One of the best sequels in the TCM series
Added 10/3/2009
I have only this to say....ONE OF THE BEST HORROR FILMS EVER!!!!WOOO-HOOOOO!but one question-why was it given an X-rating?
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Fun movie, good documentary, and cool extras.
Added 6/29/2009
By now, you've read the storyline of this flick in the other reviews, so no need to repeat here. I WILL say that it's interesting to see how the film makers were trying to make Leatherface a more formidable killer than he was in the first 2 movies. He's less childish and not as skitterish this time around, and that makes him more intimidating. It's weird to see California doubling as Texas, but hey...you'll get used to that soon enough in this film.
The documentaries are interesting and explain a LOT about how this movie came to be, the thinking behind it, and what worked and didn't. The impression I got was that the studio saw Leather face as another Jason or Freddy, and just didn't understand that he's very different from either. He has NO personality. That's the point of the mask. It IS his persona. They tried to make him into something he's not, and it didn't quite work. As a retrospective on early '90s horror films and the efforts that went into them, the documentaries are more than worth the price of this dvd. i find myself watching it quite a bit when there's nothing on the boob tube late at night (which is pretty damned often).
You'll definitely want to get this dvd if you're a fan of Chainsaw films and the history behind them.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Better than it's reputation; The Saw Is Family!
Added 3/4/2009
LEATHERFACE: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III
**** Out of 5
Release Date- January 12th, 1990
Running Time- 85-Minutes
Rating- R
Screenplay- David J. Schow
Director- Jeff Burr
Starring- Kate Hodge, William Butler, Viggo Mortensen, Miriam Byrd-Nethery, Tom Everett, R.A. Mihailoff, Jennifer Banko, Joe Unger and Ken Foree as Benny
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is legendary for its battles with the MPAA. Originally Leatherface received an X rating, which led to several cuts to secure an R-rating and it actually goes back further than that. Apparently the first draft written by David J. Schow was really graphic, which led to rewrites and than of course like I stated the first cut got an X rating, which had to be cut for the R.
Leatherface pretty ignores the 2nd part and continues from the original, which explains how Leatherface is still alive since in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 he was quite dead and unlike Michael Myers or Jason, Leatherface is human and can be hurt and killed. Though there are some homage's I suppose, but the two movies don't link together and this movie pretty much has the fans split down the middle. While I understand why so many people dislike this movie I do believe it's a lot better than given credit for.
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic of the genre and right there that is the first strike against this movie or any sequel or remake for that matter. The original Chainsaw is for me the scariest movie I have ever seen. While the movie isn't as violent as later installments it is really graphic in its tone and that makes the scenes of violence feel so much more extreme than they actually are. When you do a sequel or a remake to a classic film your movie is pretty much a sitting duck for the viewers. No doubt Leatherface is far inferior to the original, but just take the movie for what it is and it really is quite a fun movie.
It is tough not to compare this movie with the original. If you are watching this flick odds are you are doing so because you liked the original and it's quite easy to dismiss this movie, which is something even I did as well, but over the years I've really come to enjoy this movie. Don't go in expecting a masterpiece like the original, but again just take the movie for what it is and you might find yourself having fun.
The screenplay by David J. Schow is surprisingly good; while not a great screenplay or anything it does work well for the most part and does have some solid characters. The villains aren't nearly as weird and creepy as the villains in the original, but they still work well and some are quite strange in typical Chainsaw fashion. There is some decent character development early in the film and while the script may not win any awards, Schow crafts a solid screenplay, which was a lot better than maybe it should have been.
Director Jeff Burr does a solid job for the most part, while Leatherface lacks the suspense, tension that made the original so great and also lacks that really ugly and gritty feel of pending danger, to his credit Jeff Burr does make a really fun and semi suspenseful movie. The overall pacing is good and the movie runs at a good pace and is never too slow there's always something happening to keep the viewer hooked. While again it might lack a lot of what made the original such a classic, but it does make up for that in violence. Jeff Burr delivers the goods in terms of violence and has quite a few scenes that might make you cringe a little bit.
The cast is also really solid with Kate Hodge making her screen debut and gives a solid performance for the most part. Tom Everett is excellent and creepy as Alfredo and Joe Unger as Tinker was another solid character. What I love about watching horror flicks is seeing actors before they made it big and before he was an Oscar nominated actor Viggo Mortensen was Tex. Viggo was solid in an early role, but who could have guessed he would turn into such an amazing actor? Viggo is one of my favorite actors and it was fun seeing him in this.
Jennifer Banko nearly steals the show; Jennifer Banko should be known to horror fans from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood where she played a young Tina Shepard. When you think of children you think of innocence and Jennifer Banko's character was quite insane and thus makes her a little creepy as she does some really horrible things.
