Customer Reviews

Leatherface - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (Widescreen Edition) [VHS]

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

As a lifelong horror fan, and more importantly "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" fan, it's hard for me to like a movie that doesn't respect the mythology of Leatherface, or keep with the continuity of the movies that came before it. And unfortunately, as time went on, and with each sequel (up until the deadpan 2003 remake), the series just got goofier and made less sense. However, there are still many thrills to be had with "Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III," and thanks to the DVD that sports both the rated and un-rated cuts, we can have our cake and eat it too. Obviously the unrated cut delivers the goods and makes the movie that much better than my intitial viewing, but the supplemental material actually helps us to understand why this movie is the way it is, and offers some insight as to the good natured intentions behind it (ala director Jeff Burr). But, more on that later. This installment in the series pretty much ignores Leatherface's unfortunate demise in part 2, and has him shacking up with a new family full of people just as deranged and far removed from the real world as the ones found in the original. When a couple on the rocks (William Butler and Kate Hodge) driving through Texas are directed down a wrong road, they collide with a camper/hunter by the name of Benny (played by genre favorite and "Dawn Of The Dead" star, Ken Foree) and through a turn of events, end up in Leatherface's home, being tortured and torn apart. However, Benny gives the family more than they bargained for, and fights chainsaw with firepower. The movie does reach into levels of cheese at points, but it's still loads of fun, thanks to Ken Foree, who could steal any movie he's in. Leatherface is also a bit tougher in this movie (notice him sticking up for himself when his walkman is thrown into a fire), and, as mentioned before, the carnage is brought up to a new level with the unrated cut. Aside from the noticable differences in the two cuts, the DVD also benefits from a documentary, "The Saw Is Family" which explains pretty much everything you need to know about the movie. Basically, when New Line got the rights to Leatherface, they wanted to turn the movies into a franchise, ala "Nightmare On Elm Street," which explains why this movie reaches a little further than the others in the series and why it has more of a slick feeling to it, as opposed to Tobe Hooper's original gritty vision. The movie is pretty much a victim of too many cooks in the kitchen, as director Jeff Burr was battled constantly by New Line execs to change this, change that, and when the MPAA got involved, this movie was dead meat. Obviously it never made the commercial splash intended, and spawned one more, half of a breath of a sequel, before dreams of a franchise were squashed. However, this is still a good movie, worthy for fans of the genre, and the DVD helps push the movie a bit further. Aside from the previously mentioned documentary, we are treated to a wealth of deleted scenes (with an alternate ending), and a jam-packed commentary (which suffers from the fact that everyone recorded seperately). The DVD was released last year in timing with the theatrical release of the remake, and if that movie sparked your interest into Leatherface's back-catalog, this is one you shouldn't pass up.

Since New Line released their recent re-make of the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, they finally had the good sense to release Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 on an extra laden DVD. Undoubtadly the best, and sadly the monst infamous, sequel in the series, this installment finds two college students (Kate Hodge and William Butler) stranded on a Texas backroad being stalked and hacked up by Leatherface and his larger cannibalistic family. Ever since this film was released, it garnered a lot of criticism and bad press because of it's many attempts just to get an R rating. Well, here it is in all it's unrated gory glory, but for the life of me I cannot understand how the unrated version never got an R rating; I mean House of 1000 Corpses was gorier than that. The film also stars a pre-Lord of the Rings Viggo Mortensen as a member of Leatherface's family, and Dawn of the Dead's Ken Foree as a survivalist who is all that stands between the kids and the family. The DVD includes a documentary on the film, deleted scenes, and a commentary by director Jeff Burr and crew.

I am a big fan of the original Chainsaw Massacre. It was a very well made and effective movie for its time. I only wish I could say the same for all of its sequels. Personally, I found part 2 to be a huge letdown, despite Tobe Hooper directing it. It turned terror into cheesiness, kind of like Evil Dead 2 except not nearly as cool. The cheese factor is just too high for me to own it. Part 4, The Next Generation, was one of the worst horror sequels I have ever seen. It was trash. If it weren't for the fact that Mathew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger both got famous 5 years after this movie's filming, I wager it would never have hit shelves. However, Leatherface, Chainsaw Massacre part 3 is the one redeemable sequel of the series. Though it features a basically different family from that of the first two movies, it is effective as an early 90s horror film, and manages to keep your attention for most of the film. Leatherface is truly brutal in this film and you won't find him whining like a little girl while putting on hose & garters and applying lipstick as he so unfortunately does in part 4. If you are a fan of the original and haven't seen this, I would encourage you to give it a try, even if you have been disappointed with parts 2 and 4 as I have. Not the best horror movie ever and not for everyone, but nonetheless a fun romp through the backwoods of Texas with your favorite chainsaw-wielding freak.

