Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3

I sat down on a Tuesday evening, apartment to myself, and a plate full of grilled cheese sandwiches. All that was missing was a good horror movie to watch. Since I was alone, the selection of the movie was 100% up to myself. My fiancee isn't necessarily a fan of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. The gore is too over the top, and I'm sure the cannibalism doesn't help. So I slipped the DVD copy of Leatherface that had been gathering metaphorical dust on my shelf and popped it in.

The first installment in the series, and the original movie that sparked an onslaught of sequels and remakes, was a dark movie. From the opening monologue, to the unsettling darkness throughout. The original TCM is a force to be reckoned with. Then came TCM 2. A movie I love, and searched for a copy of for a solid year. Nothing like the first movie. This movie was like someone took Leatherface to the mall, and introduced him to all that the 1980's had to offer. It was great, however it was nothing like the first movie. TCM 3, meant to bring the vibe of the original film back into the story. Not only did it bring back the vibe, it pretty much brought back every element of the first movie - and I don't mean that in a good way.

Here comes the spoilers. If you haven't watch any of these movies, I suggest you do so before reading any further. That's right. Go watch three movies right now, and then remember to come back to this very movie review. Much appreciated.

TCM 3 starts off in the usual way; a road trip. Michelle and her annoyance of a boyfriend, Ryan, are traveling through Texas. You get a little taste of both of their personalities in the beginning of the movie. Ryan's being the louder personality of the two. After an escapade with an Aardvark, they stop and get gas at one of those gas stations in the middle of nowhere that you see in every horror film but aren't sure if they exist or not. There they are greeted by our first looney, Alfredo.

Alfredo's character is a perverted roller coaster ride. He instantly takes a liking to Michelle, and is overbearing with his approach. Alfredo is played by Tom Everett, who did really well with the character himself. My only issue with Alfredo, was that he looked like an attractive Hollywood face, with a few cliche, hillbilly-esc makeup additions. In walks Tex. Because why wouldn't there be a handsome, ascot wearing cowboy in Texas named Tex. That's like going to California and NOT running into a surfer guy named Calif. That doesn't happen? Oh right. Only in Texas.

Tex is played by Viggo Mortensen, who given the circumstances, did well with this character. You'll see what I mean later. Without giving away too much of the story, Tex gives Ryan an alternate route to get to their destination. That route is a more.. secluded route. Here's where I instantly guessed the next point of the plot, and if you've watched more than 30 minutes of any horror movie, you should be able to guess it as well. An altercation amongst all four key players breaks out, a shotgun rings off a few shots and Michelle and Ryan speed away.

Up to this point, everything had been predictable. The dialogue was well written, and the acting was all rather decent. The story however, I really was unimpressed with. It was starting to feel a little too familiar to the first TCM, and also had quite a few similarities to other movies of the like, IE, The Hills Have Eyes. I kept watching, because the movie wasn't bad by any means.

After a short travel, we end up in a truck chase scene. Sound familiar? Oh right. It's almost like this has happened before. There was one difference in this point of the story, a car accident with another main character, Benny. Long story short, Benny was the best person to crash into. He had weapons, medications, and a pocket full of courage. Michelle and Ryan, at this point are on pain killers and woozy from the crash. So Benny doesn't believe they were being chased. That is until he's nearly squashed by Tinker. The driver of the truck that was chasing Ryan and Michelle. Tinker ( Joe Unger) is hands down the most believable character in the film. He is the most angry, violent, and unpleasant out of all of them, and that includes Leatherface.

We're now at a point where everyone's chasing everyone, Leatherface (R.A. Mihailoff) has entered, and is running around the forest whipping around his chainsaw. Very unsafe, Leatherface. This chase scene felt a little drawn out, and scrambled. There was also a visit from a woman who must have been from a separate party that has gone through the same exact circumstances as our current roster. As Leatherface is getting ready to carve up Benny, she hollers out from the woods and gives us the typical (it's me you want). Instead of Leatherface polishing off Benny real quick and THEN going after the random woods girl, he spares Benny. Poor writing. Very very poor writing. I know Leatherface is a big dumb dumb, but he would have not just dipped on Benny like that.

After Ryan dies - I told you there were spoilers, Michelle ends up wandering into a house in the middle of the woods. This house is awfully clean, and seems like a nice older couple lives there. Until she walks into a ROOM FULL OF BONES, and is greeted by a little girl who gives her some nonsense rhetoric and cuts her. Also, the little girl, who is in a good chunk of the movie's IMDB credit name is "Little Girl". Very creative.

Here we are, Tex turns out to be a naughty boy and him and his family of cannibals has tied up Michelle and is preparing her for dinner. Sound familiar? Oh, shoot. That's right. The first and second movie did pretty much the same exact thing. This is where I lost interest. At this point it felt as if I was just watching an altered version of TCM 1. Even the grandpa was there. At least there's continuity?

All while Michelle is visiting with this lovely family, Benny is running around the woods. He finds Alfredo, and kills him in the most lackluster way. Then Benny finds the house. Benny and Michelle get into a series of fights, explosions and everything of the sort. The fight scenes were pretty "alright". There were a few corny lines thrown around, Benny had very conveniently been given a lighter earlier that came in handy, everything was looking up. Except Ryan. He was hanging upside down in the kitchen. Buh dum tssss...

Our big climactic fight scene is in a swamp, Leatherface seemingly kills Benny with his chainsaw, Michelle gets away somehow (I don't remember because this whole scene had blended together into a series of not knowing what really was going on). Our final scene starts with Michelle alone on a dirt road looking for help. Exactly like TCM 1. She's reunited with Benny, we have one more very predictable return-of-the-bad-guy moments, and the movie ends.

All-in-all this movie is good. I wouldn't say it's my favorite. I would say out of the first 3 movies, it would be my third favorite. The dialogue was all well written for the most part, outside of a few corny lines. The writing could have used a hand. Or 8. Overall the movie just felt like a remake of the first movie, not so much a sequel. I would have liked to see a continuation of the story, and some returning characters from the first and second film.

If someone asked me if they should watch this movie, my answer would be "if you want to, but it isn't a necessity to the franchise".