Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 was a pretty good movie, that at least I enjoyed and had fun watching. The movie was rather chilling and was pretty thrilling at times. The acting here was okay, but the biggest name cast member in the film was Viggo Mortensen (Psycho, A Perfect Murder). The rest of the cast was unknown by movie-goers, but they weren't too bad. If you want te be scared and entertained, rent Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3. I give it a 7 out of 10.

I really liked this film a lot, but you have to watch it with an open mind and forget the other TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE movies that it follows. It, in no way seems to be connected, other than the name Leatherface.

As far as slasher movies go with legends like Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, Norman Bates etc., this film fits in well. Here Leatherface is a madman who seems to have a blood lust not to mention the mind of a madman as opposed to the mind of a retarded person as he had on the first two. I hated this Leatherface really, but enjoyed him as a killer. After just a little while I forgot about the Sawyer family and enjoyed this movie for what it was and I really liked it.

Bottom line is this....this move was a great film if you enjoy movies like FRIDAY THE 13TH if not then don't watch it. It's not at all like the first two TCM's so don't expect a sequel, but the cast is awesome and still full of psychotic characters.

8 out of 10 stars

A young couple are driving from L.A. to Florida, but when they stop off at a gas station they encounter a crazy attendant with a shotgun. Then they are lured off the main road and take a deserted track that leads them to Leatherface and his cannibalistic family. Now the pairs' only chance of escaping this demented nightmare rests on a well-prepared survivalist, who they had a car accident with and which has left them at Leatherface's mercy.

Well, that just seemed to breeze by with very little impact, but I found "Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" to be rather nasty piece of work that's an exceptionally well-made production. Sure, it's not very explicit because of the MPAA cuts leaving a lot of the real gruel up in the air and causing large continuity shifts in the story. But these factors didn't stop me from mildly enjoying this torturous outing that seems to skip the events that followed on in Hooper's outrageously jokey sequel "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2".

It kind of starts off like the original film by providing a voice over dude giving their own interpretation of what had happened after the first flick and there are scenarios that have that rehash feeling about them. Replacing the goofiness of the last feature is a more serious approach that has some dark macabre wit within the script and some crazy antics. There's even a new gimmick involving Leatherface's glistening new chainsaw! Which is the most frightening item you can ever think of, although it would have been great it he got to use it on someone! The problem with the flick was that it looks too clean and really lacks that iron-fisted and repellently grimy nature, because it never gets truly dirty and that ending is totally out-of-place. Again it might look polished, but there is still a ruthlessly unflinching edge about its shocks, but the thing is they are just far from disturbing and lose that subtle realism. Despite all that it efficiently creates an isolated feeling amongst the sticks, the photography is well displayed and an atmospherically Gothic score amplifies a tight knit awe to proceedings. Although it probably could have done without those instrumental, heavy metal cues.

The short story is draped with many activities (some rather vague) and characters that come from nowhere and disappear and then reappear. It might be basic, senseless and foreseeable material, but really there was only one thing that got to me and they were the unexplained details and one or two illogical moments. Like Leatherface's new clan and that of Ken Foree's character. The performances were ho-hum, but it's the fun supporting roles by Viggo Mortensen as the subtle one minute to nut-job the next and legendary horror figure Ken Foree as the likable survivalist make it even more enjoyable. Kate Hodge is okay in the lead role as one of Leatherface's prey and R.A.Mihailoff steps up to the plate as Leatherface and does fair job at it and brings back some of that fear associated with that icon. Although anyone accustomed to the original knows no one gets near Gunnar Hansen performance!

It's certainly not a great film and does lack the heart of the earlier efforts, but still I didn't mind it and it goes by quick enough if caught in the right mindset.

If you watch this as a remake and not a sequel, and then you'll understand it, because that is what it really was meant to be according to all involved as well as Tobe Hooper, who was on board for a while as an adviser. Otherwise, the storyline from TCM part 2 to this one won't make sense.

I saw this when it was first released in the theater and didn't think too highly of it, but then I saw the uncut, unrated version recently and it improved more than 100%.

It's spooky, atmospheric, relentlessly frightening, with a very good job by R A Mihailoff as Leatherface, whose brutal and monstrous characterization of Leatherface seems to be the basis for the current Leatherface character by Andrew Briniarski. There's no cowering to others in the family, transvestite behavior, or silly screaming as in other versions. Also this one has a great chainsaw, plenty of great character actors doing what they do best, as great characters.

The film would have been better had the squeamish producers left in the X-rated violent scenes as they were originally. Would have been top notch if the (hideously deformed) Leatherface unmasking had remained, a bit that was eventually used to a degree in the 2003 version. Could have been a 10 had someone like Savini been involved. As it is, still superb.

