‘Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III’ (1990) surprisingly OK

Following a dread-inducing classic and a campy comedy, “Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III” (1990) is the first time the franchise uses a basic slasher style. It’s built around kills and one-liners and a general lack of logic. Still, it’s not half bad as Leatherface (R.A. Mihailoff) and family chase unwary travelers through the woods.

Evocative backwoods

Although set in Texas, of course, and filmed in California, those woods remind me of the Louisiana swamps under the lens of James L. Carter. It includes a swamp where the Sawyers dump body parts they don’t want for their homemade stews (which, come to think of it, seems wasteful).

“TCSM3” is at its best with the visceral stuff. A Sawyer child whose dolls are small skeletons. A contraption that swings a sledgehammer at a victim on the butcher block. A matriarch who speaks through a microphone built into her throat. The return of Grandpa, now a rotting corpse.

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It’s at its worst when we stop and think about the logistics. Writer David J. Schow (who later devised the story for the superior “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning”) opens by establishing that Leatherface and one other Sawyer are the last of the clan. A mass grave of about 40 putrefied corpses is found in the area. Case closed, they tell us.

How do they get away with this?

Then, in order to have a movie, it turns out there’s still a huge Sawyer family living more or less out in the open. And eating human meat at every meal.

I’m sure the filmmakers didn’t intend this, but “TCSM3” paints Texas law enforcement — and I suppose the FBI too — as incredibly inept. Do they even investigate these missing people?

Enough people have disappeared in this area to keep a half-dozen Sawyers happily well-fed for many years. Simple math, plus an almost humorous amount of bones piled in the house (a different one from the original film), tells us it’s way more than 40 people.

The lack of follow-up to Jason’s killings in the “Friday the 13^th” films is similar, but it’s dumber here because the Sawyers have a conspicuous home base.

A tame take on the old narrative

The performances are reasonably entertaining, but not what they need to be for director Jeff Burr’s film to be anything more than slasher-genre fun. Viggo Mortensen plays Tex in a straight-on Viggo Mortensen style.

It’s unlikely a member of the inbred clan would end up so good-looking and be able to act totally normal (even if he’s a cannibal sociopath on the inside).

Tom Everett — as Alfredo, a Peeping Tom manager of the gas station — is decent at playing creepy/weird. But the casting and normal performance of Mortensen tells us this film – tonally somewhere between “TCSM1” and “TCSM2” — doesn’t care to get too weird.

Likewise, the good guys are fine but not memorable. Kate Hodge, who gets an “introducing” credit, is a decent Final Girl as Michelle, who bickers with boyfriend Ryan (William Butler) as they drive from California to Florida.

Ken Foree joins up as survivalist Benny. (And yes, he’s referred to as “dark meat” by the clan. But c’mon, you knew the filmmakers couldn’t pass that up.)

Toni Hudson is young woman Sara, who has been eluding Leatherface in the woods for a week, off screen, after he killed her sisters. More craziness was needed from this role.

Caught in a (less scary) trap

Come to think of it, maybe all these good-guy roles weren’t needed. The sense that you can’t escape once caught in the Sawyers’ trap is certainly absent here.

In general, “TCSM3” doesn’t go all-in. It basically repeats the 1974 film’s narrative in a tamer fashion. Because the sequels have a bad overall reputation, you might think “That was reasonably entertaining!”

Just don’t think about the off-screen details like how the Sawyers can get away with all this after their depredations are national news.

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