiveness, besplattering the screen with the same vividly excessive violence that was becoming typical of the genre at the time and possibly even of the 1980s as a whole. When Leatherface gyrates with his chainsaw in a wantonly perverse but funny manner, Hooper makes it known he's aware of the sexual undercurrents many have read into the original.

Deeper still, the unexpectedly offbeat follow-up carries an intriguingly cynical and jaded undertone, as if the director is blowing off some pent-up steam and frustration at the expense of his own creation, the vehicle that brought him recognition. After the success of his second small-budgeted, independently-financed feature, Tobe Hooper was met with a maddening experience trying to work with the Hollywood system as opposed to the creative independence which lead to the brilliant 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre.' Starting with the rather terrible 'Eaten Alive' and the embarrassing publicity nightmare surrounding 'Poltergeist,' Hooper was clearly growing disenfranchised and discontented. Dennis Hopper's Lefty can then be seen as a projection of Hooper's dissatisfaction and boiling grievance, walking into the home that created him with three frightening chainsaws at the ready, tearing the place apart and bringing it all down with maniacal laughter. Because after all, the saw is family.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

Shout! Factory brings 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2' to Blu-ray as a two-disc Collector's Edition package under the distributor's Scream Factory line. The two Region A locked, BD50 discs are housed inside a normal blue case on opposing panels with brand new reversible cover art and a cardboard slipcover. The second disc contains the original MGM release along with a wealth a new bonus features.

At startup, the disc goes to a generic main menu selection on the left side with music and full-motion clips. Unfortunately, according to the Shout! Factory website, the exclusive, limited edition poster of the newly commissioned artwork has already sold out.