Leatherface (other)

Leatherface is a character from ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' series. He first appeared in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974) as the mentally disabled member of a family of deranged cannibals, featuring his face masks and chainsaw. Created by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, Leatherface was partially inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, in addition to confessions by serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley. The character has subsequently been represented in various other media, including novels, video games, and comic books; appearing in all nine films in the series.

Actor Gunnar Hansen was the first and most well-known actor to portray the character, later going on to become a vocal advocate for the character. Since Hansen's portrayal of Leatherface, numerous other actors and stuntmen have assumed the role of the character throughout the series.

The character's physical appearance and personality have gone through many transformations over the years, with various writers and special makeup effects artists leaving their mark on the character and his design. Unique among horror villains, in which most antagonists of the genre are usually classified as sadistic or evil, Leatherface is characterized as committing his brutal acts as a means of following his family's orders, while also killing out of fear. Leatherface has gradually become a widely recognized figure in popular culture, gaining a reputation as a cultural icon within the horror genre. He has been credited as one of the most influential characters of the slasher genre for inspiring the stereotype of the hulking, masked, and silent killer, predating and even influencing horror characters such as Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. Leatherface has since been parodied and referenced in novels, feature films, games, and television series; in addition to being an inspiration for many artistic outlets, fictional characters, heavy metal bands, and wrestling gimmicks.

Appearances

Leatherface is the only character to appear in all nine films in the ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' franchise, with later films exploring different aspects of him, while changing the overall history of the character and his family. Following his first appearance on the silver screen, Leatherface has appeared in various other entertainment mediums, which include comic book lines, novelizations, and video games; each appearance expands upon the universe created by the films.

Films

Leatherface made his first appearance in the original ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' in 1974. Here, Leatherface ( Gunnar Hansen) is depicted as wearing the human skin of his victims as a mask. He and his family capture and murder a group of teenagers one-by-one as they trespass upon their property. The character's second appearance was in the 1986 sequel, ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2''. The film reveals that Leatherface ( Bill Johnson) and his family have been on the run, and are being hunted by the uncle of a previous victim. Leatherface and most of his family are seemingly killed when a grenade detonates in their hidden lair. In '' Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III'' (1990), Leatherface ( R.A. Mihailoff) appears alongside new family members as they capture a young couple when they get lost on the back roads of Texas. Leatherface is eventually knocked unconscious and left to drown in a bog. He is later revealed to have survived, emerging from the bog with his chainsaw. In '' Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation'' (1995), a group of teenagers attending their high school prom stumble across Leatherface and his adoptive family; all but one are killed.

Leatherface returns in the 2003 remake of the original film. Here, Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski) and he and his family murder a group of teenagers. Leatherface loses one of his arms in a fight with one of the teens, before killing several police officers investigating his family home. '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'' (2006) provides a backstory to how Leatherface and his family became cannibals. It also details why Leatherface wears a mask of human flesh. Throughout the film, Leatherface (Bryniarski) and his family torture and murder two couples as they drive through Travis County, Texas.

'' Texas Chainsaw 3D'' (2013), a direct sequel to the original 1974 film. Picking up 40 years after the original, Leatherface (Dan Yeager) has been living in seclusion. It is only when his newly discovered cousin Heather (Alexandra Daddario) arrives that Leatherface emerges to commit a new string of murders. A prequel to the original film, titled ''Leatherface'', was released in October 2017. It centers on Leatherface/Jedidiah ( Sam Strike) being institutionalized after his family murdered the daughter of law enforcement officer. He escapes the mental hospital years later. Jedidiah suffers extensive physical trauma to his face by law enforcement. He eventually kills them, and uses their skin to craft his first face mask to hide his disfigured face.

'' Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2022) also served as a direct sequel to the original film. Picking up several decades after the original film, the story focuses on an aging Leatherface (Mark Burnham), living in relative peace with an elderly woman named Virginia "Ginny" McCumber ( Alice Krige). When an altercation with a group of young adults leaves Ginny dead from a heart attack, he finally snaps. Fashioning a new mask out of Ginny's face before retrieving his old chainsaw, he begins slaughtering members of the group, gaining the attention of Texas Ranger Sally Hardesty ( Olwen Fouéré), the sole survivor of his original killing spree. After slaughtering many people, including Sally, Leatherface returns to the house where the original 'massacre' began.

Literature

Leatherface's first foray away from the silver screen was in 1991, with Northstar Comics' four-issue miniseries ''Leatherface''. This was a loose adaptation of the 1990 film ''Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III'' written by novelist Morton Castle. The miniseries followed the basic storyline of the film, with additional insight into Leatherface's mental state, as well as modifying character and plot elements to be different from that of the film. In 1995, Nancy A. Collins wrote a three issue, non-canonical miniseries involving a crossover between Jason Voorhees of ''Friday the 13th'' series and Leatherface. In the story, Jason meets Leatherface, who adopts him into his family after the two become friends before turning on each other.

