FIRST OFF . . .

New Line Cinema, surprised when the Motion Picture Assn. of America slapped an X rating on its latest hard-core horror flick, “Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III,” said Tuesday it will “make some adjustments” in the film and appeal the rating next week in an effort to get it changed to R. The stiff rating of X, unusual for horror films, means minors would not get to see Leatherface hack his way through another gory story. “New Line does not release X-rated films,” a New York spokesman for the company said Tuesday. If the appeal is turned down, New Line could decide to release an unrated print, and it would then be up to theater owners and publications to impose their own rating, the spokesman said. The original 1974 “Chainsaw Massacre” and its first sequel were rated R by the MPAA, and officials have declined to explain their rating this time around. The film is scheduled for nationwide release Nov. 3. New Line’s “Nightmare on Elm Street” horror films were R rated.