Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
Last Watch Date - October 17, 2025
Total Times Watched - 1
Comments
I never watched this movie before. I thought I had but I didn't recognize ANY of this so I must not have. I think I was putting it off for a long time because of that, but hey man I should've watched this years ago!
On the ranking of horror series', I'm not sure where I would put TCM. The first is so gritty and kind of annoying with the screaming, but it's a classic that's pretty well-loved amongst the general population. TCM2 is a wonky comedy-horror that I absolutely love but it seems most people do NOT like. I read that with 3 they wanted to kick the series back up but make it gritty and scary like the first. Keep in mind this movie came out nearly 20 years after the original (1974!) and 4 years after part 2, so they had plenty of time to think about what they wanted to do with this series and this movie.
I get where they were going and see what they were trying to do. The movie is played seriously from the get-go with some pretty intense Leatherface action. It then kicks to the main plot of a couple going cross country in their car. I'm not going to go too much into the plot because, AS YOU MAY KNOW ALREADY, I don't like posting spoilers. Let's just say the plot basically ends there. It's a slasher, do they really need a plot? Terrifier says no!
The acting is pretty good all-around, and you'll see the great VIJO MORGENSTEIN in this too. Also Ken Foree. The others are a bunch of NOBODIES (no offense to them, I'm sure they feel like they're somebody) but they are all fine. The Sawyer family (and Leatherface himself) are pretty good if a bit unexpected at times.
Given their choice to make this gritty and scary again, did it actually work!? I didn't find it scary, but I'll give it gritty. I read this was originally an X rating from the gore so they had to cut it back, but I would say they cut too much out of it. The kills needed to be more gruesome to make the movie feel more harsh. As it is, there are a lot of off-screen things that imply violence but don't deliver. Like I said, the Sawyer family is pretty good so it has that going for it. Leatherface is definitely more intimidating than goofy in this one, even if he does a sort of shimmy like in part 2 occasionally.
Recommended?
What makes it tough to recommend is that I felt a bit bored multiple times in this movie. I think it could've been a great movie IF they left in some of the kills and cut some of the walking around in the woods stalking stuff. If you're watching the series, check it out. It's probably not going to stick with you, though.