In 2004, a novelization of the 2003 remake was released. It was based on one of the film's earlier drafts, containing plot points that were discarded from the film's final draft, including Leatherface's murder of Jedidiah, one of his younger family members who had decided to help Erin escape. In 2005, Avatar Press began publishing a comic books based on the 2003 remake continuity. Leatherface made his official appearance in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Special #1'', a one-shot comic, centering on a group of three escaped convicts who rob the Hewitt family General store, bringing them into direct conflict with Leatherface and his family. In ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Grind'', a three-issue miniseries where Leatherface and the rest of the Hewitt family terrorize and kill a group of choir students and teachers whose bus breaks down near the Hewitt residence. Leatherface appears in Avatar's final one-shot comic, ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Fearbook'', which features Leatherface killing a group of cross-country travelers, with the exception of one girl, who is forced to wear the face of her dead friend and dance with Leatherface.

From January to June 1, 2007, WildStorm began publishing a six-issue series titled "Americanivore". Set one year after the events of the 2003 film, Leatherface and his family are hunted by the FBI led by agent Baines who seeks to avenge the death of his niece Pepper. Leatherface is also being tracked by a television news crew who attempts to capture him on film. The series climaxes in a bloody standoff, leaving most of the news crew and pursuing agents dead, and the sole surviving crew member escaping with Leatherface's chainsaw. On July 18, 2007, the company released ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: About A Boy'', which chronicles Leatherface's journey through adolescence, and what it was like growing up with kids his own age. In Wildstorm's one-shot ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut!'', Leatherface comes across a group of independent filmmakers, thirty years after the events of the 2003 remake, who are making a documentary about the Hewitt family.

A three-issue limited series, titled ''Raising Cain'', was published by WildStorm in late 2008. The story centered on twins Cain and Abel, who are born into the Hewitt family, with their mother wanting her children to escape the family's blood-soaked heritage, bringing her and the twins into conflict with Leatherface and the rest of his family. Leatherface made a brief appearance in New Line Cinema's ''Tales of Horror'' anthology, published by WildStorm, which features Leatherface and the Hewitt family meeting a traveling salesman who tries to sell them chainsaws.

Other appearances

Leatherface made his video game debut in the controversial 1982 video game adaption of the first film released on the Atari 2600 by Wizard Video. In the game, the player assumes the role of Leatherface as he attempts to murder trespassers, all the while avoiding obstacles such as fences and cow skulls. Leatherface also appears as a playable character in the fighting game '' Mortal Kombat X'', as a downloadable content bonus character. He became a downloadable playable killer for ''Dead by Daylight'' in 2017, utilizing his signature chainsaw and sledgehammer as weapons. The events of the game are set after Sally's escape in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', as he begins to panic at the thought of his family's atrocities being exposed to the police. Amid his trepidation, he is taken to the universe of ''Dead by Daylight'' by some unknown force. The character appears in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', a 2023 survival horror game developed by Gun Media, set months before the events of the original film.

Concept and creation

Created by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, the concept for Leatherface was developed while Hooper worked as an assistant film director at the University of Texas at Austin and as a documentary cameraman during the late 1960s. During this period, Hooper had grown increasingly disillusioned by what he referred to as the "lack of sentimentality and the brutality of things" witnessing the graphic and dispassionate violence depicted in the news at the time. This led Hooper to believe that "man was the real monster here, just wearing a different face", a belief that he later instilled into the character. According to Henkel, making Leatherface human instead of a typical monster made the character more frightening, stating "the only genuinely frightening thing to people is therpeople".

Some elements for Leatherface were inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murderer and grave-robber Ed Gein whom Hooper claimed to have heard stories of from relatives who had lived near where his crimes had been committed, though Hooper admitted he did not know it was Gein until after the film's release. One detail from Gein's crimes that Hooper found particularly disturbing, and a trait that he and his fellow co-writer instilled into the character was Gein's penchant for crafting and wearing human flesh as masks; a concept that first made its appearance onto the silver screen in '' Deranged'' (1974), a film directly inspired by Gein, released eight months before Hooper's film. Hooper has stated in later years that additional inspiration was taken from an event that occurred in his early years of college. While at a Halloween party, a friend of his who had been a pre-med student at the time, had arrived at the party wearing the face of a cadaver as a 'joke'. Hooper was deeply shaken by the incident, later confiding to actor William Butler about the event, which he would call 'the most disturbing thing I have ever seen'. While brainstorming the character's design, both filmmakers felt that Leatherface should be a large, menacing figure with child-like behavior; with Hooper citing the cartoon character Baby Huey as a source of inspiration.

Early renditions of the script included a detailed backstory to the character, explaining many aspects of the character. In the original script, Leatherface was depicted as a victim of torture during his childhood, with his face possibly skinned off. Script rewrites later removed this aspect in favor of leaving him undefined while adding the concept of alternating personalities. Henkel and Hooper developed the notion of the character being mentally disabled, affecting his ability to think and speak rationally and coherently. Glimpses into this deteriorated mental state were depicted in the form of incomprehensible gibberish on two separate occasions in the film; once when Leatherface attempts to "speak" to Drayton (credited in the film as the "Old Man"), and the second occurring the famous dinner scene. Leatherface was originally scripted to have several lines of dialogue in his conversation with Drayton where he reassures him that everything is 'ok'. Filmmakers were dissatisfied with the resulting scene as it was written, with Hansen noting it made the character seem "too rational", and was rewritten to fit the filmmaker's vision of a demented and mentally disabled maniac. The idea for the character's trademark chainsaw came to Hooper while he was in the hardware section of a busy store, as the frustrated director contemplated how to speed his way through a large crowd.

