Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) – A Gritty Comeback That Never Quite Lands
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III came out 35 years ago after a slight delay and was drastically different from Part 2, which itself was drastically different from Part 1. The franchise moved from a failed but very fun company (Cannon) to one that knew a thing or two about building horror franchises (New Line Cinema). Gone was the over-the-top silliness of the second movie. Instead, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III aimed for a return to form, or at least an attempt at one, with gritty, harsh kills, completely unlikable characters, and the hope of box office success that could launch a new killer franchise to be milked for years to come. I revisited Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 recently and had a complete turnaround on it in the most positive way. Will the opposite happen today, or does Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III stand the test of time? Let’s find out if the saw really is family.
The Plot
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre became a somewhat unlikely series in 1986, twelve years after the original, when Cannon Films and Tobe Hooper released a tonally different sequel. It did okay at the box office, pulling in about $8 million on a $4.5 million budget, but Cannon wasn’t in a position to continue the series. They burned bright but brief, and later efforts like the gloriously stupid Masters of the Universe helped shut them down. Enter New Line Cinema, the house that Freddy built. They scooped up the rights with hopes of turning the franchise into another Nightmare on Elm Street–level moneymaker. Studio head Bob Shaye fast-tracked the project so aggressively that a teaser trailer was shot before casting, a finished script, or even a director were in place.
Some say Kane Hodder appears as Leatherface in that teaser. Even if that’s untrue, he did perform stunts in the film and played Leatherface in select sequences, making him the only man to portray Jason, Leatherface, and technically Freddy’s hand in Jason Goes to Hell. The teaser tells you nothing about the actual movie, but man, it’s a cool one.
Tobe Hooper was approached to return and even submitted a treatment, but commitments to Spontaneous Combustion pulled him away. The studio considered a wild lineup of replacements: Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, Scott Spiegel, Renny Harlin… but none worked out. Instead, we got Jeff Burr, one of my favorite journeyman directors. Burr, who sadly passed in 2023, gave us gems like From a Whisper to a Scream, Night of the Scarecrow, Puppet Master 4 & 5, and Pumpkinhead II. The script was written by David J. Schow, known for Critters 3 & 4, The Crow, and later The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. His original draft was far darker and more graphic, but studio mandates cut it down, pun intended, out of fear it would limit release and appeal.
The cast includes Kate Hodge (She-Wolf of London), William Butler (Ghoulies II, Friday the 13th Part VII), and of course Ken Foree, who has more horror credits than I could reasonably list. The Sawyer family features an early role from Viggo Mortensen, alongside Joe Unger (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Jennifer Banko (Friday the 13th Part VII), Miriam Byrd-Nethery (From a Whisper to a Scream), Tom Everett (Best of the Best), and R.A. Mihailoff as Leatherface. Gore effects were handled by KNB, though significantly toned down.
Production was chaotic. Originally planned for a Texas shoot on 16mm, filming moved to California and was done on 35mm. Viggo Mortensen broke ribs during a fight scene. Fires caused safety concerns. Jeff Burr was fired, rehired, and asked to remove his name, only to find the film already shipped with credits intact.
The movie opens with a Leatherface kill before introducing Michelle and Ryan, who stop at a remote gas station and unknowingly encounter members of the Sawyer clan. After being attacked by Leatherface and a family member named Tinker, they cross paths with a survivalist named Benny. Chaos ensues, bodies drop, and the survivors escape… only to hear the chainsaw roar once more.
Signs of the Time
Let’s start with something familiar: early horror appearances from future stars. We talked about this recently with Halloween 6, and today’s surprise actor is Viggo Mortensen. While not quite Ant-Man level, a three-time Oscar nominee who knows hobbits bow to no man is still a fascinating pull. His career clearly splits into pre- and post-Lord of the Rings. Post-Rings gives us The Road, Eastern Promises, A History of Violence, and Green Book. But pre-Rings Viggo is just plain fun: The Prophecy, Prison, Young Guns II. Absolute must-watches.
Then there’s Ken Foree, one of the greatest journeyman horror actors ever. Need a Lovecraftian tough guy? Give him a tank top. Need someone who can plausibly stand up to Zombie’s Michael Myers? He’s your guy. Zombies overrunning the mall? Let him cook with a monologue. Just an all-around legend.
On the directing side, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III fits neatly into the early ’90s era of journeyman directors, guys like Jeff Burr, John Carl Buechler, Brian Yuzna, Jim Wynorski, and Ted Nicolaou. These filmmakers often worked on low-profile projects that still earn cult love today.
The film also exists in a strange limbo: an early ’90s movie that still feels like the ’80s, while trying to channel the nihilism of the ’70s.
What Holds Up?
The opening crawl is surprisingly effective and may be the best one not narrated by John Larroquette. It sets the stage for a film that genuinely tries to course-correct after Part 2’s silliness.
The Sawyer family is at least interesting: the mother’s voice box, Tinker’s hook hand, Viggo Mortensen playing Tex as a gay man, and Leatherface himself being unsettling, even if a bit over the top. While it’s nowhere near the scene-stealing heights of R. Lee Ermey in the remake and prequel, it’s leagues better than entries like Texas Chainsaw 3D.
The gore was heavily cut after earning an initial X rating, but what remains mostly works. One death was changed from something straight out of Bone Tomahawk to a subtler and arguably more horrifying hammer kill. The Warner Archive Blu-ray restores some of the gore, but both cuts at least make do.
And yes, that teaser trailer still rules. It just hurts that the movie never lives up to it.
What Doesn’t Hold Up?
First of all: release the original script, you cowards. Censoring a movie called Texas Chainsaw Massacre is absurd. The film flopped anyway, why not let it be infamous?
The characters are another weak spot. Viggo Mortensen and Ken Foree carry the load, but no one else really stands out. Leatherface looks cool and the performance is fine, but he never feels as brutal or formidable as he should. The protagonists aren’t particularly likable, even if you sympathize with what they endure.
At the end of the day, it’s a story we’ve seen before, and one the franchise would keep telling over and over. This series isn’t much of a series. And while Halloween also has atrocious continuity, it simply has more enjoyable one-off entries to choose from.
Verdict
I was deeply disappointed revisiting Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. In my personal head canon, no pun intended, the Cannon sequel was the disposable one, and this was supposed to restore credibility to the franchise. Instead, I’ve come to appreciate what a gem Part 2 really is and just how much wasted potential Part 3 represents. I don’t blame the cast or crew; too much was changed before shooting and too much was cut afterward.
Like Hellraiser III, it’s still worth watching as part of the franchise’s history… but unfortunately, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III does not stand the test of time.
A couple of the previous episodes of The Test of Time can be seen below. To see more, click over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
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