Leatherface: TCM3 opens with a "mask-making" scene intercut with the opening credits, which was surely inspired by the beginning of A Nightmare on Elm Street, where Freddy assembles his razor glove. After that, we follow Ryan and Sara, traveling through Texas on their way from Los Angeles to Florida, as they meet survivalist Benny (played by horror icon Ken Foree) and run afoul of the murderous, cannibalistic Sawyer family.
The previously seen members of the Sawyer family were by-and-large killed off by the end of TCM2, so we get a new batch here. This time around we have the muttering pervert gas station attendant Alfredo, the handsome charmer Tex (played by a young Viggo Mortensen, believe it or not), the hook-handed Tinker (who makes gadgets and is sort of the Q of the group), wheelchair-bound, speaker-in-the-neck Anne (who exerts a motherly influence over the boys, though her relationship with them isn't clearly defined), and the unnamed little girl of the family, who at nine or so is just as crazy and deadly as her elders.
These characters are enjoyably crazy and bizarre, but none of their antics hold a candle to the abject lunacy of the first movie, or even the second, really. Or the remake. It's like they're trying too hard to out-crazy the previous movies and they've made the characters so outlandish as to be comical.
Leatherface particularly has become a parody of his former self, going from a simple, murderous man-child to a goofball with a chainsaw, a Walkman, and a Speak n' Spell. (Okay, Leatherface's little spelling lesson thing - which shows a picture of a clown and asks "what is it?" and he types out F-O-O-D - is pretty funny.) He's still a violent monster, but he's just not as intimidating as he used to be. It's almost always the case that the more you know about the monster, the less scary it becomes, and that's what is going on here.
The mayhem commences in the typical Chainsaw fashion, with a first tentative meeting with the (arguably) more presentable members of the family in which something just doesn't seem right about them, then their true nature is revealed and our heroes are either dispatched or captured. Then there's a scene revolving around a meal in which the protagonist is affixed to a chair and tormented, only to escape just in time and have a final showdown with Leatherface. The day is saved, the final girl gets away. Wash, rinse, repeat.
While the law of diminishing returns is definitely in effect with the original series of Chainsaw movies, this one isn't exactly bad. In fact, it's pretty well shot (if a bit too dark), giving the movie a more modern look and feel than the gritty, low budget looks of the previous two films. It's just a far cry from the legitimate terror of the first movie and the nutty, satirical excesses of the second one. It becomes just a rehash of previously established concepts with another absurd clan of crazies tied to the other movies only by Leatherface.
For a movie that famously had a hard time avoiding an X rating for violence, it is surprisingly tame in the gore department. A bit of research tells me that I must have been watching the R-rated cut, but even the parts that were trimmed out for the unrated edition (which I used to have on VHS) just aren't that terribly graphic. That's a bit disappointing.
Still, as a straight-ahead meat-and-potatoes slasher sequel, it's certainly watchable. Completists will find some parts entertaining but ultimately forgettable. Those who are less than horror junkies can skip it.
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