I don’t know why I never got around to seeing the THE CROW sequel from the director of SIX-STRING SAMURAI. Always was curious. Still took me 19 years. Lance Mungia’s THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER, just like the previous one, was meant for theaters, but I think it only played somewhere around here? Wiki(dprayer)pedia says its theatrical run was only in Seattle and only for one week, and I do remember seeing an ad for it and being confused, but I was thinking it was in Eastern Washington. Anyway, I didn’t go.
Two Halloweens ago we discussed Tobe Hooper’s first masterpiece. This is his second. He didn’t even want to direct it at first, sort of got pushed into it, but damn did he rally. In many ways THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 is the Tobe Hooperest movie ever made.
I don’t blame you if you’re skeptical during the opening scene where two obnoxious “senior boys at Wheeler High” calling themselves “Buzz and Rick the Prick” drunkenly drive a Porsche, fire guns, and harass the K-OKLA request line until they receive a drive-by chainsawing on a bridge that must’ve been built by the same people who made that endless runway from the climactic chase in FURIOUS 6. (read the rest of this shit…)
I gotta confess coming to this one from a place of cinematic ignorance. I’ve seen the original Godard movie, but I don’t remember jack shit about it. I thought it was pretty good, I believe. That’s about all I got. Still, I’m sure less people could tell you anything about the remake than everything about the original. So this makes me smart. (read the rest of this shit…)
These last couple weeks have been tough on my mental facilities. I reviewed that great new “ULTIMATE” edition of the original TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, I also revisited parts 3 and 4 in that original series, then on Thursday I reviewed the new prequel to the remake. So by that point I’d studied and written about pretty much every angle to the whole Texas Chainsaw deal. You’d think I’d be done with it by now, but there is one final chapter: the one spinoff of the original movie that achieves its own level of True Greatness. I am talking about Tobe Hooper’s 1986 sequel, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2. It’s been available on DVD for a couple years in a bare bones edition (get it, that is a pun because of all the skeletons they have) but Tuesday it comes out in a much deserved special edition with new commentaries, featurettes and deleted scenes. (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
VERN on Red Rooms: “I didn’t get the feeling it was supposed to be the real world. Did I mention that it’s about a…” Jan 22, 00:00
VERN on Better Man: “If the performing monkey phrase is really the reason I think it’s a massive airball for two reasons. 1. He…” Jan 21, 23:53
VERN on Speak No Evil (2024 remake): “Don’t worry E-Squared, we’re pretty open minded around here. I think it’s okay to prefer this version.” Jan 21, 20:08
Aktion Figure on Red Rooms: “There seems to be a lot of hand-wringing going on here but this just sounds like a modern take on…” Jan 21, 19:46
Glaive Robber on Red Rooms: “@Inspector, I find it hard to believe the world of snuff isn’t a thing. We film everything, and it’s easier…” Jan 21, 18:26
Crudnasty on Red Rooms: “Hard pass on everything about this movie, just going off of Vern’s mercifully spoiler free review. Not that I don’t…” Jan 21, 15:20
RRA on Apartment 7A: “Glad to hear this might be decent. I’ll admit the fact it collected dust for a long time is why…” Jan 21, 14:30
Inspector Hammer Boudreaux on Red Rooms: “For me this movie was nowhere near entertaining enough for me to overlook the fact that *snuff films don’t fucking…” Jan 21, 12:58
darth irritable on Better Man: “He’s a monkey in the movie because he said he felt like a performing monkey throughout his career. He really…” Jan 21, 12:57
BuzzFeedAldrin on Red Rooms: “I didn’t think about the poem after watching this because the movie left me mostly “meh” so I didn’t do…” Jan 21, 12:51
The Allusionist on Red Rooms: “Rundle, thanks for the heads up about the Tennyson poem. Obviously it’s a major clue to the mystery of just…” Jan 21, 12:46
Aktion Figure on Better Man: “As a ride-or-die Devo fan, I really want to point out one of the funniest “gags” they ever did. Prior…” Jan 21, 12:28
Universal★Rundle on Red Rooms: “So ready to hear what Vern’s chat thought of this one. Vern, you’re being extra careful about spoiling a couple…” Jan 21, 11:42
Dustin on Red Rooms: “This one FUCKED ME UP 5 stars” Jan 21, 10:53
E-Squared on Speak No Evil (2024 remake): “I am just going to say it – I preferred this version over the original. Before I go into my…” Jan 21, 09:06
Two Halloweens ago we discussed Tobe Hooper’s first masterpiece. This is his second. He didn’t even want to direct it at first, sort of got pushed into it, but damn did he rally. In many ways THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 is the Tobe Hooperest movie ever made.
Boys, boys, boys–