Portrayers

The role of Leatherface is known for being physically and emotionally challenging, with actors required to perform the necessary stunts associated with the role under grueling working conditions, while also giving emotional depth to the character.

Actor Gunnar Hansen was the first to portray the role of Leatherface, auditioning for the role after hearing from a friend about a group of filmmakers that were making a horror film and needed someone to portray a 'crazed murderer'. The filmmakers were impressed with the actor's imposing figure, and later cast him in the role. During his first meeting with the filmmakers, Hooper explained the character in detail for Hansen; describing Leatherface as being mentally impaired, and insane, which made the character violent and unpredictable. Hansen experimented with different vocal tones and pitches to find the right voice for the character. He also visited a special needs school in Austin, observing how the students moved and spoke, in an attempt to find the proper movement and behavior. The role was physically and psychologically taxing for the actor, having to work up to sixteen hours a day seven days a week in extremely hot and humid weather conditions. Hansen was kept separate from other actors, as the filmmakers wanted the actors fear of the character to be genuine. The mask itself greatly impaired the actor's ability to see, as it had eyeholes on the design was too small for Hansen to see through clearly. This issue later proved problematic while filming the scene where Leatherface kills Kirk (William Vail), as Hansen unintentionally gave the actor a black eye after hitting him in the face with a fake sledgehammer. The infamous final scene where Leatherface twirls around in a rage with his chainsaw, referred to as the "Chainsaw Dance", was partially improvised on the day of shooting. As the actor later wrote, the scene came from all his frustration during filming, which he admitted came out in the final shot in the film with Leatherface madly swinging the chainsaw around, jokingly referred to it as a last-ditch effort to 'kill' the director.

Bill Johnson was hired to portray Leatherface in the film's sequel, ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2''. Johnson, having not seen the original film before, viewed the film the day before his audition. Johnson described being impressed by the film, calling it 'eerie, very deeply disturbing, unsettling, and unnerving, but also inspiring'. Johnson felt free to put his spin on the character, opting to "stay out of Gunnar's shoes" while making the character his own. Knowing the physical demands required for the role, Johnson strove to do the best acting job he could for the character, taking inspiration from the dedication of the film's cast and crew. Johnson remained in character throughout production, spending much of his time in his trailer preparing each scene that he was in. Stuntman Bob Elmore was hired, alongside Tom Morga as Johnson's stunt doubles. Elmore performed many of the physical scenes for the character including the chainsaw battle with Dennis Hopper, and the overall stunt portion of the infamous "chainsaw love" scene. Morga only performed part of the stunts required for the opening bridge scene. Filming was particularly grueling for Johnson, Elmore, and the rest of the cast and crew, as they had to deal with extreme temperatures while in a heavily insulated costume that only exposed the eyes and mouth. Elmore later described the entire experience as being incredibly grueling, having repeated clashes with the film's stunt coordinator Jim "Jimmy" Stephan, who regularly berated and verbally abused Elmore and the other stunt performers. Elmore also sustained a broken wrist while performing in the opening scene. Despite the hardships during production, the rest of the cast spoke highly of Johnson, commending his dedication towards the role and his ability to imbue the character with emotional depth beyond just portraying him as just a man in a mask. Elmore also received praise, which one actor stated " adbrought this incredible viciousness" into the role.

While developing the third film in the series, it was decided that Leatherface should have a more central role as the film's primary star, above that of his cannibalistic family. Actor and former professional wrestler Randal Allen "R.A." Mihailoff was hired for the role in'' Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III''. Early on in development, the studio fast-tracked development and shot a teaser trailer, with actor and stunt performer Kane Hodder portraying the character, before a director was even hired. Hodder was later retained for the film as Mihailoff's stunt double and stunt coordinator.

''Next Generation'' director Kim Henkel wanted an "androgynous type" for the role. To that effect, songwriter and actor Robert "Robbie" Jacks was brought on for the role, with Andy Cockrum, who also portrayed the Stuffed DPS Officer, serving as Jacks stunt double during certain scenes. According to Jacks, who was a homosexual: " eatherface'sandrogyny was kind of in the first movie, but because of the times, and because of the budget, it wasn't really brought forth." Special effects artist Joshua "J.M." Logan stated that Jacks was committed to bringing the character to life, spending hours during the make-up process. ''The Next Generation'' was a relatively low-budget production, forcing cast members to perform a majority of their own stunts during filming as they could not afford to hire stunt doubles. Stunt doubles were only used in scenes where cast members could not perform the required action themselves. Fellow cast member Tyler Cone recalled that Jacks had some difficulty with the physicality of the role, particularly in scenes involving Lisa Marie Newmyer

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