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159-846: Gunnar Milton Hansen (March 4, 1947 – November 7, 2015) was an Icelandic-born American actor and author best known for playing the mentally impaired cannibal Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Hansen was born in Reykjavík , Iceland, to Icelander Skúli Hansen, a dentist, and Norwegian Sigrid Hansen. He moved to the United States with his mother and brother when he was five years old. He lived in Maine until age eleven, when his family moved to Austin, Texas , where he attended Austin High School and

318-418: 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

477-568: A paragraph in his contract stipulating he remained "the only person who could write books about Rambo". This paid off for him when the film producers changed the ending and decided for a sequel . David Morrell accepted to carry out the novelization and negotiated unprecedented liberties which resulted in a likewise unprecedented success when his book entered The New York Times Best Seller list and stayed there for six weeks. Simon Templar or James Bond are examples of media franchises that have been popular for more than one generation. When

636-432: 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

795-618: A sequel titled Halo: Ghosts of Onyx . Raymond Benson novelized the original Metal Gear Solid in 2008 and its sequel Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty , while Project Itoh wrote a Japanese language novelization of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots also in 2008 (with an English adaptation later published in 2012). Itoh was set to write novelizations of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker , but his death in 2009 resulted in these projects being handed to Beatless author Satoshi Hase and

954-432: 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

1113-552: A "rebellious teenage type" mindset in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III , a contrast to the character's child-like mentality displayed in the original film. Though not explicitly stated in the film, Jennifer Banko's character Babi Sawyer was intended to be Leatherface's daughter, via the rape of one of his victims. This was elaborated upon by Burr as due to Mama Sawyer's inability to bare children, Leatherface had to take up

1272-401: 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 "[had] brought this incredible viciousness" into

1431-420: A certain part of an individual's face but stitched them together in a way that could fit on him, one such design aspect was the inclusion of the nose and mouth of a woman stitched into the neck portion of the mask. Details such as open sores, pus balls , and chapped lips were applied to the exposed area around the actor's mouth, implying that the character was suffering from a skin disease. The "Kemper Mask" that

1590-477: A crush on her which causes him to lose his blood lust . Johnson echoed this sentiment, explaining that, by sparing Stretch, Leatherface transitions from being a killing machine to what he called "the typical American Graffiti life" where he was looking for love instead of out to kill. Johnson further explained that, because of these newfound emotions, Leatherface felt torn between the 'safety' of his family and this "humane" emotion of love. Leatherface took on

1749-472: 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

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1908-430: A day, seven days a week and it's 100 degrees — I think that was the worst part for me. — Gunnar Hansen on the physical requirements for the role. 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

2067-529: A decade". He worked also as a designer of video games. S. D. Perry wrote a series of novels based on the Resident Evil video games and added tie-ins to the novelizations, covering all the mainline titles in the series up until Resident Evil Zero . Eric Nylund introduced a new concept for a novelization when he delivered a trilogy, consisting of a prequel titled Halo: The Fall of Reach , an actual novelization titled Halo: First Strike and

2226-406: 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. The difficult part of the movie was that, physically, it was so demanding.... Just generally, the demand of doing a movie where you're shooting 12 or 16 hours

2385-580: 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

2544-448: A film is released, which means it is usually necessary to base the novelization on a screenplay instead of the completed film. It might take an insider to tell whether a novelization diverges unintentionally from the final film because it is based on an earlier version which included deleted scenes. Thus the novelization occasionally presents material which will later on appear in a director's cut . In some cases, separate novelizations of

2703-531: 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

2862-519: 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),

3021-728: 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 . Leatherface

3180-414: A mentally disturbed young man who later becomes intellectually disabled once exposed to traumatic events that virtually destroys his mind. Screenwriter Seth M. Sherwood described his take on the character as being directly influenced by the mindset described by Hooper and Hansen: "I took my inspiration from interviews, in which they described the psychology of Leatherface. His personality was blank – who he

3339-495: A more disfigured look to Leatherface, with the implication that the character suffered from syphilis , which had eaten away much of his face. The design for the mask was done by KNB EFX Group led by Robert Kurtzman , with assistance from Greg Nicotero . Both artists were instructed to create a version of the Leatherface mask that was 'still identifiable as the original mask but with a modern spin on it'. To that effect,

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3498-480: A more elderly version of the character, concept art by Jerad S. Marantz emphasized the forty-year time-span between the original film and the new iteration of the character. Details such as Leatherface killing and wearing the faces of senior citizens were incorporated into Marantz's earlier designs. Subsequent rewrites of the original draft abandoned the concept, as Luessenhop wanted a design that looked more "crispy" and resembling something more like tanned leather. In

3657-413: A mythology. With Leatherface, there was a really broken psychology there, like Frankenstein's monster . For Debra and me, we wanted to tell the story of Leatherface's imprisonment and his reverence for family." For Luessenhop, Leatherface represented not only a source of fear, but also one of pity: "Underneath that mask, there's a very damaged, very abused kid whose mental state never evolved". Describing

