Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

There are few sequels that match up to their original movies. "TCM 2" is one of those sequels. It has the same insane atmosphere, a story that fits in very good with the original, better acting and better make-up effects. I would say that "TCM 2" is just as good, if not better, than the first movie. The first is a classic, by far, but this takes the mood of the first and takes it up a notch and also fixes the few problems that the first had.

One thing, which I think really helped make this a good movie, was Tobe Hooper returning to the director's chair. I also think I spotted him making a cameo in the movie. It's his directing style that helps bring back the feeling of the first film and also preserve it quite well, while still expanding. If another director had taken over, it might have ended up like "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2". So I think Hooper's return was almost mandatory.

The story was also good. It picks up where the last movie left off pretty much. It does what I think any sequel should do. It takes the story of the first film and expands it, explaining more, showing more, exploring characters more. What a sequel should not do is retread the same ground already covered in the previous film. Otherwise, what's the point? You might as well just watch the original and you'll probably get a better movie. Anyway, this movie does that; it expands on the first film. Shows more of how Leatherface and his brood are. It also brings out the character Choptop (played by Bill Moseley), who I'm not sure how many other people realized this, but he was the hitchhiking hippy in the first one. It seems a lot of the people I talk to think that Choptop was originally introduced in "TCM 2" but he wasn't.

The make-up and special effects in the movie were really good. But, of course, with Tom Savini doing the effects, that's no surprise. That's one of the big differences I found between this and the first one. This one's a lot gorier. "TCM" implied most of its violence and had it off screen, while the sequel shows just about everything. And that's quite a bit. There are several class A gore scenes. And also, a little trivia care of Mr. Savini. Ever wonder how Dennis Hopper gets that wild-eyed stare? Just before the scene, he spins around a whole lot. When he stops, bingo, wild-eyed stare. I thought that was kind of interesting.