10 Bad Movies That Killed Great Horror Franchises

6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation Renee Zellweger Matthew McConaughey
Sony

To date, horror hounds have been 'treated' to ten Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. Realistically, only three of those are actually good.

It goes without saying, Tobe Hooper's original Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the greatest, most influential films in cinema history. Likewise, Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 is a brilliant picture which brings a dollop of black comedy to the sinister chills of the Sawyer clan. Elsewhere, Marcus Nispel's 2003 reboot surprised many by being one of the rare do-overs that actually delivered.

1990's Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III fell into generic slasher territory, yet was passable. It's with Kim Henkel's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, though, where the series properly hit the rocks.

Yes, this is the TCM picture famous for featuring a before-they-were-famous Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger, but that's all that's notable about this utter turd.

The Next Generation attempted to breathe new life into the franchise, but instead just felt like a spoof of what had gone before it. This 1995 offering also suffers massively by how much it keeps Leatherface on the sidelines, with the main villainous focus on McConaughey's Vilmer, a member of Leatherface's family who targets a group of teens on prom night.

TCM: The Beginning would literally be the death of the franchise until Nispel's '03 reboot.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.