3816-462: A new iteration of the character. The design process for the character was particularly difficult due to the intricate design process, with viable effort made create a look for the character that was consistent with the original film, while given the incentive to make the character look as scary as possible. Eventually basing their design upon the 'Old Lady' character Ginny, different masks were created using casts made from silicone and sculpted to give

3975-512: A new writer named Hitori Nojima (a pen name for Kenji Yano) respectively. Kojima would go on to write Metal Gear Solid: Substance (a two-part alternate novelization of the original Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 ), as well as the novelizations of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Death Stranding (a game which he helped write the script for). In some cases an otherwise standard novel may be based on an unfilmed screenplay. Ian Fleming 's 1961 James Bond novel Thunderball

4134-479: A novelization is supposed to multiply the 20,000–25,000 words of a screenplay into at least 60,000 words. Writers usually achieve that by adding description or introspection . Ambitious writers are driven to work on transitions and characters just to accomplish "a more prose-worthy format". Sometimes the "novelizer" invents new scenes in order to give the plot "added dimension", provided they are allowed to do that. Publishers aim to have novelizations in shops before

4293-405: A novelization, and so did Isaac Asimov , later in his career. While increasingly also a domain of previously established novelists, tie-in writing still has the disadvantages, from the writers' point of view, of modest pay, tight deadlines and no ownership in the intellectual property created. The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is an American association that aims to recognize

4452-497: A person can become such a killer: "It could happen to anybody. He had it in him because of his mother, but was at the mercy of his environment." The actor also integrated aspects from the original film into his performance out of respect, but intended to make the role his own, rather than repeating what came before. To make Jedidiah's transformation into Leatherface more believable, he intentionally tried to gain physical body weight before filming commenced; eating and working out to have

4611-523: A screenwriter novelizing his own screenplay. Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker was published under the name of George Lucas but his script had been novelized by the prolific tie-in writer Alan Dean Foster . Acquiring editors looking for a novelizer have different issues. The author may not have all of the information needed; Foster wrote the Alien novelization without knowing what

4770-608: A side project and continued to write books. He also wrote film scripts and wrote and directed documentary films. His final film project was a cameo in Death House , which he co-wrote with Harrison Smith. Hansen was also an author; his nonfiction travel memoir, Islands at the Edge of Time; A Journey to America's Barrier Islands , was published in 1993. In 2013 he wrote the nonfiction book Chain Saw Confidential about

4929-461: 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

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5088-471: A very kind and eager person to work with, as actor John Harrison later recalled Jacks to be a stark contrast to the character he played in the film, calling him a "very kind and gentle spirit". It became an intense character study. I went to the darkest place in my mind, stuff I don't even feel as a person, but I can feel as human... My deranged killer is not at all sympathetic. I did not play him for his likeability. — Andrew Bryniarski on his approach to

5247-503: Is "largely unrecognized". Writers Guild of America rules require that screenwriters have right of first refusal to write novelizations of their own films, but they rarely do so because of the lack of prestige and money. Some novels blur the line between a novelization and an original novel that is the basis of a film adaptation . Arthur C. Clarke provided the ideas for Stanley Kubrick 's 2001: A Space Odyssey . Based on his own short stories and his cooperation with Kubrick during

5406-403: Is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film , TV series , stage play , comic book , or video game . Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of home video , but continue to find commercial success as part of marketing campaigns for major films. They are often written by accomplished writers based on an early draft of

5565-542: Is depicted as being more unstable and violent than any previous incarnations of the character, also establishing the character as the primary killer and enforcer for the Hewitt family (the timeline's version of the Sawyer family). Screenwriter Scott Kosar wanted to put his spin on the character, developing the notion of the character having been born with skin cancer , which caused him to be bullied and ridiculed throughout his life; transforming him into 'a raging maniac' who

5724-441: Is depicted as prone to bouts of self-harm when his actions are criticized by his family and his usefulness comes into question. This behavior is displayed when his chainsaw is damaged during an encounter with a potential victim, causing him to suffer an emotional breakdown, which culminates with Leatherface beating his head against a tree as a form of self-punishment . The short story "Self-Esteem" by James Kisner , published within

5883-421: Is still 'trying to figure out who he is', having been removed from his birth family, and constantly moved around in foster care. Actor Sam Strike believed that Leatherface was formed by the experiences in the early part of his life; born into a family of psychopaths whose twisted views on the world were impressed upon him at birth, and his later experiences spending most of his childhood in an asylum, describing

6042-424: Is the first novelization of a comic book character. Video games are novelized in the same manner as films. While gamers might enjoy playing a certain action scene for hours, the buyers of a novelization might be bored soon if they merely read about such a scene. Consequently, the writer will have to cut down on the action. Novelization writers are often also accomplished original fiction writers, as well as fans of

