Welcome back to The Saw Is Family. So far in this look back, we have managed to cover just a small tip of this franchise. With the first film, it had managed to find its success and gone on to become such a classic. However with Part 2, it missed its mark at the time. Personally, I chalk it up to being a little ahead of its time. Audiences just weren't prepared for it yet. And there's the small fact that a lot of people were probably expecting something a bit closer to that first installment.
It would take a few years, but Leatherface would eventually find his way back to the big screen. This time it would be with a whole new company. While they were new to Leatherface, they weren't new to the horror genre. I mean there's a reason why they're called "The House That Freddy Built" - New Line Cinema.
But herein lies the issue, new company holding the chainsaw means there's many chances for mistakes. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III definitely had its fair share of issues during its production. For one, New Line was gearing everything up for production on the film but one thing - a director. They had also made sure to have KnB Studios on the project for the effects. They eventually approached Jeff Burr after their first choice (Peter Jackson) hadn't panned out to direct. Ironically, New Line would go on to fire Jeff Burr before production was set to begin. With no one else accepted the job, New Line rehired Burr. Sure signs of production troubles.
The synopsis of the film is as follows: "A couple encounters a perverted gas station attendant who threatens them with a shotgun. They take a deserted path in Texas to seek help, but only meet up with a cannibalistic clan interested in helping themselves to fresh meat.". New Line was fully set on this being its own installment apart from the previous films. I mean what other direction did they have to go on? At the end of Part 2, the family is basically wiped out by Stretch and Lefty. Roughly, this is a sequel in name only. It also harkens back to a more serious tone akin to the first installment.
While I was watching this film earlier today, I just kept thinking to myself 'What had happened to the film?'. This watch was with the Unrated version. I appreciate that it's trying to craft a new story. I appreciate that it even has a new 'family' that Leatherface works alongside. But as much as I would like to say that it's good. It's okay. It just screams of its troubled production. It screams that the studio had no idea what to do with it. They had the Texas Chainsaw license, but didn't fully understand what that meant. Therefore, Leatherface becomes a shallow thug shell of his former self. He's just someone that goes around with his chainsaw terrorizing people. I mean Yeah, Leatherface did that in the first two films. But he also used his hammer quite a bit. He wasn't always so reliant on that damn chainsaw. Plus even in the Unrated cut, the film feels tame. Understandably that's a shame considering the original script had more gore in it. If they had made the original script today, I'm not sure they would have cut back on the gore. They wouldn't have had to. But hey, it was the 90s and horror was going through its cycle.
Two things the film does have going for it though is Ken Foree and Viggo Mortensen. Both of these actors do great job in this. Ken Foree is a bit of a tough action hero. Viggo Mortensen - well, he does a superb job at playing crazy.
Outside of those two, the film just feels like a pale imitator of the Texas Chainsaw name. I'm not trying to come down on it too hard. But it just feels like there could have been a lot more done with it - perhaps if the studio hadn't wanted to rush it out to the theater. The commentary for the film was an interesting listen as well as the Behind the Scenes documentary. Those two things did help give a better insight as to what happened with Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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