Kim David Henkel (born January 19, 1946) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He is best known as the co-writer of

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influenti ...

's horror film ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, w ...

''.

Early life

Henkel was born in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and grew up in several small towns in

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

. He began his university studies at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1964 majoring in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. He graduated in 1969. Mutual friends introduced Henkel to

and Henkel acted in Hooper's first feature film, '' Eggshells'' (1969).Alison Macor. ''Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids 30 Years of Filmmaking in Austin, Texas'' University of Texas Press: Austin, 2010.

Career

Henkel and Hooper co-wrote the original ''

'' screenplay. Henkel both wrote and directed a sequel, '' Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation'' (1995). He also wrote and co-produced the Eagle Pennell classic ''Last Night at the Alamo'' (1983) as well as the adaptation for Hooper's ''

Eaten Alive ''Eaten Alive'' (known under various alternate titles, including ''Death Trap'', ''Horror Hotel'', and ''Starlight Slaughter'', and stylized on the poster as ''Eaten Alive!'') is a 1976 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, and written ...

'' (1977). Henkel returned to the horror genre in 2012 with another tale of cannibals titled '' Butcher Boys'', which was co-directed by two of his former film students

Duane Graves Duane may refer to: * Duane (given name) * Duane (surname) * Duane, New York, a US town * the title character of ''Duane Hopwood'', a 2005 film featured in the Sundance Film Festival * Duane Adelier, a main character of ''Unsounded'', a 2012 fanta ...

and Justin Meeks. Henkel had previously worked with the pair as a producer on their debut feature ''

The Wild Man of the Navidad ''The Wild Man of the Navidad'' is a 2008 Bigfoot horror film written and directed by Duane Graves and Justin Meeks. It was picked up by IFC Films shortly after its world premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, and re-released in 2021 by MPI ...

''. Most recently, he produced the horror film ''

Found Footage 3D ''Found Footage 3D'' is a 2016 American found footage horror film. It is the debut feature film of writer/director Steven DeGennaro, and was produced by ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' co-creator Kim Henkel. It is the first found footage horror ...

'', which was released on the horror streaming service

Shudder Shudder may refer to: *Shivering * ''Shudder'' (album), a 2008 album by American band Bayside *Shudder (streaming service) Shudder is an American over-the-top subscription video on demand service featuring horror, thriller and supernatural fic ...

in 2017. He has been a lecturer in screenwriting at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

Filmography

References

External links

* 1946 births Living people American male screenwriters American film directors American film producers Texas A&M University System Rice University staff Screenwriting instructors University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni Horror film directors Screenwriters from Virginia Screenwriters from Texas 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters {{US-screen-writer-stub