6201-506: 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

6360-693: The University of Texas at Austin . He majored in English and mathematics as an undergraduate and then went to graduate school in Scandinavian Studies and English. His first job out of high school was as a computer operator before he began theater work during college. He was also a football player during high school and for a while a bar bouncer. In 1973, just after finishing graduate school, Hansen heard that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

6519-526: The Xenomorph looked like. The contract may be very restrictive; Max Allan Collins had to write the novelization for Road to Perdition only based on the film, without the detail he had created for the graphic novel of the same name that the film is based on. Rewrites of scripts may force last-minute novelization rewrites. The script for the 1966 film Modesty Blaise was rewritten by five different authors. The writer or script doctor responsible for

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6678-544: The eponymous comic strip . Falk worked on the novelizations on his own and with collaboration. A dispute over how he would be credited led to the cessation of the series. Peter O'Donnell , who scripted the Modesty Blaise comic strip, later authored novels featuring the character not directly based on the stories presented in the strips. Matt Forbeck became a writer of novels based on video games after he had been "writing tabletop roleplaying game books for over

6837-449: The feature film The Saint was released in 1997 the creator of this character ( Leslie Charteris ) had already been dead for four years. Hence its novelization had to be written by another author. Ian Fleming on the other hand had official successors who wrote contemporary "Post-Fleming" James Bond novels . During his tenure John Gardner was consequently chosen to write the novelization of Licence to Kill in 1989 and also

6996-490: The 13th ' s Jason. In his first appearance, Leatherface was characterized as having a severe mental disability , incapable of rational thought or coherent speech. Uncommon for antagonists of the genre, who usually are classified as sadistic or evil ; Leatherface is depicted committing his brutal acts out of fear and as a means of following the orders dictated to him by his family, though not out of evil intention. Hansen described Leatherface as someone "completely under

7155-524: 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

7314-412: The 2003 version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , effects artist Scott Stoddard envisioned Leatherface as an amateur taxidermist , with the mask itself a combination of many different pieces taken off the faces of his victims. As Stoddard explained, each piece of Leatherface's mask was something the character had seen and admired, which was then stitched together in a crude and rudimentary fashion. Many of

7473-419: The 6 ft 7in actor's presence, but fondly remembered Bunham as being a kind and generous person despite the grueling conditions he had to work through. Burnham himself reflected on his time as the character as being a challenging but fun experience. The physical design for Leatherface has undergone several changes through the course of the franchise, with each filmmaker putting their own interpretation on

7632-570: The Hansen iteration of Leatherface appeared in Texas Chainsaw 3D , a 2013 follow-up to the original that ignored the events of the previous sequels. When developing Texas Chainsaw 3D , co-writers Adam Marcus , and Debra Sullivan felt that there was no real mythology for the character and wanted to create their own mythology for the character. As Marcus stated in an interview: "there was no real mythology for Leatherface, and we wanted to create

7791-657: The Hartman/Lizzy face mask, were designed to show the evolution of his identity leading up to him donning his first face mask at the end of the film. Afonso also designed the character's look after his face is severed by gunfire. Filmmakers for the ninth entry in the franchise wanted to take the character back to his roots, opted for an "old school" to the character, whom producer Álvarez referred to as "Old Man Leatherface". To that effect, Illusion Industries Inc. founder Todd Tucker and Martin Astles were hired to bring about

7950-501: The Stuffed DPS Officer, serving as Jacks stunt double during certain scenes. According to Jacks, who was a homosexual : "[Leatherface's] androgyny was kind of inferred [ sic ] 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

8109-425: 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

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8268-403: The actor's imposing stature. Make-up effects artist Tom Savini and Mitch Devane designed the Leatherface mask in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 , in addition to the design of Chop Top and Grandpa. Both artists envisioned the mask as something created by stitching together different pieces from multiple human faces in a jigsaw -like aesthetic. Devane was responsible for creating the mask in

8427-404: The appearance that the face had been "ripped off". Tucker intentionally designed the mask to be drooping and sagging, which gave off a 'sad' look to the character. Tucker clashed with the producers on the design, as producers wanted the look to resemble Michael Myers' mask, as the studio felt this was scarier because of its emotionless appearance. Eventually, Tucker was able to convince the studio of

8586-459: The audience of a film will buy its novelization. This makes these relatively inexpensively produced works a commercially attractive proposition in the case of blockbuster film franchises. The increasing number of previously established novelists taking on tie-in works has been credited with these works gaining a "patina of respectability" after they had previously been disregarded in literary circles as derivative and mere merchandise. The writer of

8745-410: The back of the mask, to give off the appearance that Leatherface had skinned the entire head rather than just the face as he would do in later years. For the 2013 reboot, KNB EFX Group led by co-founder Howard Berger with the assistance of makeup artist Mike McCarty, was hired to bring the character back to his roots. Working from the earlier screenplay drafts, in which Leatherface was depicted as

8904-422: 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

9063-405: 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

9222-472: 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

9381-474: The character Actor and former bodybuilder Andrew Bryniarski was hired to portray Leatherface in Platinum Dunes 's 2003 remake of the original film, and the only character to reappear from the original film. Bryniarski, a huge fan of the original film, learned from producer Michael Bay that the producer was working on the remake after meeting up with him during a party and would adamantly lobbied for

