texas chainsaw massacre 2 is actually like. really good.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original Tobe Hooper 70s version, not the early 2000s torture porn one) is my favorite horror movie. I love how visceral it is, I love how it takes itself seriously but doesn't come off as pretentious (maybe it's because there's not a hidden flavor of "you don't really get this" because, honestly, what is there to not get?), and I just love the entire overarching feeling of the movie. It is also one of the few horror movies that has really freaked me out. Not like, nightmare freak out, but like, crawling up my spine freak out.

Last weekend I watched the sequel. It came out in 1986, it's got a new Leatherface, and it's got a much different feel than the first one. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is much more of a typical slasher flick than the first movie. But. It is maybe the best slasher I have ever seen, for so many reasons.

• It doesn't take itself seriously, but doesn't do it to the extent that it becomes just dumb. Primary example of this: Dennis Hopper is allowed to just be as ridiculous as he damn well pleases, and his rampage through the hideout is a masterpiece. 
• Speaking of--the hideout? The sets? So fuckin cool.
• Speaking of--so fuckin cool? DUAL-WIELDING CHAINSAWS IN A CHAINSAW FIGHT. 
• Speaking of--chainsaw fight? YOU TAKE GRANDMA'S CHAINSAW, STRETCH, HELL YEAH. 
• Speaking of Stretch, in a more serious point, Stretch is like, my favorite horror movie heroine/final girl/character ever. Mostly in horror movies, particularly slashers, the characters don't have as much personality, or you don't care as much about them. This is even true in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre--the only one of those kids that had a personality was Franklin, and Franklin's personality was bad, and I hated him, and I was glad when Leatherface stuck a chainsaw in his gut. but Stretch--man, Stretch is so cool. I love her. She is so cool. God. Love Stretch. 
• Speaking of characters, the interesting pseudo-almost-redemption of Leatherface? I mean, I guess it's kind of apparent in the first movie, too, but, at least in the originals... Leatherface... isn't the real monster? The real monsters are his family. Leatherface is just a big mentally disabled guy who can hold that giant-ass chainsaw. He's constantly abused and he had a huge crush on Stretch the entirety of the movie, even going so far as to letting her go that first time. If Stretch had not decided to chase after them, she would not have had a problem. 
• The horrifying implications behind this movie are even worse than the first movie. In the first movie, it is heavily implied that the one Sawyer (last name that we do get in this movie), Drayton, he sells human barbecue at his tiny little roadside gas station. In this movie, he is an award-winning chili-maker. Award-winning chili that is made out of people, and that everyone loves eating, so all of North Texas are cannibals now. 
• Also, FUCK YEAH GRANDPA.