Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
Encyclopedia
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is the second sequel to the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the...

and was directed by Jeff Burr
Jeff Burr
Jeff Burr is an American film director, Writer and producer best known for his work in horror sequels, such as Stepfather II, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Puppet Master 4 and 5, and Pumpkinhead II....

. It was released by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...

 on January 12, 1990. The film is both a sequel and a reboot to the previous movies, as the original Sawyer family and apparently the Leatherface
Leatherface
Leatherface is the main antagonist in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror-film series and its spin-offs. He wears masks made of human skin and engages in murder and cannibalism alongside his inbred family. He is considered by many to be one of the first major slasher film villains alongside Michael...

 character died in the previous film.

The film stars Kate Hodge
Kate Hodge
Kate Hodge is an American actress and film producer.-Career:Born in Berkeley, California, Hodge's first starring role was as Michelle, the heroine of the 1990 horror film Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III...

, Ken Foree
Ken Foree
Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree is an American actor probably most famous as the hero Peter in Dawn of the Dead and Kenan & Kel as Roger, Kenan's dad.- Early life and career :Foree was born in Indianapolis, Indiana...

, William Butler
William Butler (actor)
William Butler is an actor, writer, director, make-up artist, special effects technician and producer.-History:He is known for his characters being killed in many of the horror films that he appears in...

, and a then-unknown Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...

. At first, New Line Cinema intended to produce the film as the first of several sequels in the series. However, the film did not prove a financial success, although Jeff Burr did receive a nomination for the International Fantasy Film Award at the Fantasporto
Fantasporto
Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...

 film festival in 1990.

Leatherface gained a certain amount of notoriety prior to release due to a battle between New Line Cinema and the MPAA, which initially rated the film an X because of its graphic violence. The studio eventually relented, and trimmed the more graphic elements, however, in 2003 it released the uncut version in VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 formats. It was the final film to receive this classification before the MPAA replaced X with NC-17.

Plot

The film begins with Leatherface
Leatherface
Leatherface is the main antagonist in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror-film series and its spin-offs. He wears masks made of human skin and engages in murder and cannibalism alongside his inbred family. He is considered by many to be one of the first major slasher film villains alongside Michael...

 (R.A. Mihailoff) bludgeoning a young woman to death with a sledgehammer
Sledgehammer
A sledgehammer is a tool consisting of a large, flat head attached to a lever . The head is typically made of metal. The sledgehammer can apply more impulse than other hammers, due to its large size. Along with the mallet, it shares the ability to distribute force over a wide area...

 before beginning the process of cutting off her face in order to make it into a mask. Another girl, Sara (Toni Hudson
Toni Hudson
Toni Hudson is an American actress, who has appeared in films and on television. Her first role was in the daytime soap opera Capitol. Her best known part was in the 1985 film Just One of the Guys as Denise....

) watches from a nearby window. Leatherface hears Sara outside, and after she flees, he briefly checks outside before going back to work. Some time later, Michelle (Kate Hodge
Kate Hodge
Kate Hodge is an American actress and film producer.-Career:Born in Berkeley, California, Hodge's first starring role was as Michelle, the heroine of the 1990 horror film Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III...

) and her boyfriend Ryan (William Butler
William Butler (actor)
William Butler is an actor, writer, director, make-up artist, special effects technician and producer.-History:He is known for his characters being killed in many of the horror films that he appears in...

), both traveling through Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, pass through a security checkpoint near the excavation of a large number of butchered bodies and reach the Last Chance Gas Station. At the station, they meet a hitchhiking cowboy named Tex (Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...

) and the station's perverted owner Alfredo (Tom Everett
Tom Everett
Tom Everett is an American actor known for his performances in political films such as Air Force One and Thirteen Days.-Film:-TV:-External links:...

). Tex shows Ryan a route on the map that can get them to a town. A fight soon breaks out between Tex and Alfredo when Tex finds the latter spying on Michelle while she uses the station restroom. As Michelle and Ryan flee from the station in their car, they witness Alfredo apparently killing Tex with a shotgun.

As night falls, Ryan and Michelle, having taken the route Tex recommended, become lost. As they begin to bicker, a large truck appears and the driver attacks them. Ryan pulls over when the unseen driver throws a dead coyote at their windshield. As Ryan changes the car's flat tire, Michelle, hears a noise, and Leatherface ambushes the two of them. They climb into the car as Leatherface begins hacking at it with his chainsaw, before bumping Leatherface with the vehicle and driving off.

After their escape from Leatherface, Michelle and Ryan - as well as another driver, a survivalist named Benny (Ken Foree
Ken Foree
Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree is an American actor probably most famous as the hero Peter in Dawn of the Dead and Kenan & Kel as Roger, Kenan's dad.- Early life and career :Foree was born in Indianapolis, Indiana...

) - crash when a bloodied Tex leaps in front of the car. As Benny tends to Michelle, Ryan explains the situation to him, showing him the damage caused to their car by Leatherface, before Michelle awakens. They decide to find Tex, and on the way, Benny discovers a hook-handed man named Tinker (Joe Unger
Joe Unger
Joseph 'Joe' Unger is an American actor who has starred in many films and on television. He is best known for his role in the 1984 horror hit film A Nightmare on Elm Street as Sgt...