9540-431: The character "if he had played him today". The actor credited the lengthy casting process as helping him to prepare and understand the character's motivation and rage. The final shot in the film, a homage to the original "chainsaw dance", was shot in a single take . As director David Blue Garcia recalled, "we gave Mark the freedom to cut loose while we improvised around him". At first, the film's cast were intimidated by

9699-415: The character as "a unique combination of love, fear, and violence". Yeager prepared for the role by working out, increasing his current 250-pound frame to 275 pounds, in order to get the right physicality necessary to portray the character. Yeager also rewatched the original film, as well as study the script for that film to develop a version of Leatherface that he felt was a continuation from that chapter of

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9858-420: The character as "a victim of circumstance". This version of Leatherface depicts him as resistant to his family's murderous and sadistic tenancies, while also enduring frequent outbursts of extreme rage. Reflecting on the character's outbursts, Strike felt these moments had contributed to his eventual permanent state as a "rage monster". The character's downfall and descent into madness was also implemented under

10017-455: 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

10176-469: The character was designed by Joshua "J.M." Logan. Logan admitted in an interview years later that he drew inspiration from a conversation he had with Henkel where the director explained the meaning and purpose behind each of the character's masks, and the directors intention to focus more on the character's "confused sexuality". Using this notion that Leatherface had a side of himself that he created to make himself look "beautiful", Logan felt free to explore

10335-523: The character wears during the scene where he attacks the van was constructed from a cast of the actor Eric Balfour . Nicotero later returned to the franchise in The Beginning as the film's lead makeup and effects artist. Nicotero found creating the design for Leatherface to be particularly challenging, as the look was meant to signify the character's evolution of their mask. The effects artist experimented with various design aspects to come up with

10494-410: The character while wearing the heavy costume. English actor Sam Strike was cast as the character in the 2017 prequel of the same name, while Boris Kabakchief portrayed the character as a child. Strike joined the film after reading the script, which he opined was, for a horror film, very character-driven. He felt that there needed to be a contrast between the two sides of the character, to show how

10653-413: The character's deteriorated mind, as Hooper has explained to Hansen that these noises were words that Leatherface tried to convey, and meant something to him [Leatherface], however, his limited intelligence made him incapable of forming them into any sort of coherent speech. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 , Leatherface has undergone a coming of age , shedding the feminine personalities that he had in

10812-455: The character's life. Yeagar came up with an awkward and lumbering stride for Leatherface, as he felt that he [Leatherface] was left with a "compromised physicality" from the leg injury he received in the first film. Yeager admitted that the movements he performed for the character later affected him physically for a while after the shooting had wrapped. He later credited his previous work as a stage actor , which he felt had helped him to portray

10971-519: The character's mindset from someone who only saw others as either food or a threat, and thinking only in terms of his family, into developing a potential love interest in the film's female character [Stretch], was viewed by some film historians as a 'maturing' of the character. University of California Professor Carol J. Clover described Leatherface before this transition as being "permanently locked in childhood"; only after encountering Stretch, Clover writes, that he seemingly 'comes of age', developing

11130-519: The character's personality, Yeager referred to the character as someone trained most his life to serve a specific function within his family, as that of the killer. Yeager went on to describe Leatherface as having no self-determination , and someone afraid of the world outside of his family who "did his thinking for him". After the events at the beginning of the film, Leatherface spends the next twenty years 'fending for himself', with his true individual personality finally "beginning to emerge" from beneath

11289-474: The character's psyche, depicting this version of Leatherface as more overtly evil than any other incarnation of the character. In a scene that was removed from one of the earlier scripts, Leatherface brutally murders Jedediah, a child and the youngest member of his family, after the latter attempts to stop him from going after Erin. In the remake's prequel, more information about the character's backstory and psyche expands upon points that were briefly mentioned in

11448-403: 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

11607-435: The character. In the 2022 entry in the franchise, producers Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues wanted an older Leatherface similar to Michael Myers in the 2018 version of Halloween . Putting out casting calls for the film, producers described their vision for the character, whom they listed under the name "Kenny", as being a 60-year-old man who is characterized as having a "big build". Actor and filmmaker Mark Burnham

11766-491: The character. Writer-director Henkel decided upon a satirical approach for the fourth entry in the series, casting a more "androgynous type" actor for the role. Traits only briefly explored in the original film such as the character's cross-dressing , and sexual ambiguity, were implemented to a greater extent in The Next Generation . Instead of being a source of dread as with the previous entries, Leatherface

11925-419: The character. While some of these changes were subtle, others would be significantly different. For The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , art director Robert A. Burns was given the task of developing Leatherface's design, in addition to designing "Grandpa" and the film's set design. In total, three separate masks were created and used for the film: the "Killing Mask", the "Old Lady Mask" and the "Pretty Woman Mask",

