Movie Villains

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October 20, 2003

Leatherface

Nobody in the world can go into a hardware store and not pass the power tools section without seeing a chainsaw and thinking of one thing: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, one of the most controversial and bloodiest movies of all time. The movie has become as ubiquitous as its star character, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen). Adorned with a stitched together mask made of the faces of his victims, he prowls the inside of his family home and waits for the next unlucky lost driver to stop by. Together with his deranged family, Leatherface and Co. are the clan from Hell.

In the original 1974 film, a young girl and her disabled brother are heading out to their grandfather's burial place because of the reports of vandals desecrating the area. Together with three other friends, they drive out, meet up with a crazy hitchhiker (who they soon drop off), and soon find their way out to the grandfather's deserted farm. From there, a path leads to the dark and mysterious home of that same hitchhiker, and Leatherface, who introduces himself to one of the nosy youths in a sudden and deadly manner. One by one, the other kids fall into the trap of entering the home and lose their lives, except for Sally, who manages to survive a surreal dinner with the family and finds her way back to the highway where she gets saved by a passer by.

In the new 2003 remake, the kids are on their way to a Skynard concert when the hitchhiker blows her head off, prompting them to call the sheriff (who is also a Leatherface family member), and before you know it, the chainsaw is being fired up. In this new version, a backstory for the 'Face is revealed: his real name is Thomas Hewitt, and a rare skin condition, never properly treated, has destroyed part of his face, leaving the young man alone and in the dark, away from the taunting and embarassment delivered by strangers. He wears a mask to hide his face, but it's made out of dead people, strangers he's killed who strayed too closely and had to die. And in his spare time, it kinda looks like he works at the meat packing plant across the street. (One incredible addition to the remake, by the way, is the crime scene investigation and what the cops discover.)

Regardless of the version you watch, Leatherface has stood the test of time and will continue to do so. Perhaps it's because he's a little more real than the nearly immortal likes of Freddy or Jason. Perhaps because his story is based on a true one. Or maybe it's the chainsaw, with the distinctive sound and inherent fear that comes with it. All totalled, he is relentless, demented, and the kind of boy next door that would send you running for the hills... just as long as those hills aren't in Travis County, Texas.

Posted by Destro at October 20, 2003 10:00 AM