), who offers his assistance in setting down road flare
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...

s. Benny soon realizes Tinker's real intentions after he finds a damaged chainsaw in the back of his truck. Benny then grabs an automatic rifle
Automatic rifle
Automatic rifle is a term generally used to describe a semi-automatic rifle chambered for a rifle cartridge, capable of delivering both semi- and full automatic fire...

 from his overturned jeep, retreats, and encounters Leatherface when Tinker attempts to ram him with his truck.

As Benny fights Leatherface, Sara, who had earlier escaped Leatherface, saves Benny from death by luring Leatherface away, before re-joining Benny. After questioning Sara, Benny learns that her entire family has been killed. She tells him that she has failed to escape as Leatherface and his family have been watching the roads. Benny hears Michelle and Ryan calling for him and leaves Sara; she is killed a short time later by Leatherface. After killing Sara, Leatherface stalks Ryan and Michelle, mutilating and capturing Ryan when he is caught in a bear trap.

After Ryan tells her to run, Michelle finds a house, and finds a little girl (Jennifer Banko) inside who has a room filled with the remains of various animals. The girl stabs Michelle with a knife before Tex enters the room and restrains her, bringing her into the kitchen and nailing her to a chair, introducing her to "Grandpa", a withered corpse to whom the family feeds blood. After Mama (Miriam Byrd-Nethery
Miriam Byrd-Nethery
Miriam Byrd-Nethery was the wife of actor Clu Gulager, and mother of Tom Gulager and John Gulager. She was born in Lewisville, Lafayette County, Arkansas and died in Los Angeles, California.-Filmography:...

), an elderly woman appears, Michelle begs her for help, but is ignored. Tinker appears in the doorway, dragging the badly injured Ryan, whom he and Tex proceed to suspend upside-down with a pair of meat-hook
Meat hook
A meat hook is a two-sided hook normally used in butcheries to hang up meat or the carcasses of animals such as pigs and cattle on a moving conveyor line. There are many types of hooks, but meat hooks are the only ones used in butchering....

s. Michelle begins screaming uncontrollably, forcing Tex to gag her by forcing a ball of leather into her mouth and securing it with a strip of tape. When Leatherface returns home, Tex gives him a large golden chainsaw with the phrase "The Saw Is Family" engraved on it, a present made by Tinker. Outside the family home, Benny finds and attempts to interrogate Alfredo as he disposes of human bodies in a bag, but he is unsuccessful, eventually knocking Alfredo into the bog and leaving him to drown.

As the family prepare for dinner in the kitchen, the little girl kills Ryan with a sledgehammer-swinging device that Tinker has made, and Leatherface prepares to kill Michelle as well. The noise of Leatherface's chainsaw attracts Benny, who opens fire on the house with his rifle, killing Mama, blowing off two fingers on Tinker's hand along with his ear, and partially destroying "Grandpa"'s body. The gunfire knocks Leatherface to the floor, allowing Michelle to tear herself from the chair she is nailed to, stabbing Tex, before joining Benny outside.

When Leatherface drives towards them in Tinker's truck, Benny tells Michelle to run to the woods. He tries to shoot Leatherface, but realizing he has run out of ammunition, the truck hits him. Benny is stunned, and Leatherface exits the truck, grabbing his chainsaw before going after Michelle. As Leatherface stalks Michelle, Tex and a recovered Benny begin fighting, a battle which ends with Benny soaking Tex in fuel and burning him with a lighter. Benny rushes to Michelle's aid, stopping Leatherface from murdering her, and knocking the killer into the bog. The pair begin fighting, and Benny appears to die when Leatherface forces his head into the blade of the chainsaw. He then turns his attention to Michelle, who grabbing a nearby rock, beats him over the head with it, leaving him unconscious under the water.

As dawn breaks, Michelle reaches the main road and rests on an abandoned tire, before Alfredo's pickup truck, driven by Benny, stops in front of her. As Benny helps her into the truck, Alfredo appears and attacks him from behind with a sledgehammer. He avoids Alfredo's attacks, and Michelle shoots Alfredo in the chest with a shotgun, before the pair drive away, unaware that Leatherface is revving his chainsaw some distance away.

Cast

  • Kate Hodge
    Kate Hodge
    Kate Hodge is an American actress and film producer.-Career:Born in Berkeley, California, Hodge's first starring role was as Michelle, the heroine of the 1990 horror film Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III...

     as Michelle
  • William Butler
    William Butler
    William Butler may refer to:* William Butler , American Revolutionary War soldier from Pennsylvania, one of five Butler brothers in the war...

     as Ryan
  • Ken Foree
    Ken Foree
    Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree is an American actor probably most famous as the hero Peter in Dawn of the Dead and Kenan & Kel as Roger, Kenan's dad.- Early life and career :Foree was born in Indianapolis, Indiana...

     as Rud Murvey
  • Tom Hudson as Chuck
  • Viggo Mortensen
    Viggo Mortensen
    Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...

     as Tex Sawyer
  • Joe Unger
    Joe Unger
    Joseph 'Joe' Unger is an American actor who has starred in many films and on television. He is best known for his role in the 1984 horror hit film A Nightmare on Elm Street as Sgt...

     as Tinker Sawyer
  • R.A. Mihailoff as Leatherface
    Leatherface
    Leatherface is the main antagonist in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror-film series and its spin-offs. He wears masks made of human skin and engages in murder and cannibalism alongside his inbred family. He is considered by many to be one of the first major slasher film villains alongside Michael...

