kclipper Its 1990, and the VHS horror sequel craze continues on with major studios such as "New Line Cinema" and "Paramount" satisfying our appetites for violence and demented humor by releasing modern versions of classic 1970's terror tales such as the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" that in comparison with today's extreme horror, seems quite watered down and grainy. It required tremendous effort on the part of director, Jeff Burr (who brought us the creepy anthology, "Offspring" and "Stepfather 2") to get the studio to release "Leatherface" in a very stripped-down and incoherent theatrical R-rated version who's cuts are overwhelmingly noticeable. Thanks to the DVD revolution for restoring it back to a better but still incomplete edition with most of its nihilistic content in tact. The story's the same, but the departure from the original includes many unique touches and a whole new "family" of cannibalistic psychopaths including... Viggo Mortenson, Joe Unger and R.A. Mihailoff as Leatherface. Kate Hodge and William Butler are the hapless victims and Ken Foree is a survivalist in on the action. Excellent set pieces including a sledgehammer head-shot concoction with a rope trigger, a shiny, custom-made chrome chainsaw with "The Saw is Family" engraved on the blade and various traps and gags add to the originality. (The family's last name is "Sawyer") A cute but sadistic little girl, a mama that speaks through a hole in her throat and other various twisted characters contribute to the insanity as this family that slays together exhibits a strange and dualistic comradery. Viggo Mortenson is great in his early role as Eddie "I told you to call me Tex", Ken Foree is in top form and the script is comedic and witty. Some inconsistencies remain. The Alternate ending is much better since the re-appearance of Foree's character after getting a chainsaw to the head makes no sense. Look for Caroline Williams "Stretch" from "Texas Chainsaw 2" in a brief cameo, and just sit back and have fun with this twisted little flick for what it is, and to whom it may concern... The rough print Director's Cut before post-production does exist, and is the most complete version of the film to date if you're lucky enough to find it.

KineticSeoul This one goes back to the serious tone revolving a crazy family and a psychotic chainsaw wielding psycho. It's nowhere near raw and chaotic as the first one, nor does it come to the same level of scare factor. Sure, it doesn't have that tension and suspense. The title of this movie has Leatherface in it, but he isn't in it as much and his persona isn't really shown in this. I have no idea why it's called Leatherface, because Leatherface plays a small part in the whole thing. Actually it does show a bit of Leatherface persona, but the more it tries the less intimidating he gets. I know, it's to show the innocence of Leatherface, but the more it does it makes Leatherface less intimidating more than interesting. The build up is drawn-out and boring and I just couldn't care for any of the characters. Even if the acting in it is alright. Also I am not sure if the heavy metal tracks actually elevated the chainsaw scenes or not either. I think they should get rid of the prologue part, because after the first one the next 3 sequels are just plain out silly in my opinion. Overall this is a watchable sequel that isn't awful, but doesn't stand out among other slashers.4.3/10

swedzin I have to admit, this film is giving more serious story and more serious characters, more than the second one. Well, actually, the movie itself is nothing that special, but it has some good stuff. It is a pretty unnecessary film. The story is nothing new, two characters stranded in the desert, they are captured by a cannibalistic family, nothing new, of course. Our main character is Michelle, played by Kate Hodge, she was solid, a scream queen that has some balls to give a good punch back to her opponents, we also have Ken Foree, a well known zombie slayer, here as a supporting character and a sidekick to Michelle. Leatherface was played by R.A. Mihailoff, well, he adds pretty good to a large, heavy-set frame of Leatherface… and that's all we got. They didn't put any effort to this new Leatherface. Why new? I'll explain later in spoiler part. Other actors did a pretty good job, but some of them were predictable, just like the story itself. But, seeing Viggo Mortensen here… damn that was interesting. Viggo was easily the best actor in the film. Give this guy an Oscar! Viggo was great. Music score, editing… those were good.SPOILERS HERE: Now, there are some flaws in this film… if you have seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), you know that the entire Sawyer family is dead. Including Leatherface. So this means that the family, including Leatherface is pretty new. That's the major flaw here, because, who are these people? Is the plot really settled in Texas? It looks more like Nevada. There's no explanation about this "new" family and their Leatherface. Who are they? Are they copycats? Maybe a fans of Sawyer family. We get no explanation for that… They are just cannibals and they accidentally have Leatherface and chainsaw in their house. Oh, well… the possibilities of cinema… It is interesting that the family also have an extremely ancient grandfather in wheelchairs… who is he? Did they stole him from that circus meat house from the second film? Now, these flaws makes film this very, very weak. And one more thing… I just saw all Texas Chainsaw Films, including the last one, the 3D one… and something puzzles me… In the opening of the film, which review you are currently reading, if you are reading spoilers. In the opening, it says that the main character from the 1974 original, Sally Hardesty died in the asylum. Now, if you didn't saw the 3D Texas Chainsaw… take a look at it… and see what I am talking about.SPOILER ENDS!

DustinRahksi I avoided this film for many years, thinking it was awful from the poor score it got here, but really it isn't all that bad. Some people call it a reboot, but it is a sequel to the first film, it even has a recap of the what happened in the TCM, I don't know if that was just added in for continuity or if it was even in the original version. I like that the film followed the format of the first, it lacks the cheese and goofiness of TCM part 2. Even though the family is pretty sadistic, I couldn't help but laugh at what they said or how they acted with each other. The gas station attendant had some funny moments as well. The film is 1 hour and 24 minutes long, and was very entertaining, rarely a dull moment. The film is not as violent as part two was, it's mostly just blood splattering and and the odd severed head or face, we never see the chainsaw cut flesh, which is what everyone wants to see. Oh well, we have the newer films that aren't shy to show us what the title promises. Viggo Mortensen is in this film, it was neat to see his earlier work, I liked his line " Boy, they just keep getting dumber". Ken Foree is the character you end up rooting for. Leatherfaces final moment before the film ends, makes him out to be more inhuman then I once thought, then again this is the same guy who had a chainsaw rammed through him.You may ask why I gave this a 6 out of 10, well I don't think it's all that bad, it was a more enjoyable sequel than Part 2, at least from my first viewing, we'll see if that changes in time once I've viewed it a couple more times. It's not bad, and I don't get why fans of this cry about every new film in this franchise that comes out, can't you just enjoy the film, it's not art, it's a horror movie. Now I starting to lean into the hate for Texas chainsaw 3D, so I'm going to end the review now.