Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III

“
The terror begins the second it starts.

”— Tagline
***Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III*** is the second sequel to the 1974 film *The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* and was directed by Jeff Burr. The film stars Kate Hodge, Ken Foree, William Butler, and a then-unknown Viggo Mortensen. New Line Cinema, the distributor, experienced problems with the Motion Picture Association of America, who rated the film X. After the studio made cuts, it was re-rated R, and New Line released it on January 12, 1990. It was refused classification in the UK upon its initial release. It has since been released on home video in both unrated and R-rated versions, and a cut version was accepted with an 18 certificated in the UK.

## Plot

The film begins with Leatherface bludgeoning a young woman to death with a sledgehammer before beginning the process of turning her face into a mask. The girl's sister, Sara, watches from a nearby window. Leatherface hears Sara outside, and after she flees, he briefly checks outside before going back to work. Some time later, Michelle and her boyfriend Ryan are traveling through Texas, pass through a security checkpoint near the excavation of a large number of butchered bodies, a cop approaches them and interrogates them, shortly after they leave and reach the Last Chance Gas Station. At the station, they meet a hitchhiking cowboy named Tex and the station's perverted owner Alfredo. Tex shows Ryan a route on the map that can get them to a town. A fight soon breaks out between Tex and Alfredo when Tex finds the latter spying on Michelle while she uses the station restroom. As Michelle and Ryan flee from the station in their car, they witness Alfredo apparently killing Tex with a shotgun.

As night falls, Ryan and Michelle, having taken the route Tex recommended, become lost. As they begin to bicker, a large truck appears and the driver attacks them. Ryan pulls over when the unseen driver throws a dead coyote at their windshield. As Ryan changes the car's flat tire, Michelle hears a noise, and Leatherface ambushes the two of them. They climb into the car as Leatherface begins hacking at it with his chainsaw, before bumping Leatherface with the vehicle and driving off.

After their escape from Leatherface, Michelle and Ryan - as well as another driver, a survivalist named Benny - crash when a bloodied Tex leaps in front of the car. As Benny tends to Michelle, Ryan explains the situation to him, showing him the damage which Leatherface has caused to their car, before Michelle awakens. They decide to find Tex, and on the way, Benny discovers a hook-handed man named Tinker, who offers his assistance in setting down road flares. Benny soon realizes Tinker's real intentions after he finds a damaged chainsaw in the back of his truck. Benny then grabs an automatic rifle from his overturned jeep, retreats, and encounters Leatherface when Tinker attempts to ram him with his truck.

As Benny fights Leatherface, Sara, who had earlier escaped Leatherface, saves Benny from death by luring Leatherface away before re-joining Benny. After questioning Sara, Benny learns that her entire family has been killed. She tells him that she has failed to escape as Leatherface and his family have been watching the roads. Benny hears Michelle and Ryan calling for him and leaves Sara; Leatherface kills her a short time later. After killing Sara, Leatherface stalks Ryan and Michelle, mutilating and capturing Ryan when he gets caught in a bear trap.

After Ryan tells her to run, Michelle locates a house and finds the Little Girl inside who has a room filled with the remains of various animals. The girl stabs Michelle with a knife before Tex enters the room and restrains her, bringing her into the kitchen and nailing her to a chair, introducing her to the already deceased and decomposed "Grandpa" from the two previous movies. After Anne, an elderly woman appears, Michelle begs her for help, but is ignored. Tinker appears in the doorway, dragging the badly injured Ryan, whom he and Tex proceed to suspend upside-down with a pair of meat-hooks. Michelle begins screaming uncontrollably, forcing Tex to gag her by forcing a ball of leather into her mouth and securing it with a strip of tape. When Leatherface returns home, Tex gives him a large golden chainsaw with his late brother Drayton's phrase "The Saw is Family" engraved on it, a present made by Tinker. Outside the family home, Benny finds and attempts to interrogate Alfredo as he disposes of human bodies in a bag, but he is unsuccessful, eventually knocking Alfredo into the bog and leaving him to drown.

As the family prepare for dinner in the kitchen, the little girl kills Ryan with a sledgehammer-swinging device that Tinker has made, and Leatherface prepares to kill Michelle as well. The noise of Leatherface's chainsaw attracts Benny, who opens fire on the house with his rifle, killing Anne, blowing off two fingers on Tinker's hand along with his ear, and partially destroying "Grandpa"'s decayed and inanimate body. The gunfire knocks Leatherface to the floor, allowing Michelle to tear herself from the chair she is nailed to, and to stab Tex before joining Benny outside.

When Leatherface drives towards them in Tinker's truck, Benny tells Michelle to run to the woods. He tries to shoot Leatherface, but realizes he has run out of ammunition as the truck hits him. Benny is stunned, and Leatherface exits the truck, grabbing his chainsaw before going after Michelle. As Leatherface stalks Michelle, Tex and a recovered Benny begin fighting, a battle which ends with Benny soaking Tex in fuel and burning him with a lighter. Benny rushes to Michelle's aid, stopping Leatherface from murdering her, and knocking the killer into the bog. The pair begin fighting, and Benny appears to die when Leatherface forces his head into the blade of the chainsaw. He then turns his attention to Michelle, who grabbing a nearby rock, beats him over the head with it, leaving him unconscious under the water.

