THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3D

With Alexandra Daddario, Dan Yeager, Tremaine Neverson, Tania Raymonde, Thom Barry, Paul Rae, Bill Moseley, Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns

Written by Debra Sullivan, Adam Marcus, Kirsten Elms (based on characters created by Tobe Hooper & Kim Henkel)
Directed by John Luessenhop

Within this long running franchise, some of the titles include:
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (original)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake)
- Texas Chainsaw 3D (this 2013 sequel aka The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Three different but linked movies with very similar titles (made during three different decades). Semantics? Confusion? Integration? Riding a well established cult phenomenon for all it's worth?
As (an alternate) sequel to Tobe Hooper's original 1974 classic (which he followed with his Part 2 in the mid-'80s), this DVD release here in South Africa was not in 3D (as in cinemas), so the 3D is deceptively removed, recapping it as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so there may be a chance of someone picking this up thinking it is the first one (that also got remade in 2003 as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) - a “chain” and “saw” fusion & separation, a 3D added, makes for a whole lot of similarity)...

Anyhow here, picking up after Tobe Hooper's first installment, the cops and townsfolk close in on the cannibalistic Sawyer family and wipe them out (but not all). Many years later a young woman gets news that she inherited property in Texas. She heads out with some fiends to claim it, but discover that in this mansion there lurks far more than she bargained for. Adding more back story to make this all possible, the madness and gore is not discarded as they try to keep the tradition alive, the Sawyer's main killer Leatherface naturally a key figure (besides original Leatherface actor Gunnar Hansen also making a cameo, Bill Moseley who portrayed Choptop in Hooper's sequel appears here as a different member of the Sawyer family).

While I have seen all of the Chainsaw installments across the decades, I haven't gone through the mammoth task of diving into them again, but naturally sequels, remakes and revisiting have jumbled up quite a few events and characters, that probably doesn't really matter in the greater scheme of things (as it would in a Star Wars universe where its vast fanboy & -girl population take it beyond seriously, and would demand due rectification). However, some inconsistencies arise in that all the Chainsaw movies don't necessarily sync up – original director Hooper's 1986 sequel having the family escaped and still practicing their sadistic and deadly habits, where here they get wiped out after the events of the first film (the 3rd and 4th sequels in the '90s, Leatherface and The Next Generation also not helping any).

Some fans will get uptight about these discrepancies, but not seeing the 3D version, I would hope they made some effort to utilize it for an added effect.
With the introduction and flashbacks of original footage, someone unfamiliar with the legacy can pick this up and watch it without having seen any of the others.
Music is by the always effective John Frizzel.

3 / C
- Paul Blom

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- A - B - C

Click below for the original, remake, prequel and 4th chapter of Texas Chainsaw

A: Multi-Viewing Potential

B: Could Enjoy A 2nd Look

C: Once Should Suffice