Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (originally The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and also known as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4: The Next Generation or simply The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4) is a 1994 independent American horror-comedy film written and directed by Kim Henkel, and starring Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. The plot follows four teenagers who encounter Leatherface and his maniacal family in backwoods Texas on the night of their prom. The film is a loose remake of and quasi-sequel to the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), which Henkel had co-written with Tobe Hooper. It has only loose connections to the previous two sequel films, which are mentioned in the film's opening prologue as "two minor, yet apparently related incidents" which happened after the events of the original film.