Oh Lord how I love a bad horror movie. This is definately one of those "It's so bad, it's good movies". Looks like Leatherface has been adopted by a new family. Grandpa is still hanging around, but this time he's just a corpse. Grandma however, complete with wheelchair and voice microphone hams it up just as well. There is a little girl in the family too, she may look like the girl from the original 'Bad Seed', but she was in another favorite movie of mine Friday the 13th Part 7. She was young Tina who killed her father with her telekinesis powers.

Great kills in this flick, but you gotta see the unrated version to really enjoy this movie. The unedited swinging hammer scene alone is worth the price of admission. But, you get a lot more of the blood and guts too throughout the movie.

Leatherface does get a top of the line chainsaw too, man is it ever nice. We also get a rare chance to look at the psyche that makes up the masked madman. With a child's toy he is supposed to spell out 'c-l-o-w-n' when the picture appears, but he continues to type 'f-o-o-d'. That my friends is entertainment.

Of course there are things in this film that I did learn. Did you know a chainsaw will not only float, but it will operate when submerged in swampwater? The chainsaw sticks out of the water and moves around much like the dorsal fin of JAWS.

The ending was a bit ridiculous also with a family member and Leatherface appearing suddenly in the middle of nowhere, but you kind of go along with stuff like this.

The first TCM was one of the biggest horror hits of all time, inflicting pain and brutal terror upon its viewers. The 2nd installment was awesome, but was nothing like the original. The 3rd TCM actually lived up to the original, but after it's release it was long forgotten. You would think with Tobe Hooper not directing this movie, it would be a huge mistake, but actually, it was a good idea. None of the old family members are here, accept an older, greener grandpa, and of course, Leatherface. The house is different, but the inside looks similar to the original, but not much. Leatherface has a different looking mask, still made of human flesh though. The settings are: The desert, an old gas station, the texas woods in very thick darkness, and Leatherfaces (new) house. This movie has a whole lot of action. Lots blood and gore violence, on the unrated edition, gunshots, and lots of good chainsaw action. This is Leatherface at his best, so look closely, you might miss something bizarre!

R-Rated Version: This version, well, sucks. It has a whole bunch of perfectly good violence edited out. Watch the unrated version for true terror!

Unrated Version: If you are a horror/violence fan, you should know to always look for an unrated version of a good horror movie. This version of L:TCM3 is the bloody, gory, violent version only strong horror fans can view. Weak-hearted people, you have been warned!

An all time classic, great movie, good characters, the ever so nowadays popular VIGGO MORTENSEN(Lord of rings) a danish offspring is making one of his best characters ever, as the "Cowboy"...

Best of them all... A must see,

GO GET THE MEAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre III presented in widescreen view and contains extra gory footage is just what a TCM fan wants. When I first saw TCM 3 it had all the gore cut which made the movie really pathetic. But thankfully they can make up for their mistakes with this edition which is a must have for every TCM fan.

We all know that the first TCM was THE best film ever made, but what about three? Well, I liked this so much I bought it. And if you know me I don't do that often. The TCM3 was way better then TCM2 with Dennis Hopper because this feature had better film production, sound, and plot. If you buy it you won't be sorry.

I recently got the dvd edition of this movie on the day it came out and I have to say that I couldn't be more happier than a chainsaw-weilding madman chasing after his human dinner. There are alot of things that this special edition of "Leatherface" has and I think every fan will agree that this dvd has it all from the R-rated to the Unrated version of the film to the lost cut scenes that's been talked about all over the internet to the making of the film to the grand finale that is the alternate ending. When I saw these features, I was shocked and amazed at the same time. So if anybody out there is a die-hard Texas Chainsaw Massacre fan, I strongly suggest that you get this dvd version of "Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3".

This does not capture the same suspense and horror as the original obviously, but it is deff. by far the best sequel out there in the series. Whats more interesting is the dvd itself, the dvd comes with an insightful commentary, along with the making of documentary. This documentary gives a little backround about the real murders in Texas and some real authentic crime scene photos which is pretty cool. The first TCM dvd didn't even have cool stuff like that. Leathereface also comes with the R and unrated version, alternate ending, and deleted scenes. All in all new line cinema did a great job on the dvd. Did I also mention the dvd is transfered in 6.1 DTS and 5.1 surround ex. !!!