12084-404: The concept of Leatherface's mask, intended as a modernization of the "Killing Mask" in the original film, as something that had been made using different pieces of human skin that were torn and sewn in a very patchwork fashion. The mask was sculpted using latex, using a base mold head cast made from the father of fellow KNB EFX member Howard Berger . The Next Generation ' s iteration of

12243-402: 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

12402-413: The control of his family", while also being afraid of them; going on to explain that, although Leatherface is the most powerful and violent member of his family, he is also the most fearful. Hooper argued on the notion in the documentary Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (2001), referring to Leatherface as a 'big baby', and someone genuinely frightened of all the new people entering his home to

12561-467: The control of his family, specifically his mother, whose manipulation of him greatly influenced the character's transformation. "Leatherface, you can see the human behind the monster. You can see him making mistakes and regretting it and being nervous about it... He's not just a killing machine. You can see what's going on inside him." —Fede Alvarez on the emotional complexity of Leatherface Novelization A novelization (or novelisation )

12720-412: 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

12879-405: The current draft or work already on another film script. Not every screenwriter is available, willing to work for less money than what can be earned with film scripts and able to deliver the required amount of prose on time. Even if so, there is still the matter of novelizations having a questionable reputation. The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers concedes that by saying their craft

13038-406: 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,

13197-417: The design team came up with many different sketches and ideas on what they wanted the mask to look like, some discarded concepts included a "war helmet" created from an animal skull, before finally deciding upon a more "errant teenager" look for the character. Production designer Mick Strawn, who assisted in the design process, recalled the original intention of having Leatherface's mask be a "one-piece", with

13356-408: The earlier designs took into consideration the age of each face that made up the mask; some pieces were very old and dried up, while other pieces were "months old" and still retained moisture that caused those pieces drooped down the face. The final design was deliberately made to look as though it was all stitched together in places that "didn't make any sense", as Stoddard felt that Leatherface admired

13515-464: The end, Berger designed three separate masks used by Leatherface in the film: the "Pretty Woman" mask seen at the beginning of the film, the "Comfort" mask, and the "Slaughterhouse" mask, also referred to as the character's "Rage mask" during production. Each mask was molded to fit Yeager's face and given more flexibility than previously created for the character, giving Yeager more freedom to express himself with his face and eyes. The "Pretty Woman" mask

13674-439: The entire mask having been created from a single human face. This design aspect was quickly abandoned by the effects crew, who felt that it did not work for the character. Other abandoned ideas included a scene from one of Schow's earlier drafts, depicting Leatherface removing his mask, revealing his noseless and mangled face. The final mask design, which one media outlet opined as one of the character's most disturbing mask designs,

13833-408: 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

13992-416: The experience as particularly challenging, noting the limited visibility and mobility while wearing the costume as well as the extreme temperatures during filming. Bryniarski later reprised his role as Leatherface three years later in the film's prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), as filmmakers were very impressed with the actor's contribution to the character in the previous entry in

14151-460: The film and want to explore its characters further, or to reconnect to the enthusiasm they experienced when watching the film. A film is therefore also a sort of commercial for its novelization; the film's success or failure affects the novelization's sales. Conversely, film novelizations help generate publicity for upcoming films, serving as a link in the film's marketing chain. According to publishing industry estimates, about one or two percent of

14310-415: 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

14469-464: The film itself is based on an original novel: novelist and screenwriter Christopher Wood wrote a novelization of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me . Although the 1962 Ian Fleming novel was still available in bookstores, its story had nothing to do with the 1977 film. To avoid confusion, Wood's novelization was titled James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me . This novel is also an example of

14628-407: The film's script and on a tight deadline. Novelizations of films began to be produced in the 1910s and 1920s for silent films such as Les Vampires (1915–16) and London After Midnight (1927). One of the first films with spoken dialogue to be novelized was King Kong (1933). Film novelizations were especially profitable during the 1970s before home video became available, as they were then

14787-405: The film, using a plaster cast of Johnson's head which he then sculpted and modified into the look seen in the film. Johnson was also given blister make-up around his mouth to imply that Leatherface was diseased underneath the mask, in addition to wearing specially-made dentures to mirror the scene of the character in the first film. The script for the third film in the franchise called for

14946-648: The filmmaker's vision for the character to various effect. The franchise itself has been known for its inconsistent tone and history, due in part to it frequently changing production rights with various companies, resulting in tonal changes that affected the character and his personality. In the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre , Leatherface was portrayed as a large, chainsaw-wielding murderer, characterized as having interchanging personalities depending on which mask he wore, in addition to occasional cross-dressing and themes of sexual ambiguity. The latter traits have never been fully explored or revisited in later entries in

15105-459: The first film. Screenwriter L. M. Kit Carson 's vision for Leatherface added more depth and detail to the character's mindset, while also exploring his motivations and personality. Actor Johnson described the sequel as taking place in a parallel universe , noting that while both his and Hansen's version of the character were from similar worlds, each had significant differences between them to be separate from one another. This transformation of

