The “ridiculous” movie Renée Zellweger called “kamikaze filmmaking”
An icon of 1990s and early 2000s cinema, Renée Zellweger is best known for her role in the Bridget Jones series, where she stars alongside Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. But, the actor is far more decorated than the fame of the trilogy, winning two Academy Awards in her career for her performances in 2003’s Cold Mountain and 2019’s Judy, where she depicted the iconic Judy Garland.
But, her career truly kicked off in the same way as many other icons of cinema, gaining global recognition in the horror genre. Although she had taken minor roles in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Ben Stiller’s Reality Bites years previously, she would make her mark in the 1994 movie Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where she collaborated with fellow newcomer Matthew McConaughey.
The fourth movie in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, which began with Tobe Hooper’s terrifying 1974 original, the ‘90s horror flick, was something of a disaster, earning just $185,898 from a budget of just $600,000. As well as a commercial flop, the movie was a critical failure, too, with the final film showing the scars of its cheap production and dodgy production practices.
As Zellweger recalled in an interview with Yahoo, the actors didn’t even get their own trailers, “We all shared a tiny Winnebago that belonged to the producer of the film…Makeup was [in] the front seat, and then there was a table in the middle for hair, and then there was a tiny little curtain back by the bathroom, that’s where you put your prom dress and flower on.”
Elaborating on her experience making the movie, she added: “I was so grateful, and I was so excited. I had done a little bit here, a little bit there, but nobody had ever trusted me with a role before to carry a film…It was ridiculous. How we pulled that off, I have no idea. I’m sure none of it was legal…But what an experience. It was kamikaze filmmaking.”
Wanting to get back to the spirit of the original movie, director Kim Henkel dedicated himself to a low-budget production that made use of creepy set design. Many of the same props from the original movie were brought back to boost the authenticity of his picture, which might have helped keep the costs low but did little to improve the quality of the film itself.
Zellweger wasn’t the only one who found the production insane either, with the special effect designer J.M. Logan stating in an interview with Dread Central: “Chainsaw was a very, very rough shoot for everyone. It was almost all night shoots. We only had one motor home for all the cast, costumes, everything…limited amenities…uncomfortable locations that were sometimes an hour’s drive away from home…long days and massive mosquitoes”.
Check out the trailer for The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre below.