As dawn breaks, Michelle reaches the main road and rests on an abandoned tire, before Alfredo's pickup truck, driven by Benny, stops in front of her. As Benny helps her into the truck, Alfredo appears and attacks him from behind with a sledgehammer. Benny avoids Alfredo's attacks, and Michelle shoots Alfredo in the chest with a shotgun before the pair drive away, unaware that Leatherface is revving his chainsaw some distance away.

## Cast

* Kate Hodge as Michelle
* Viggo Mortensen as Edward "Tex" Sawyer
* Ken Foree as Benny
* William Butler as Ryan
* Toni Hudson as Sara
* Joe Unger as Tinker "Tink" Sawyer
* R.A. Mihailoff as Leatherface
* Kane Hodder as Leatherface (stunts)
* Tom Everett as Alfredo Sawyer
* Jennifer Banko as Little girl
* Beth DePatie as Gina
* Duane Whitaker as Kim
* Miriam Byrd Nethery as Anne Sawyer
* Michael Shamus Wiles as Checkpoint Officer
* Caroline Williams as Reporter (cameo)

## Production

After the success of the *Nightmare on Elm Street* franchise, New Line bought the rights to *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* from The Cannon Group with the intention of turning it into a new series. New Line began scouting locations in July 1989. In a statement, they said they were "going back to hard-core horror". Shooting took place in Valencia, California, later in that month.

## Soundtrack

1. "Leatherface" (Lääz Rockit) – 4:10
2. "Bored" (Death Angel) – 3:27
3. "When Worlds Collide" (Wrath) – 5:42
4. "Spark In My Heart" (Hurricane) – 4:56
5. "Power" (SGM) – 4:05
6. "One Nation" (Sacred Reich) – 3:20
7. "Monster Mash" (Utter Lunacy) – 5:31
8. "The Gift Of Death" (Wasted Youth) – 8:50
9. "Methods Of Madness" (Obsession) – 3:24
10. "Psychotic Killing Machine" (MX Machine) – 3:22

The band Utter Lunacy was a one-off project made of musicians Happenin' Harry, Ron Armstrong, C.C. DeVille, Marq Torien, Doane Perry, Ron Keel, Tony Palamucci, Claude Schnell, Robert Sarzo, Leah Aldridge, Tommy Bolan and Steve Ishman. Background vocals are by the bands The Killer Dwarfs, Black and Blue, as well as a group of waitresses from the Rainbow Bar And Grill. This track also features a rhyme from the duo "The Tarantula Twins" as the end of the song.

## Release

### Censorship

The film gained a certain amount of notoriety prior to release due to a battle between New Line Cinema and the MPAA, which initially rated the film an X because of its graphic violence. It was the final film to receive this rating before the MPAA replaced X with NC-17. Burr cited as issues involved that the studio was independent, *Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2* had been released unrated, and the film's grim tone. The studio eventually relented and trimmed the more graphic elements. Burr said that the film's negatives themselves were cut to maintain the film's release deadline. The film was rejected by the British Board of Film Classification upon submission for theatrical release in 1990, and the trimmed version gained an 18 certificate when submitted for video in 2004. A total of 4 minutes and 18 seconds was cut in order to gain MPAA approval.

### Theatrical Release

The film was released theatrically in the United States by New Line Cinema on January 12, 1990. It grossed $5,765,562 at the box office.

### Home Media Release

The film was released on VHS and laserdisc by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video the same year. In September 1996, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS in a widescreen, unrated version.

In 2003, New Line Home Entertainment released the film in both R and unrated versions on DVD. The DVD's special features include an audio commentary with Jeff Burr, Gregory Nicotero, R.A. Mihailoff, David J. Schow, William Butler, and Mark Odesky, a featurette entitled "The Saw is Family: The Making of Leatherface"; as well as a compilation of unrestored, raw and deleted scenes, along with an explanation from Jeff Burr as to why these scenes did not make the final cut; the original ending of the film was also included on the DVD.

## Reception

*Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III* received mostly negative reviews upon its initial release. It currently holds a 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. Richard Harrington of *The Washington Post* blamed the failure of the film on the edits that were made to get the film an R-rating, stating "They shot an X film, but edited it down to an R to satisfy the MPAA ratings board. Whether that was just a publicity ploy or not, the lack of hard-core gore in this latest installment is quite noticeable." Chris Parcillian of *Film Threat* called it "Just another generic slasher flick with nothing beyond the Leatherface connection to recommend it to discerning fans." Mark Kermode of *Time Out* called it "a relentlessly sadistic and worryingly amusing movie, which will entertain and offend in equal measure". Michael Wilmington of the *Los Angeles Times* called it "vapid *deja vu*". Ryan Turek of Shock Till You Drop called the film unremarkable but fondly remembered by horror fans who were starved for theatrical releases. Bloody Disgusting rated it 4/5 stars and wrote, "As you may have guessed the movie has its flaws, but besides that I think it's damn entertaining."

## Merchandise

Mezco Toyz planned to release a Leatherface figure from the film in November 2010. Eventually, the release was canceled.

**Films:** *The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* • *2* • ***III*** • *The Next Generation* • *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* • *The Beginning* • *Texas Chainsaw 3D* • *Leatherface*
**Miscellaneous:** Comics • Characters (Leatherface)