15264-406: The first film. Leatherface is depicted as a victim of a botched abortion , further suffering from a degenerative mental disorder . The character's cancer diagnosis, only briefly mentioned in the previous film, is explored in more detail, revealing the condition of severely disfigured his appearance, accelerated through his penchant towards self-mutilation . According to Brynuarski, Leatherface

15423-482: The franchise, except for The Next Generation . Regardless of these changes, the characterization of Leatherface as an intellectually disabled , and mentally disturbed were retained in each entry of the franchise. In some appearances, traits such as superhuman strength and resilience were added to the character, though some commentators felt this was an attempt to make the character similar to other more popular slashers, such as Halloween ' s Michael and Friday

15582-408: The franchise. Bryniarski met with Hansen out of respect for the actor's work before signing on for the prequel, whom Bryniarski claimed had commended him on his performance while giving the actor his blessing. Bryniarski's hiring for the prequel marked the only time an actor has portrayed the character in more than one film. Bryniarski was advised by the filmmakers of the prequel to forget much of

15741-569: 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

15900-445: 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

16059-463: 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 [other] people". Some elements for Leatherface were inspired by

16218-423: The latex to give it a rough and ridged look. Undergoing a significant departure from previous entries, Lionsgate's 2017 prequel was to be the first in the series to depict the character not wearing his face mask throughout most of the film's duration. Only three separate masks, designed by effects artist and filmmaker Olivier Afonso, are briefly depicted in the film. These masks, such as the "Cowhead", muzzle, and

16377-553: The latter of which was affectionately referred to by Kim Henkel as the " Clarabell Clown " mask due to its resemblance to the character from The Howdy Doody Show . The "Killing Mask", described in the script as more like a "close fitting hood" covering the character's entire head, was the first mask Leatherface is shown to wear, while dressed in his signature butcher's outfit. The masks themselves were created from face molds cast by Dr. W. E. Barnes, Molds were cast of locals, who had volunteered to have casts taken of their heads, one of

16536-420: The look and feel of a Leatherface that had yet to embrace his true monstrous nature. In the final portion of the film when Leatherface dons his first face mask skinned from Matt Bomer 's character, casts were done on the actor's head. The mask itself underwent slight modifications, such as the incorporation of Bomer's hair and facial hair onto the overall design, the former was accomplished by adding two flaps onto

16695-411: The look and feel of the character in his early years, which he felt "could take your head off with a slap". Strike developed a " battle cry " for the character whenever he lost his temper, as one of the ways the character expressed his rage. The film's directors commended Strike for his performance and commitment to the character, feeling that the actor brought something "very intense and deeply human" to

16854-415: 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

17013-509: The making of and reception for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre . Hansen died at his home in Northeast Harbor, Maine , of pancreatic cancer on November 7, 2015, at the age of 68. Leatherface 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

17172-470: The mask, developing his own identity beyond just wearing someone else's face. Yeager admitted that Leatherface had some characteristics that never changed: "He's very childlike still. He plays with stuff like a kid does. His life experience is a bit limited." The origin story of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Texas Chainsaw 3D , reinvented the character, rescinding the original notion of Leatherface always being mentally disabled, instead depicting him as

17331-557: The material for each mask were then sewn together with a thin wire. A set of dentures was also created using extracted baby teeth . Different outfits were designed for each of the three masks, to convey the different personalities associated with each mask. The "Killing Mask" outfit, consisted of Hanson's own shirt, a pair of dress pants , a butcher's apron, and a tie with a scalloped silver curve Burns had painted onto it. The boots were Hanson's old cowboy boots that Burns had modified with insoles and three-inch heels, adding three inches to

17490-577: The more feminine aspects of the character that were barely addressed in the previous films. Designing the character's look for the film incorporates the idea that Leatherface used more than just a person's face when "becoming" a certain personality, with the design for the Pretty Lady mask including a woman's upper torso and arms. The Pretty Lady mask was designed using molds of the film's production designer Deborah "Debbie" Pastor, who volunteered to have casts done from molds on her head and chest. For

17649-504: The novelization of GoldenEye in 1995 . John Gardner found his successor in Raymond Benson who wrote besides several original Bond novels three novelizations including The World Is Not Enough . While comic books such as the series Classics Illustrated have often provided adaptations of novels, novelizations of comics are relatively rare. The Adventures of Superman , written by George Lowther and published in 1942,

17808-630: The only way to re-experience popular movies other than television airing or a rerelease in theaters. The novelizations of Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) sold millions of copies. The first ever video game to be novelised was Shadowkeep , in 1984. Even after the advent of home video, film novelizations remain popular, with the adaptation of Godzilla (2014) being included on The New York Times Best Seller list for mass-market paperbacks. This has been attributed to these novels' appeal to fans: about 50% of novelizations are sold to people who have watched

