I keep forgetting to comment on it, but I watched
Texas Chainsaw awhile ago. I respect the original TCM for what it is, I don't really put it up on a pedestal and consider making a sequel blasphemy since its already been tainted by 5 other lesser follow-ups. If TCM: The Next Generation didn't already ruin it for you, I don't think anything will.
That being said, I didn't think it was nearly as bad as people made it out to be. It's one of those movies that kept me interested during its runtime, but the more I look back at it I see the flaws. It started out fairly strong but as it progressed and got sillier and sillier I can see how it lost a lot of people. The final act is also pretty ridiculous (are we supposed to root for the monstrous cannibal now? What the hell is going on?) and the timeline made no sense, but at least it did something that the other follow-ups didn't.
I'd still put TCM2 and TCM'03 above it and possibly TCM:TB, but at least it's better than L:TCM3 and TCM:TNG.
Of course I could just be blinded to its shittiness because Alexandra Daddario is absolutely stunning it in.
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I also checked out the new Scream Factory Blu-rays for
The Burning and
From Beyond.
I watched
The Burning during last year's
31 Days of Horror so I don't really have too much to add. It's still enjoyable but I think having most of the slasher action pushed to the end of the film hurts its re-watchability a bit.
The real highlight of the new disc is a nearly 20-minute look at the effects with Tom Savini. I could listen to that guy for hours. The rest of the extras are fairly dry though.
I've also seen
From Beyond before, but that was a few years ago. I did enjoy it then, but my initial reaction was being somewhat disappointed with it because I'm a huge Re-Animator fan and it just wasn't as fun since they went for a more serious tone.
Revisiting it now with my expectations in place I enjoyed it quite a bit more. And after going though the excellent extras I have a new level of appreciation for it. The disc itself is amazing. The picture looks incredible and the extras are probably the best out of the Scream Factory discs I have. The interviews with Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs are a must watch. Unfortunately Ken Foree is nowhere to be seen in the extras. I would have loved to hear him try to explain the little red underwear.