The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, later released as Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, is a 1995 American black comedy slasher film written, co-produced, and directed by Kim Henkel in his directorial debut, and starring Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Jacks. It is the fourth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The plot follows four teenagers who encounter Leatherface and his murderous family in backwoods Texas on the night of their prom. It features cameo appearances from Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, and John Dugan, all stars of the original film.

Henkel, who also wrote the screenplay for the 1974 original film, developed The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with producer Robert Kuhn, intending to create a film closer to the source material, but with exaggerated characters that serve as caricatures of American youth. Henkel's screenplay introduces a subplot involving a secret society that employs Leatherface and his family to torment victims in an effort to invoke a transcendent spiritual experience. Principal photography took place on location in rural areas in Bastrop and Pflugerville, Texas, in 1994, with a largely Austin-based cast and crew.

The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 1995, and received a limited test market release in the United States by CFP Distribution on September 22. The following year, Columbia TriStar Pictures acquired distribution rights for both theatrical engagements as well as home media. The studio proceeded to re-edit the film and re-title it Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, but its theatrical release remained delayed through early 1997. This resulted in legal disputes between the filmmakers and the studio, with Henkel and Kuhn alleging that Columbia TriStar deliberately withheld the film following the rising successes of its stars, Zellweger and McConaughey.

The revised version of the film was ultimately released (as Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation) by CFP Distribution in twenty U.S. cities on August 29, 1997. It was a box-office bomb, grossing $185,898 domestically, and received mixed reviews from critics, with some lauding its dark humor and nightmarish tone, while others criticized the coherence of its screenplay. Columbia TriStar proceeded to handle the film's home video releases in the United States, issuing it on VHS on DVD in 1998 and 1999, respectively. It received a nomination for Best Home Video Release at the 24th Saturn Awards.

Both contemporary and modern critics as well as film scholars have noted the film's prominent elements of parody and recursiveness. In the years since its release, the film has gone on to develop a small cult following. Though a full soundtrack was never released, a companion single featured in the film performed by star Robert Jacks and Debbie Harry was released on compact disc in 1997.