Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III

Theatrical Release Poster

### Starring

Kate Hodge William Butler Ken Foree Tom Hudson Viggo Mortensen Joe Unger R.A. Mihailoff

### Followed By

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation

**Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III** is a 1990 American horror film directed by Jeff Burr. The film stars Kate Hodge, William Butler, Ken Foree, Tom Hudson, Viggo Mortensen, Joe Unger, and R.A. Mihailoff. The film was distributed by New Line Cinema, who bought the rights to the franchise from The Cannon Group. Initially, this film was given an X-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, which limited the studio's release possibilities. 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 rated versions, and a cut version was accepted with an 18 certificated in the UK.

## Plot

Leatherface bludgeons a young woman, Gina, to death with a sledgehammer and cuts off her face to make it into a mask while Gina's sister Sara watches from a nearby window. Sometime later, a couple traveling through Texas, Michelle and Ryan, reach the Last Chance Gas Station, where they meet a hitchhiker named Tex and the station's owner Alfredo. A fight soon breaks out between Tex and Alfredo when Tex finds Alfredo spying on Michelle as she uses the station restroom. As Michelle and Ryan flee in their car, they witness Alfredo apparently killing Tex with a shotgun. When Ryan and Michelle become lost, the driver of a large truck throws a dead coyote at their windshield. As Ryan changes the car's flat tire, Leatherface ambushes them, but they manage to drive off unscathed. Afterwards, Michelle, Ryan, and another driver, a survivalist named Benny, crash when a bloodied Tex leaps in front of the car. Michelle, Ryan, and Benny decide to find Tex. 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. He flees and encounters Leatherface, but is saved by Sara, who had earlier escaped Leatherface. Benny learns that Sara's entire family was killed, and that Leatherface and his family are watching the roads. Benny hears Michelle and Ryan calling for him and leaves Sara; Leatherface kills her with his chainsaw a short time later. Leatherface then attacks Michelle and Ryan, capturing the latter when he gets caught in a bear trap. Escaping, Michelle locates a house and is captured by Tex, who brings her into the kitchen and introduces her to the already deceased and decomposed "Grandpa". Tinker then drags in the badly injured Ryan, whom he and Tex suspend upside-down with a pair of meat hooks. When Leatherface returns home, Tex equips him a large golden chainsaw with the words "The saw is family" engraved on it. Outside the house, Benny finds and attempts to interrogate Alfredo but 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. Leatherface prepares to kill Michelle as well, but Benny opens fire on the house with an automatic rifle. In the process, Anne is killed, Tinker and Tex are injured, and Michelle escapes. Michelle flees to the woods, pursued by Leatherface, while Benny fights and eventually burns Tex alive. Benny rushes to Michelle's aid, but is apparently killed by Leatherface. As dawn breaks, Michelle reaches the main road and rests on an abandoned tire, before Alfredo's pickup truck, driven by a surviving 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

* William Butler **as** Ryan
* Ken Foree **as** Benny
* Toni Hudson **as** Sara
* Viggo Mortensen **as** Tex Sawyer
* Joe Unger **as** Tinker Sawyer
* R. A. Mihailoff **as** Leatherface
* Tom Everett **as** Alfredo Sawyer
* Jennifer Banko **as** Babi Sawyer
* Beth DePatie **as** Gina
* \*Duane Whitaker **as** Kim
* Miriam Byrd Nethery **as** Anne Sawyer
* Ron Brooks **as** T.V. Newsman