Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a so-so entry in the TCM franchise but considering how poor the others have been, even the second one which has garnered a fan base, it’s perhaps one of the better ones, though the scares are limited.
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
— Warner Archive Collection —
(1990)
Genre(s): Horror
Warner Archive | NR – 85 min. – $21.99 | February 13, 2018
Date Published: 02/25/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 2.75/5 |
| Plot Synopsis: Driving through Texas, young yuppie couple Michelle (KATE HODGE) and Ryan (WILLIAM BUTLER) stop at the Last Chance Gas Station, but after they witness the owner attacking a hitchhiker named Tex (VIGGO MORTENSEN), they panic and flee. In their hasty departure, they get lost and soon find themselves pursued by the chainsaw-toting maniac known as Leatherface (R.A. MIHAILOFF). While running, the couple bumps into survivalist Benny (KEN FOREE), who they team up with in an effort to escape.
Quick Hit Review: Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III is perhaps the second best movie of the original series (not counting the remake or its prequel). Now, given the likes of the recently released Leatherface prequel and Texas Chainsaw 3D were hot garbage, not to mention I wasn’t all that fond of TCM2 (a little too slapstick for my taste), not sure how high of praise that ranking is. This entry doesn’t really offer anything new to the table though the Sawyer family is gleefully insane – as usual – and the survivors seemed to be competent enough, with the lead actress this go around, played by Kate Hodge, might not hold a candle to Marilyn Burns, but she has a few intense scenes while in the presence of Leatherface himself while Ken Foree was a rather badass battling against “Tex” (portrayed by Viggo Mortensen) and Leatherface himself. |
SPECIAL FEATURES — 2.75/5 |
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In a change of pace, this Warner Archive release does come with some okay features including an Audio Commentary featuring director Jeff Burr, screenwriter David Schow, actor R.A. Mihailoff amongst others and sounded like some of the participants were slapped together; The Saw is Family: Making of Leatherface (27:58; SD) is a well made featurette providing archive interviews with members of the cast and crew; some Deleted Scenes (9:45; SD) in featurette form (contains interview footage); an Alternate Ending (5:20; SD); and the Trailer (1:12; HD). |
VIDEO – 3.75/5, AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
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Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III makes its debut on Blu-ray through the Warner Archive Collection (MOD). The film is shown with a 1.78 aspect ratio and has been given a new 1080p high-definition remaster and for the most part, this looks… fine. Some shots are sharp and well defined while others, especially some of the more distant ones, are on the softer side. Colors are decent enough without appearing overly bright or boosted and I didn’t notice any major signs of aliasing, artifacts, dust/dirt or other flaws. The disc includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which does output the expected blood-curdling screams from Leatherface and the family’s victims and some modest depth with the LFE channel kicking in ever so slightly. It’s not an entirely dynamic lossless track but for what probably was a low budget horror film from the ‘80s, it’s still satisfactory enough. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Overall, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a so-so entry in the TCM franchise but considering how poor the others have been, even the second one which has garnered a fan base, it’s perhaps one of the better ones, though the scares are limited. The Blu-ray released through Warner’s Archive Collection offers up good video and audio transfers and it is nice to see one of their releases come with some features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.