 Whilst the main notoriety generated by Next-Gen was the convoluted & often contradictory tale of the efforts of it's two leads to limit the exposure of this strange/compelling feature, a genuine talent has been all but overlooked - Lisa Marie Newmyer. This woman is the STAR of Next: dragged down a corridor by Leatherface (in a surprisingly brutal/effective reprise of the original sequence), stuffed into a meatlocker, thrust upon a meathook, beaten by a branch (!!), bitten on the nose, set aflame, then, having her head crushed via mechanical leg! Originally known as Return Of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre & directed by Hooper collaborator Kim Henkel, the film presents itself as a remake of the first (sequels dismissed during mandatory opening information as "minor incidents") - a purpose that's made clear as the debut film's corpse montage is parodied via prom photo session! Of course, as a product of the '90s, the hippies are gone, Leatherface is (cough) "re-invented" as a Gay Icon (stupid...) & The Illuminati are introduced to the 'saw mythos; Adam Weishaupt has a lot to answer for. Now, here's one for the history books - last minute edits "forced" by the distributor (upwards of 10 minutes) have, if anyone reads the original script for deleted scenes, actually IMPROVED the final product - missing stuff not involving bloodshed/gore (of which there's little to none anyhoo...) but rather overused "contemporary" themes, such as the actions of the female lead's "evil" (he has a penis...) stepfather. Having said that, there IS a confusing/curious sequence where a toothless, seemingly dead old gent, rises from a chaotic dinner spread (without eating a scrap of pizza) knife in hand - never to be seen again. In an anomaly that recalls the French pressing of Metallica's "Ride The Lightning", the film's actual COLOUR changed from a Director's Cut blue & black to the current edition's blood/rust/sepia appearance - how this was achieved is anyone's guess, but, apparently the original Return complete with later excised footage & original "dark" attitude is available as a Japanese laserdisc. If judged solely by the first 20 or so minutes, Next would appear to be yet another hopeless horror flop (discounting the hilarious character that looks like a well-rounded Robbie Williams predating The Ego's "Millenium" clip) however, these impressions would be wrong, wrong, WRONG: the middle hour of this film sets a standard for others to follow - funny, disturbing, hysterical, intense - with a Return (natch...) to the original's sharp, raw, humid, out of control approach - elements the other sequels - despite their individual merits - noticeably lacked. Enough praise - now to sling some s***; what's with that dumb ending featuring Marilyn Burns being wheeled around a hospital & is that REALLY "Franklin" doing the honours?! Plus, in conclusion, one finds it difficult to fathom the Big Deal involving Zellweger & McConaughey - fear of being known to have contributed to something THIS GOOD?? Strange world... You may read another review, submit your own, or return home. |