R.A. Mihailoff is great as Leatherface and is my 2nd favorite actor to play the character with Gunnar Hansen of the original being my favorite. In all the Chainsaw movies Leatherface is a pretty big guy, but he's rather agile and can move rather quickly. I think the Leatherface character is quite interesting and in the first 3 Chainsaw flicks you never really learn much about him, but there are some interesting things done with the character and maybe give a little insight. Mihailoff though again really makes for a great Leatherface and it's too bad he never played the role again.
But the clear standout is Ken Foree as Benny; Foree has a cult following for his work in the genre with the most notable of course being George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Foree is the ultimate tough guy and has some really great lines. Benny is no doubt one of my very favorite horror characters and Foree plays the role to perfection.
The gore F/X were done by Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero & and Howard Berger better known as KNB and the gore was really solid, but not nearly as gory as it's made out to be. But the gore looks excellent and it is violent, but just not as gory as it's made out to be. I first saw this movie when it was originally released theatrically back in 1990 and I didn't see it again until the DVD was released in 2004. The DVD comes with both the R-rated cut and Unrated cut, and I haven't watched the R-cut on DVD and all these years later I cannot remember the differences. The Unrated version runs at about 4-minutes longer, but it's not the true Unrated version.
On the DVD there is a feature of deleted scenes presented in a documentary like style and there is some extra gore and from what I've heard there are other cuts of the movie that have some extra gore scenes not included in this version. I'm not quite sure why New Line didn't deliver a full Uncut version, but despite that it's good to see the movie as closest to the final cut as possible.
Bottom line is Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is far from a horror classic and far inferior to the original, but with that said this is still a really fun ride with some excellent violence and gore; the running time is only about 85-minutes and therefore gets the good stuff rather quickly. Just take the movie for what it is and just enjoy the ride.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Surprisingly Great Movie!!
Added 1/22/2009
I saw Viggo Morteson in several movies since making his debut(?) in Leatherface, and no matter that he did The Lord of the Rings he'll always be Tex to me.
Aside from the remake and the sequel, this movie still ranks up there as a favorite of mine in the Leatherface series. Here we learn that the Saw Is Family (which was actually taken from Part 2, but who cares!) and Leatherface learns how to spell F-O-O-D while the chocolate-face guy from Dawn of the Dead and The Devil's Rejects misses his hunting trip with his buddies. This is probably the most convincing of the trilogy (apart from the original, naturally) in terms of fear and horror inflicted on the "innocent" victims.
There is no Leatherface in drag, nor an ex-drill sgt beating the snot out of a bunch of kids. Its just your basic house full of crazies that traps people and eats them. The family is still Sawyer (from the 2nd movie), but Leatherface is called "Junior" instead of "Bubba," and no other character from the previous films is in this one, except Leatherface. Who knows if they're related (we can only assume that they are), but they sure are ugly!!
This film is usually passed over because of it's cheese-factor. I'll grant that with The Next Generation, but Leatherface has the grit and maggots to keep you around. I'm just waiting for some special release to come out. This single disc ain't doing it for me.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Unrated is here.............
Added 11/12/2008
After a long wait, and miss lead vhs. The unrated version is finally here. This is not a bad movie. Decent story, and acting. Most people give it 1 star, they expecting too munch. It's a horror film with guts. Either you love it, or not. This is not the worst TCM 4 is. TCM original, 2, 3, and remake rules!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
One of the best sequels in the TCM series
Added 10/3/2009
I have only this to say....ONE OF THE BEST HORROR FILMS EVER!!!!WOOO-HOOOOO!but one question-why was it given an X-rating?
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Fun movie, good documentary, and cool extras.
Added 6/29/2009
By now, you've read the storyline of this flick in the other reviews, so no need to repeat here. I WILL say that it's interesting to see how the film makers were trying to make Leatherface a more formidable killer than he was in the first 2 movies. He's less childish and not as skitterish this time around, and that makes him more intimidating. It's weird to see California doubling as Texas, but hey...you'll get used to that soon enough in this film.
The documentaries are interesting and explain a LOT about how this movie came to be, the thinking behind it, and what worked and didn't. The impression I got was that the studio saw Leather face as another Jason or Freddy, and just didn't understand that he's very different from either. He has NO personality. That's the point of the mask. It IS his persona. They tried to make him into something he's not, and it didn't quite work. As a retrospective on early '90s horror films and the efforts that went into them, the documentaries are more than worth the price of this dvd. i find myself watching it quite a bit when there's nothing on the boob tube late at night (which is pretty damned often).
You'll definitely want to get this dvd if you're a fan of Chainsaw films and the history behind them.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Better than it's reputation; The Saw Is Family!