I'm actually quite surprised at all the positive reviews for this film here, considering its horrible reputation.

Made on a shoestring budget with mostly unknown actors (aside from Viggo, who went on to A-list-ish status, and Foree, who was known to genre aficionados), obviously, there is nothing groundbreaking in this 3rd chainsaw outing, as can be said of most slasher sequels. Tobe Hooper's original said and did everything that needed to be said and done (i.e., its documentary style, iconic villain, the creation of the slasher-film template, the fire-red and orange burning sunsets, its post-Vietnam worldview, its commentary on animal cruelty and decay of the nuclear family, etc). It is an unparalleled masterpiece for a reason, and even Hooper's follow-up didn't hold a candle or need to exist (although it is crazy, offbeat, quality cult filmmaking on its own terms), so a third entry would seem a complete waste of time.

So why even pay part III any attention? My adoration for it is based largely on the first half, which is very well done and far superior to the second. For starters, Kate Hodge and William Butler, as the film's yuppie protagonists, are natural and absorbing, which keeps viewers invested (the same can't be said of most slasher films of this era, which typically featured bottom-of-the-barrel talent). They deliver solid performances in a movie with uniformly solid performances.

The cinematography by James L. Carter is also imaginative and stylized. The entire "gas station peepshow sequence," for example, is fantastically shot and executed; the angle of our heroine through the cracked mirror, the claustrophobic lighting, and the POV of the voyeur (note Kate Hodge's reactions during this scene: she seems genuinely freaked out and uncomfortable). It's no surprise that Carter went on to a successful career. He remains faithful to the mood of the original without plagiarizing, while still taking some new chances.

The film is atmospheric and dread-inducing from the jump, from the mundane car conversation that introduces the protagonists, to the bizarre "body pit" sequence- which was so absurd, it bordered on parody-to the armadillo murder scene, to the gas station sequence, all serving as knowing winks to Hooper's original, but because the film modernizes them, it grounds viewers in the "now" instead of the "then". And thankfully, the film sticks with the aesthetic of its time, because, while it would eventually show its age, attempting to match the cinema verite style of Hooper's would have proven awkward and derivative.

And how about that "truck-chase/changing the tire" sequence? I *live* for moments like this, as it has that particular old-school scare factor that exhilarates, rather than oppresses. There's the ominous, minimalist score, slow-burning pacing, the effective use of a lantern light, and again, acting that sells it. Kate Hodge's display of fear and hysteria is realistic and palpable, as are boyfriend Ryan's (William Butler) reactions of incredulity, anger, and frustration. There is a commendable attempt at realism here, resulting in a genuinely tense and nerve-jangling scene. Also, dare I say that it comes closer than any other entry in the series to matching the "flashlight fight between Sally and Franklin" from the original? It's that uncomfortable mix of anxiety, panic, and helplessness that Hooper perfected so well that I think gets overlooked in this sequel.

Okay, so that's the first half. The second half is less ambitious and becomes, as I mentioned earlier, almost a parody of the first film, with an uneven mix of horror and (attempted) black comedy. There are hints of wit and social commentary to be sure: the mocking by one of the chainsaw clan of the elitist boyfriend's underwear ("California!"), Ken Foree's completely out-of-place military survivalist, to name a couple. But these clever bits are treated as afterthoughts, rather than organic byproducts of the story (although the scene where Leatherface grapples with the Speak and Spell is curiously touching). Contributing to the dip in quality is some abrupt editing and rushed pacing, which I suspect is the fault of the studio and MPAA, who butchered (no pun intended) the heck out of the film.

With that said, there is still enough well-choreographed action to make the second half more than watchable. And witnessing Kate Hodge's transformation from genteel yuppie to traumatized badass makes it worth sticking around. A nice homage to Sally in the original.

But then comes the final shot, which is almost as if director Burr threw up his arms and said: "Alright, time for the trendy 80's slasher movie ending....we all got bills to pay". And of course, it leaves room for yet another sequel. Shame, shame, New Line.

And there you have it: LEATHERFACE, the wildly uneven, sometimes ambitious, consistently amusing, what should have been the final word on an already dying franchise, and more notably, sub-genre that would never quite be the same. As we all know, SCREAM followed 6 years later, and the slasher film became a cultural artifact only to be mocked, parodied, and "post-modernized" for a new generation of filmgoers, most of whom weren't alive when their genre forefathers were in their heyday. So with that in mind, we should be grateful for earnest little works like TCM III, which, while far from perfect, mark the end of an innocent and unpretentious era of irony-free slasher filmmaking. Sigh.