Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) Review
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) Review
Opening with a prologue informing us that Leatherface is still at large, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III wastes little time introducing a couple for whom audience sympathy is in decidedly short supply. After an unpleasant encounter at a roadside garage, they soon find themselves crossing paths with everyone’s favourite chainsaw-wielding maniac. Unfortunately, what follows is a limp, uninspired sequel that struggles to understand what made Tobe Hooper’s original such a horrifying experience.
Whereas Hooper’s Leatherface was a deeply unsettling, cannibalistic oddball whose menace stemmed from his unpredictable, almost childlike behaviour, here he appears to have developed supernatural strength. It’s a curious transformation for a character who previously came across as rather effeminate and cowardly, and one that strips away much of the uncomfortable vulnerability that made him so disturbing in the first place.
Joining Leatherface and his increasingly implausible family is Viggo Mortensen, later destined for Middle-earth fame as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Quite how his character fits into the family tree is anyone’s guess. Given that the opening prologue establishes that Leatherface’s relatives have been apprehended, where exactly has he managed to find this fresh batch of murderous misfits? Apparently, Texas has a limitless supply of homicidal inbreds waiting in the wings.
Their home is another source of amusement. For a family seemingly quite happy to hang dead bodies in the kitchen for gutting, the place is remarkably clean and tidy. One almost expects them to finish their grisly chores before sitting down to a spot of afternoon tea. It is difficult to feel threatened by a family whose domestic arrangements appear more orderly than their approach to interior decoration would suggest.
Also along for the ride is Ken Foree, best known to horror fans for Dawn of the Dead (1978) and its 2004 remake, playing a survivalist who proves spectacularly inept at the very activity his chosen lifestyle supposedly prepares him for. His character eventually meets Leatherface’s chainsaw and appears to have been dispatched, only to turn up again during the climax after test audiences reportedly objected to his demise. Nothing says confidence in your storytelling quite like resurrecting a character because the audience didn’t approve of the original ending.
On the plus side, the film is mercifully short. The version I watched also appeared to have been heavily trimmed, with the unrated cut reportedly running around eight minutes longer. Frankly, I consider that a lucky escape. If the additional footage consists of more of the same, those missing minutes may well be the most effective cuts in the entire production.
Ultimately, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III fails to work as either effective horror or entertaining exploitation. The atmosphere, tension and raw nastiness that made Hooper’s original such a landmark are conspicuously absent, replaced by uninspired characters, muddled continuity and a villain who seems to have wandered in from an altogether different franchise. It is a sequel that mistakes louder, stronger and gorier for better, and gets the equation spectacularly wrong.
Given Mortensen’s eventual association with The Lord of the Rings, it is tempting to wonder what might have happened had Peter Jackson, who would later bring Tolkien’s epic to the screen, accepted the offer to direct this instalment. Jackson’s flair for grotesque imagery and macabre humour might have made for a more entertaining experience. Then again, it’s not difficult to imagine why he might have declined.
A chainsaw without a decent story is just a noisy gardening tool, and this particular slice of Texas horror is little more than cinematic deadwood.
