other Texas Chainsaw Massacres are fantastic movies and I enjoyed them all except for 'Return', now that was HORRIBLE but this one is the pick of the bunch. It is very under-rated, and an absolute must for all horror fans. SEE IT PEOPLES, IT ROCKS!!!!!

monstrous characterization of Leatherface seems to be the basis for the current Leatherface character by Andrew Briniarski. There's no cowering to others in the family, transvestite behavior, or silly screaming as in other versions. Also this one has a great chainsaw, plenty of great character actors doing what they do best, as great characters.The film would have been better had the squeamish producers left in the X-rated violent scenes as they were originally. Would have been top notch if the hideously deformed Leatherface unmasking had remained, a bit that was eventually used to a degree in the 2003 version. Could have been a 10 had someone like Savini been involved. As it is, still superb.

makes the film just that much better because the majority of the action takes place at night and that is really tough to pull off, yet it's done nicely here. The initial appearance by the couple changing their car-tire which turns into an attack on the car and then leading into the chase down the highway where they bump into their friend gives this a strong launching pad to where the movie really works in the chasing through the patch of woods by the highway. The dark trees and nearly impenetrable layout makes for a perfect spot to unleash the series of ambushes, stumbling across the traps left out and getting plenty of strong, stellar stalking throughout where the killer comes out of the shadows in rather unexpected locations to catch them in the traps or stalk them with the chainsaw leading for a great time throughout here. With the family dinner scene being rather enjoyable with plenty of gruesome, bloody moments that are far more squirm-inducing than expected and a nasty streak that runs throughout, suddenly machine gun fire bursts into the room, gunning down most of the family leading into the final brawl out in the swamp which has a lot to like. The gore is great as well, especially in the unrated form where the gore is a little nastier and it should please the gorehounds looking for a ton of blood and guts. There are still some flaws here, as there is an 'R' rated version of the film that is so heavily cut that it makes no sense why it was rated 'R.' Almost no violence at all occurs in the main cut of the film which is virtually bloodless and with a low body count to chop up, it doesn't have a lot of deaths to dole out. There are way too few people to get involved in the family which keeps the body-count to a point where it's quite obvious there's not a lot of opportunities to knock people off which is really distracting. There's also the fact that the family again changes around members needlessly, offering up another change in the members and characteristics of the group which is never explained and offers up the kind of questions that shouldn't be made in this kind of situation. Ranging from who's who in relation to each other and what they're pasts were like since they're colorful enough to be memorable, however too much is kept off-screen around them which is rather disappointing. Still, it's far better than expected.Rated R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

more damage. Speeding away, they don't see another truck baring down on them. Narrowly avoiding another accident, the driver the other truck, Benny Ken Foree goes to check on Michelle and Ryan. The four-wheel drive truck shows up, manned by Tinker Joe Unger and attacks Benny, who meets up with Leatherface. The family captures Michelle and Ryan. They are tortured mercilessly,. Benny finds the house where they are being held and launches a surprise attack, giving Michelle a chance to escape. Leading Leatherface, the sole survivor of the attack, into the woods, Michelle has the final conclusion fight with the cannibal.The Good News: The 'Un-rated' version of the film is the better version, so I'll be describing that form of the film in this section, as it has nothing to do with the plot mention above. The gore is a little nastier, and it should please the gore-hounds looking for a ton of blood and guts. Unfortunately, Leatherface does not get to use his famous 80-pound chainsaw in the film. He revs it, but that is all. The film does have some good jumping moments. Michelle is holding the flashlight in front of Ryan as they are trying to fix the flat tire, and Leatherface emerges into the scene by revving his chainsaw. The family is having their dinner, and suddenly machine gun fire bursts into the room, gunning down most of the family. The actors do a good job, but the one that should've been cut was Viggo Mortensen as Tex, who did very little and wasn't that important to the family. You notice how he was left out of the plot? Foree steals every scene he is in, as Hodge gets more screen, and scream, time. She gave a good performance that at that time would've been given to Jill Schoelen. It was nice to see another young actress in a late 80's, early 90's horror movie. The film is beautifully lit, as the night sets are very spooky and give an unusual atmosphere to the film. It envelops you into the film more so than most of the other movies being released at that time. That is perhaps the film's best quality, as it really shouldn't have been so creepy. Despite the reviews when it came out hammering it for being cut to hell and being incomprehensible, the film is actually pretty understandable.The Bad News: Yes, there is an 'R' rated version of the film that is so heavily cut that it makes no sense why it was rated 'R.' Almost no violence at all, very little atmosphere, and just the language made it an "R." You get the main gist of the plot, but the overall weakness of the Massacre's, and even Hopper's original makes this mistake, of not having a big cast for Leatherface to cut up. There are only three people in the cast who aren't members of the family, Benny, Michelle, and Ryan. When you include the survivor s , that doesn't leave a lot of butchering to do. I'd love to see a Massacre film that had the cast the size of a Friday the 13th, where you have double-digit victims to axe. That would be a good film.The Final Verdict: Cut to hell, this is still a good film. Not enough blood in the original, but with a bit more suspense than the 'Un-rated' cut. Some of the cast members should've been dropped or switched sides to give Leatherface people to massacre, but it still is a better film than is generally given credit to.Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence

R.A.Mihailoff ,who has a big shiny new saw.All in all if you liked the first two TCM movies give this one a look-I think that it's worth your time,just avoid "The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre" 1994 like the plague!

standpoint, there would have never been any reason for any sequels after the original, plus the fact that the sequels don't really follow any type of story line. It seems like you just have to take each installment as is. And this one is one of the better ones. My rating: 8/10

about the Sawyer family and enjoyed this movie for what it was and I really liked it.Bottom line is this....this move was a great film if you enjoy movies like FRIDAY THE 13TH if not then don't watch it. It's not at all like the first two TCM's so don't expect a sequel, but the cast is awesome and still full of psychotic characters. 8 out of 10 stars