     "Junior" Sawyer
  • Ken Foree
    Ken Foree
    Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree is an American actor probably most famous as the hero Peter in Dawn of the Dead and Kenan & Kel as Roger, Kenan's dad.- Early life and career :Foree was born in Indianapolis, Indiana...

     as Benny
  • Toni Hudson
    Toni Hudson
    Toni Hudson is an American actress, who has appeared in films and on television. Her first role was in the daytime soap opera Capitol. Her best known part was in the 1985 film Just One of the Guys as Denise....

     as Sara
  • Emily David as Salie
  • Tom Everett
    Tom Everett
    Tom Everett is an American actor known for his performances in political films such as Air Force One and Thirteen Days.-Film:-TV:-External links:...

     as Alfredo Sawyer
  • Jennifer Banko as Little Girl
  • Beth DePatie as Gina
  • Duane Whitaker
    Duane Whitaker
    Duane Whitaker is an American actor.Duane Whitaker is probably best known for his role in Quentin Tarantino's popular 1994 film Pulp Fiction as Maynard, the sadistic pawn shop owner. He wrote and portrayed the title role in Eddie Presley...

     as Kim
  • Miriam Byrd-Nethery
    Miriam Byrd-Nethery
    Miriam Byrd-Nethery was the wife of actor Clu Gulager, and mother of Tom Gulager and John Gulager. She was born in Lewisville, Lafayette County, Arkansas and died in Los Angeles, California.-Filmography:...

     as Mama Sawyer
  • Caroline Williams as Vanita "Stretch" Brock (cameo)

Soundtrack

  1. "Leatherface" (Lääz Rockit
    Lääz Rockit
    Lääz Rockit are a Power/Thrash band formed in San Francisco, California in 1982. Although one of the lesser-known groups of the Bay Area thrash metal scene, each album in their history has received high critical marks...

    ) - 4:10
  2. "Bored" (Death Angel
    Death Angel
    Death Angel is a Filipino-American thrash metal band from Concord, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released six studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and two live albums....

    ) - 3:27
  3. "When Worlds Collide" (Wrath) - 5:42
  4. "Spark In My Heart" (Hurricane
    Hurricane (band)
    Hurricane was a 1980s heavy metal / glam metal rock band originally featuring current Foreigner lead vocalist Kelly Hansen , Robert Sarzo , Tony Cavazo , and Jay Schellen...

    ) - 4:56
  5. "Power" (SGM) - 4:05
  6. "One Nation" (Sacred Reich
    Sacred Reich
    Sacred Reich is a Phoenix, Arizona-based thrash metal band that formed in 1985. Singer/songwriter Phil Rind's interest was in socially conscious and political speed metal. After several records on Metal Blade Records, they signed to Hollywood Records for a short stint, but later returned to Metal...

    ) - 3:20
  7. "Monster Mash" (Utter Lunacy) - 5:31
  8. "The Gift Of Death" (Wasted Youth
    Wasted Youth (American Band)
    Wasted Youth was a hardcore punk band in early 1980s from Los Angeles, California. The band followed in the footsteps of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, and were a prominent and popular act amongst the Los Angeles punk underground of the early 1980s.-Overview:The band consisted of Chett Lehrer,...

    ) - 8:50
  9. "Methods Of Madness" (Obsession
    Obsession (band)
    Obsession is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 famous for spawning the career of singer Michael Vescera.The band first came on to the scene on the Metal Massacre 2 compilation from Metal Blade Records. After that, the band released the albums Scarred for Life and Methods of Madness under...

    ) - 3:24
  10. "Psychotic Killing Machine" (MX Machine
    MX Machine
    MX Machine is an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Initially active from 1985 to 1989, the band reformed in 2007 with a renewed line-up.-Biography:...

    ) - 3:22

Release

The film was released theatrically in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...

 in January 1990. It grossed $5,765,562 at the box office.

The film was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...

 by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video the same year. In September 1996, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS in a widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....

, unrated version.

In 2003, New Line Home Entertainment
New Line Home Entertainment
New Line Home Entertainment is the home entertainment distribution arm of New Line Cinema, founded in 1990. According to New Line's website, Misery was the first New Line Home Video release....

released the film - in both R and unrated versions - on DVD. The DVD's special features include an audio commentary with Jeff Burr, Gregory Nicotero, R.A. Mihailoff, David J. Schow, William Butler, and Mark Odesky, a featurette entitled "The Saw is Family: The Making of Leatherface"; as well as a compilation of unrestored, raw and deleted scenes was included, along with an explanation from Jeff Burr as to why these scenes did not make the final cut; the original ending of the film was also included on the DVD.
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