Added 3/4/2009
LEATHERFACE: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III
**** Out of 5
Release Date- January 12th, 1990
Running Time- 85-Minutes
Rating- R
Screenplay- David J. Schow
Director- Jeff Burr
Starring- Kate Hodge, William Butler, Viggo Mortensen, Miriam Byrd-Nethery, Tom Everett, R.A. Mihailoff, Jennifer Banko, Joe Unger and Ken Foree as Benny
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is legendary for its battles with the MPAA. Originally Leatherface received an X rating, which led to several cuts to secure an R-rating and it actually goes back further than that. Apparently the first draft written by David J. Schow was really graphic, which led to rewrites and than of course like I stated the first cut got an X rating, which had to be cut for the R.
Leatherface pretty ignores the 2nd part and continues from the original, which explains how Leatherface is still alive since in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 he was quite dead and unlike Michael Myers or Jason, Leatherface is human and can be hurt and killed. Though there are some homage's I suppose, but the two movies don't link together and this movie pretty much has the fans split down the middle. While I understand why so many people dislike this movie I do believe it's a lot better than given credit for.
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic of the genre and right there that is the first strike against this movie or any sequel or remake for that matter. The original Chainsaw is for me the scariest movie I have ever seen. While the movie isn't as violent as later installments it is really graphic in its tone and that makes the scenes of violence feel so much more extreme than they actually are. When you do a sequel or a remake to a classic film your movie is pretty much a sitting duck for the viewers. No doubt Leatherface is far inferior to the original, but just take the movie for what it is and it really is quite a fun movie.
It is tough not to compare this movie with the original. If you are watching this flick odds are you are doing so because you liked the original and it's quite easy to dismiss this movie, which is something even I did as well, but over the years I've really come to enjoy this movie. Don't go in expecting a masterpiece like the original, but again just take the movie for what it is and you might find yourself having fun.
The screenplay by David J. Schow is surprisingly good; while not a great screenplay or anything it does work well for the most part and does have some solid characters. The villains aren't nearly as weird and creepy as the villains in the original, but they still work well and some are quite strange in typical Chainsaw fashion. There is some decent character development early in the film and while the script may not win any awards, Schow crafts a solid screenplay, which was a lot better than maybe it should have been.
Director Jeff Burr does a solid job for the most part, while Leatherface lacks the suspense, tension that made the original so great and also lacks that really ugly and gritty feel of pending danger, to his credit Jeff Burr does make a really fun and semi suspenseful movie. The overall pacing is good and the movie runs at a good pace and is never too slow there's always something happening to keep the viewer hooked. While again it might lack a lot of what made the original such a classic, but it does make up for that in violence. Jeff Burr delivers the goods in terms of violence and has quite a few scenes that might make you cringe a little bit.
The cast is also really solid with Kate Hodge making her screen debut and gives a solid performance for the most part. Tom Everett is excellent and creepy as Alfredo and Joe Unger as Tinker was another solid character. What I love about watching horror flicks is seeing actors before they made it big and before he was an Oscar nominated actor Viggo Mortensen was Tex. Viggo was solid in an early role, but who could have guessed he would turn into such an amazing actor? Viggo is one of my favorite actors and it was fun seeing him in this.
Jennifer Banko nearly steals the show; Jennifer Banko should be known to horror fans from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood where she played a young Tina Shepard. When you think of children you think of innocence and Jennifer Banko's character was quite insane and thus makes her a little creepy as she does some really horrible things.
R.A. Mihailoff is great as Leatherface and is my 2nd favorite actor to play the character with Gunnar Hansen of the original being my favorite. In all the Chainsaw movies Leatherface is a pretty big guy, but he's rather agile and can move rather quickly. I think the Leatherface character is quite interesting and in the first 3 Chainsaw flicks you never really learn much about him, but there are some interesting things done with the character and maybe give a little insight. Mihailoff though again really makes for a great Leatherface and it's too bad he never played the role again.
But the clear standout is Ken Foree as Benny; Foree has a cult following for his work in the genre with the most notable of course being George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Foree is the ultimate tough guy and has some really great lines. Benny is no doubt one of my very favorite horror characters and Foree plays the role to perfection.
The gore F/X were done by Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero & and Howard Berger better known as KNB and the gore was really solid, but not nearly as gory as it's made out to be. But the gore looks excellent and it is violent, but just not as gory as it's made out to be. I first saw this movie when it was originally released theatrically back in 1990 and I didn't see it again until the DVD was released in 2004. The DVD comes with both the R-rated cut and Unrated cut, and I haven't watched the R-cut on DVD and all these years later I cannot remember the differences. The Unrated version runs at about 4-minutes longer, but it's not the true Unrated version.
On the DVD there is a feature of deleted scenes presented in a documentary like style and there is some extra gore and from what I've heard there are other cuts of the movie that have some extra gore scenes not included in this version. I'm not quite sure why New Line didn't deliver a full Uncut version, but despite that it's good to see the movie as closest to the final cut as possible.
Bottom line is Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is far from a horror classic and far inferior to the original, but with that said this is still a really fun ride with some excellent violence and gore; the running time is only about 85-minutes and therefore gets the good stuff rather quickly. Just take the movie for what it is and just enjoy the ride.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
