Leatherface

This article is about the movie villain. For the punk band, see Leatherface (band). For the professional wrestler, see Michael Kirschner.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre character
Leatherface
Gender:	Male
Race	Caucasian
Location	Texas
Enemies	Everyone but his family
Portrayed by:	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Gunnar Hansen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 Bill Johnson Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III R.A. Mihailoff Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation Robert Jacks The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning Andrew Bryniarski

Leatherface is the main villain of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre movies. He is a six foot four inch tall "severely mentally retarded and severely mentally disturbed" man who wields a chainsaw. He is based in part on killer Ed Gein, who also wore the skin of his victims and of corpses.

The Original

The character was originally played by Gunnar Hansen. His real name is unknown. His older brother Chop Top calls him "Bubba" in the second movie.

In the original film, Leatherface is never seen without one of his human-flesh masks on, the reason being either disfigurement or psychological issues. He differs from other movie killers in that he is not so much sadistic or evil; he is mentally retarded and most of the time he only does what his brothers tell him to do. Hansen has stated that Leatherface is "completely under the control of his family. He'll do whatever they tell him to do. He's a little bit afraid of them." The people he kills are later made into barbecue and chili, which are sold by his much older brother, Drayton Sawyer. Aside from Leatherface and Drayton, the Sawyer clan includes his two brothers, Nubbin and Chop Top (real names Edward and Robert), as well as Grandpa and Grandma (real names unknown).

Leatherface is known to wear different masks; they have been dubbed "the Killing Mask", "Grandmother Mask" and "Pretty Woman Mask." In an interview with Gunnar Hansen, about Leatherface's masks, he says, "the reason he wore a mask, according to Tobe and Kim, was that the mask really determined his personality. Who he wanted to be that day determined what mask he put on. So, when the Cook comes home, with Sally, Leatherface is wearing the 'Old Lady' mask and he's wearing an apron and carrying a wooden spoon – he wants to be domestic, helpful in the kitchen. At dinner he wears a different face -- the 'Pretty Woman,' which has make up." In another interview, he added "The idea of the mask is that there is no personality under the mask. That was the idea in talking with Tobe and Kim. When they created the character, they said he has to put on masks to express himself because he himself can't do it. ... The way we tried to create him, there is nothing under the mask, which is what makes him so frightening."

The Sequels

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Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2.

Prior to the 2003 remake, there were three sequels to the Tobe Hooper original. With the exception of the first sequel, they were mostly in their own continuity each featuring Leatherface with a different family.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 was intended to be a direct sequel to the 1974 classic, but it was very different in tone and was more campy and over-the-top than the original. In this film, Leatherface develops a "crush" on one of his victims, and in one scene, skins off the face of her friend and places it on her.

The third entry to the series, titled Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 3 takes place in its own continuity. The filmmakers attempted to make the series darker and grittier as with the original, but interventions from the MPAA quashed their vision and had them tone it down and change the ending. Leatherface has a daughter in this film, possibly from a rape.

Leatherface appeared one more time in the fourth sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. In this version, Leatherface is inexplicably not a cannibal but is instead involved in a government conspiracy in league with aliens. He is also a yelping transvestite throughout most of the film. Although the film had a devoted fanbase, most horror fans and purists of the original consider it the worst film in the entire franchise.

The Remake and Prequel

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Leatherface from the 2003 remake.

In the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface's real name is Thomas Hewitt. His mother died giving birth to him at the meat factory where she worked, and left Thomas to die in a dumpster. Luda Mae Hewitt found him and took him home to raise him.

Here, Leatherface suffers from a facial disfigurement and skin disease that discolored his skin and ate away most of his nose. Due to this disfigurement, Hewitt was horribly treated by his peers as a child. He wore a small leather mask (possibly from animal hide) to cover up this deformity, and worked at the same meat factory his birth mother did. After health inspectors closed the factory down, Hewitt was ordered to leave. When Hewitt didn't, his boss bullied him by calling him a 'retard' and a 'dumb animal'. Hewitt killed his boss with a sledgehammer, and later discovered a chainsaw in the factory for later use. When Winston Hoyt, the local sheriff, tried apprehending him, Thomas's uncle Charlie came to his aid by killing the sheriff and later taking his identity.

Thomas would later make a mask out of human skin by slicing off the face of one of his victims after killing him.

Although Leatherface is still manipulated by his family here, they are at least somewhat more caring for him and less abusive than they were in the classic. His mother is fiercely protective over her son and her disgust with the teenagers is partially due to the cruelty that Leatherface suffered from his peers.

At the climax of the first film, his chainsaw arm was chopped off with a meat cleaver by one of his victims, but he managed to survive the attack. He escaped after police discovered his ranch house and found the remains of thirty-three people.

Says Andrew Bryniarski, who played Leatherface in the remake, "In my estimation, Leatherface is like a beaten dog — he was ostracized and ridiculed, and treated harshly by his peers. The psychological damage they inflicted was immense … there’s no chance for him."