17967-412: The original design after explaining to them how it worked well with the current state of the character. A total of twenty masks were created and used in the film, with five different looks depicting the mask in different states of gore and decay. Leatherface has undergone several shifts in personality and motivations following his first appearance in 1974, with each subsequent change largely depending on

18126-410: The original film. 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

18285-418: The original novel is generally reissued with a cover based on the film's poster. If a film company also wishes to have a separate novelization published, the company is supposed to approach the author who has "Separated Rights". A writer has these rights if he contributed the source material (or added a great deal of creative input to it) and if he was moreover properly credited. Novelizations also exist where

18444-484: The original. The novel was released a year before the film and unlike the film it had sequels. Frederick Forsyth 's 1979 novel The Devil's Alternative was based on an unfilmed script he had written. Cormac McCarthy 's 2005 novel No Country for Old Men was adapted from a screenplay the author wrote. This allowed the Coen brothers to stick "almost word for word" faithfully to the book when adapting it back into

18603-404: The point of violence, Hooper stated that he intended for Leatherface to be frightened by his own violent acts, stating "what he [Leatherface] does scares the hell out of him... he knows he's in trouble—not trouble with the law so much as trouble with his older brother". Fellow horror actor Doug Bradley , of Hellraiser fame, had confided to Hansen during a conversation that he felt Leatherface

18762-408: The preparation and making of this film adaptation he wrote the film novelization of the same name which is appreciated by fans because the film provides little exposition , and the novelization fills in some blanks. David Morrell wrote the novel First Blood about John Rambo , which led to the film adaptation of the same name . Although Rambo dies at the end of his original story, Morrell had

18921-495: The responsibility to continue the family bloodline. In the film's audio commentary, director Burr offered his thoughts on the character's mental state, theorizing that Leatherface was reduced to a mindless, voiceless individual through a catastrophic injury. Burr surmised that his version of Leatherface was not born mentally impaired, but rather fell victim to an injury which destroyed his ability to think and speak, while also disfiguring his face. This concept of Leatherface's origins

19080-520: 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. 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

19239-411: 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

19398-429: The role of Leatherface. In preparation for the role, the 6 foot 5 inch (1.96 meters), 265-pound actor subsisted on a diet of brisket and white bread to gain an additional 35 pounds. In addition, Bryniarski researched everything about the original film and the crimes of Gein to come up with his interpretation of the character. Bryniarski performed most of his stunt work throughout most of the film's production, describing

19557-442: 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

19716-483: The role, particularly in scenes involving Lisa Marie Newmyer and Renée Zellweger . A bruised Jacks and some of the actresses later confronted the producers after a particularly difficult time shooting, with the actor revealing in an interview on Sarah Bernhard's show Reel Wild Cinema , that he felt that the producers had played on the eagerness of the cast in order to get them to participate in hazardous working conditions. Cast and crew members remembered Jacks as being

19875-413: 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

20034-442: 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

20193-457: The same film are written for publication in different countries, and these may be based on different drafts of the screenplay, as was very clearly the case with the American and British novelizations of Capricorn One . Writers select different approaches to enrich a screenplay. Dewey Gram's Gladiator , for example, included historical background information. If a film is based on a novel,

20352-423: The series explored the origins for his disturbed and violent behavior, revealing Leatherface as someone who was further damaged by his exposure to, what the comic referred to as "[the] bad things" done to him, pushing him deeper into madness and leaving him with the mind of a 'confused and angry child'. Motivated by an inherent need to please his family, and an almost symbiotic connection to his chainsaw, Leatherface

20511-456: The series, revealed additional details on the character's mental state, depicting him as prone to hearing voices inside his head . The third film's interpretation of the character as a brutish, violent killer, as opposed to the more "scared child" persona, was highly influential on later iterations of the character after Next Generation . The Next Generation incarnation marked the most radically different and overtly comedic interpretations of

20670-530: The short story adaptations. Alan Dean Foster would later adapt the follow-up animated series into the Star Trek Log series. Mel Gilden wrote novelizations of Beverly Hills, 90210 , merging three episodes into one book. As he explained, this approach required him to look for a joint story arc . In the early 1970s Lee Falk was asked by the Avon publishing house to deliver Phantom novels based on

20829-434: The so-called "final" version is not necessarily the artist who has contributed the original idea or most of the scenes. The patchwork character of a film script might even exacerbate because the film director , a principal actor or a consulting script doctor does rewrites during the shooting. An acquiring editor who intends to hire one of the credited screenwriters has to reckon that the early writers are no longer familiar with

20988-408: 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

21147-454: The sole survivor of his original killing spree. After slaughtering many people, including Sally, Leatherface returns to the house where the original 'massacre' began . 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

21306-457: 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 ),

21465-403: The traits that had defined Leatherface in the previous film, as the prequel depicted a Leatherface that was not fully formed, having yet to embrace his true monstrous nature. Wanting to avoid casting someone physically fit "bodybuilder types", producer Carl Mazzocone opted for someone with an imposing stature but also one that "had a bit of a belly". To that effect, actor Daniel "Dan" Yeager

