8 Great Acting Performances That Outshone The Horror Movie

Considering how celebrated McConaughey is as an Oscar-winning Hollywood icon these days, it often startles unbeknownst fans to learn that one of his first feature film performances took place in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation - the fourth instalment to the Texas Chainsaw franchise you probably haven’t seen for good reason. In simple terms, the movie itself is a big screen mess.

It’s the absurd, cheap-looking one that fans have deemed the skippable sequel. For a movie in an already grotesque horror franchise, Next Generation was the one that needlessly went way over the top with its carnage and far too into the extreme with the characters of Sawyer family. How? Well, it’s the sequel we see Leatherface as a high-heeled lipstick-wearing crossdresser. Enough said.

However, there’s one big redeeming factor - it stars A-listers Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger in their early debuting years as the lead roles. McConaughey in particular is mesmerising in his role of Vilmer - the crazed ringleader of his cannibalistic family.

It’s fair to say that in this sequel, Vilmer is a far more menacing villain than Leatherface himself. For a performance evolving around twisted violence and psychological torture, McConaughey’s insanity breaks him through as the standout cast member. It’s easy to be hypnotised by the deranged intensity of his eyes - there’s a lot of berserk and ridiculous shouting, screaming, singing, and chanting, and there’s even a scene in which he horrifically bites the face of his victim.

The film itself may be diabolically unwatchable, but McConaughey offers shining glimmers of acting excellence that foretells what is yet to come for his career.