Leatherface's fourth appearance on the big screen in 1995's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation surprisingly had Matthew McConaughey in a villainous role, but he should have been Leatherface himself. McConaughey's character in the horror sequel is the wildly unhinged Vilmer. The casting is a surprise because McConaughey, and co-star Renee Zellweger, would go on to star in highly successful Hollywood films, while this film remains a forgettable outing for the two just as their careers were going into full swing.
The original film in this franchise, 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, was a rousing success and helped to revolutionize the horror genre in the '70s. It also created a slasher film icon in Leatherface, whose influence and longevity are comparable to very few other horror movie villains. The Next Generation's flaws were nothing new, though, as the two films released prior to the fourth in the series were equally as unappealing and forgettable. It seems a trend in horror films that the sequels are never as well-liked as the originals yet it kept happening. One change that might've made The Next Generation a little more memorable is if the filmmakers had opted to cast Matthew McConaughey in the villainous role of Leatherface.
The producers could obviously not tell the future, but they had recast the role of Leatherface several times before, with none of the actors coming close to matching the eloquence of Gunnar Hanses's initial performance in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Had they gone with McConaughey as Leatherface instead of what the finished product turned out to be, the film would have every right to be considered a cult classic today. Fans of the popular actor would be going back in time to watch Matthew McConaughey portray one of the most popular villains of all time, even if the film remained bad.
The likely reason for not having McConaughey portray Leatherface was due to the fact that Leatherface's face itself is rarely ever shown cleanly in the Texas Chainsaw films, and McConaughey's good looks of a movie star that the producers wouldn't have wanted to waste by showing it brutalized. But, if they had just taken that risk and shown a little bit of Leatherface's actual face with McConaughey as the Texas Chainsaw villain, it would've paid off in the long run and would have given Leatherface's character a bit of humanity as well. This also would have allowed for modern adaptations of the classic slasher film to recast Leatherface with McConaughey in the role. On the other hand, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's reboot is on its way to Netflix, and McConaughey might have been able to reprise the role of Leatherface had it been his all those years ago.
Horror film fans will never know what Matthew McConaughey would have brought to the role of Leatherface because he, unfortunately, was cast as a different unhinged character in the critically panned 1995 sequel. Viewers might have been seeing the upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot/sequel starring McConaughey as Leatherface had the producers of The Next Generation just taken a tiny risk, and it would've been a treat to watch. However, this is not the case and never will be. Sadly, Matthew McConaughey played a forgettable role in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, and the film will be remembered as a classic example of a horror film sequel that could not live up to its original movie's reputation.