Finally delivering a sequel after 12 years and a detour to the big-time success of 1982’s “Poltergeist,” Tobe Hooper directs Cannon Films’ “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” (1986) in gonzo comedic style. Probably not interested in repeating himself, and perhaps also feeling like the tropes of “Chain Saw” are silly when you look too closely at them, Hooper emphasizes the absurdity so much that IMDb lists this film as a horror-comedy.

Focus on the absurdity

It’s similar to Joe Dante’s approach when going from “Gremlins” to “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.” The screenplay by L.M. Kit Carson is structurally the same as the first, but on a bigger scale. This Final Girl, Oklahoma radio DJ Stretch (Caroline Williams), finds herself screaming as the cannibal brothers – now named the Sawyers – try to get their 137-year-old Grandfather to club her on the head.

But instead of happening in a rural farmhouse, it happens in the bowels of a shoddy yet grandiose amusement park called Texas Battle Zone, which is apparently run by the Sawyers.

In contrast to the 2013 alternate sequel “Texas Chainsaw,” “TCSM2” affirms the secretive nature of the Sawyers’ farm-to-plate barbecue business out in the boonies. Through exposition, we learn that no one could locate the house after Sally’s seemingly insane ravings to law enforcement.

But Sally’s uncle Lefty (Dennis Hopper) believes her, and has been looking for leads in the interim. He’s a law enforcement officer of a barely explained type, but all we really need to know is it’s personal for him.

Messing with Texas

Hooper is making fun of a lot of specific things about his home state’s traditions and behavior, so the comedy doesn’t always connect. The pacing from editor Alain Jakubowicz doesn’t help, as this is one of those movies where you’ve had enough after 55 minutes and are shocked to see there are 45 minutes left.

We open with two exaggerated stereotypes of frat boys driving from Austin to Dallas for the Texas-OU football game, the passenger shooting bullets at road signs and the driver calling into Stretch’s radio station on his car phone.

She hears them get murdered by Leatherface (Bill Johnson), perking her and Lefty’s interest. (Law enforcement officially classifies the massacre of Aug. 18, 1973, as a cold case not worth reopening.)

Siedow chews scenery

Jim Siedow’s return as The Cook/Drayton temporarily recharges the battery of “TCSM2” as he chews more scenery, starting with an amusing scene where he wins a barbecue contest and explains his secret: “The meat. Don’t skimp on the meat. I’ve got a real good eye for prime meat. Runs in the family.”

None of the other actors return, but the newcomers come up to Siedow’s level of over-the-top acting. Bill Moseley does yeoman’s work channeling Edwin Neal’s Hitchhiker as new brother Chop-Top, a Vietnam veteran who has a metal plate in his head and a birthmark on the other side of his face from the Hitchhiker’s.

The performance bridges Neal’s turn and Michael Keaton in 1988’s “Beetlejuice.” Johnson adds humorous body movements to Leatherface (who is openly called “Leatherface” by his brothers, perhaps an attempt at absurdist humor), at one point playing up the chainsaw as a sexual metaphor.

This film hints at the notion that Leatherface isn’t a bad person, but instead is retarded and controlled by his brothers, as Stretch talks him out of chainsaw-raping her by suggesting he’s a good person. His sympathetic nature would be fully embraced in the 2013 alternate sequel.

Movie doesn’t give a rip

Admittedly, I was smiling by the end of “TCSM2,” but not because the comedy is so smart or well-delivered. It’s more because this movie just does not give a damn.

The final shot is Stretch swinging a chainsaw around atop a mountain at the theme park. Technically, it symbolizes that she has gone nuts – like Sally in the original – and possibly has gone native, like she’s the new Leatherface.

But a viewer – and the filmmakers, I suspect – is far beyond caring about story or characters at this point. I think Hooper is brazenly making fun of his own 1974 movie and the silly things about it.

We’re all invited along – this isn’t a case of him making fun of the audience – but it’s entirely a matter of taste whether you want 100 minutes of this type of humor.

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