21624-414: 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

21783-514: The universe created by the 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

21942-457: The volunteers was the film's producer Jay Parsley, whose head cast was used to make the "Killing Mask". Once the molds had been set, Burns modified them with the help of Barnes, using dental algenate to create facial expressions for each mask. Burns also experimented with different latex mixtures to make the masks appear like layers of dried skin , eventually using a combination of liquid latex and yellow fiberglass insulation . Pieces of

22101-402: The works they adapt, which helps motivate them to undertake a commission that is generally compensated with a relatively low flat fee. Alan Dean Foster , for example, said that, as a fan, "I got to make my own director's cut. I got to fix the science mistakes, I got to enlarge on the characters, if there was a scene I particularly liked, I got to do more of it, and I had an unlimited budget. So it

22260-409: The writers of adapted and tie-in fiction . It hands out annual awards, the "Scribes", in categories including "best adapted novel". Doctor Who had stories novelised in particular from the era of its original series published by Target Books. Episodes of Star Trek were adapted into short stories by the noted science fiction writer James Blish . Each volume of the stories included a number of

22419-477: 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

22578-487: Was a chance Thomas' life could have been different. But the teasing he suffered, coupled with a bad temper, and following Hoyt around like a puppy dog, left room for Hoyt to get absolute control." Bryniarski also described how the Hewitt family's "us or them" mentality had influenced the character's violent and psychopathic nature, further noting the abuse he suffered from the outside world for most his life finally caused his already fragile mind to snap. A continuation of

22737-450: Was attempting to express. Jacks went on to explain that the masks themselves were meant to resemble real-life caricatures of the typical family dynamics, which he claimed was the filmmaker's intention in the original film. The personality of Leatherface evolved from that of a frightened child and rebellious teenager into a sadistic, rage-fueled serial killer in Platinum Dunes remake series. Although still mentally disabled, Leatherface

22896-402: Was based on a script he had co-written; in this case his collaborators subsequently sued for plagiarism. Peter O'Donnell's novel Modesty Blaise was a novelization of a refused film script. In this case the creator of the main character had written the script alone, but later on other authors had changed O'Donnell's original script over and over, until merely one single sentence remained from

23055-533: Was being filmed in Austin and decided to audition. He got the part of Leatherface, the masked killer in the movie. After writing (and occasionally editing) for magazines and writing books, Hansen returned to acting in 1988, appearing in the horror spoof Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers . He acted in 20 films thereafter, including Texas Chainsaw 3D as one of the Sawyers. He state that he considered his later acting as

23214-461: Was both able to elicit sympathy while continuing to be a source of dread for the audience. While the characterization of Leatherface acting out of fear and for the protection of his home placed the character in a somewhat sympathetic light, commentators have commented on the character's screams, grunts and squeals imply his mentality as more animal than human. Scenes where Leatherface jabbers and squeals incoherently to Drayton were intended to convey

23373-456: Was created as a replica of the mask seen in the first film using modern-day materials, while the "Slaughterhouse" and "Comfort" masks were both original designs by the KNB EFX team. The "Slaughterhouse" mask was intentionally designed to feel distorted and warped from old age; pieces of facial hair were added to the design to make it look and feel distinct, while granules of salt were mixed into

23532-441: Was defined by his mask, and what his family told him to do." Sherwood approached the film as a story of identity , and wanted to delve deeper into why the character became who he was, believing the concept of a Leatherface shaped into a near-mindless monster through events that occur in his life, as opposed to being born that way, to be a more interesting side to the character. As he stated, the young man who would become Leatherface

23691-425: Was explicitly shown in earlier drafts of the script during a scene where Leatherface is unmasked, hinting that his face might have been skinned off at one point in his life. Northstar Comics' four-part series, loosely based on the third film, delved even deeper into the character's psyche while abandoning the concept of Leatherface as a brain-damaged individual. Described in the comic as mentally impaired from birth,

23850-684: Was fun". Writing skill is particularly needed for challenging situations common to writing novelizations of popular media, such as lack of access to information about the film, last-minute script changes and very quick turnaround times. Collins had to write the novelization of In the Line of Fire in nine days. Although novelizations tend to have a low prestige, and are often viewed as "hackwork", several critically acclaimed literary authors have written novelizations, including Arthur Calder-Marshall , William Kotzwinkle and Richard Elman . Best-selling author Ken Follett , early in his career, also wrote

24009-400: Was hired early on in production for the role of Leatherface. John Luessenhop recalled meeting the 6 foot 6 inch (1.98 m) actor at a holiday party hosted by Yeager's friend and Mazzocone. Luessenhop stated that he could no longer think of another actor to portray the character afterwards. Yeager loved the overall complexity of the character, which he felt was both pitied and feared, describing

24168-418: 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

24327-492: Was later cast as the character due in part to his imposing stature and physicality, which Álvarez felt was a great continuation of the late Hansen's portrayal of the character. The audition process for Burnam particularly lengthy, which the actor recollected that he sent five different audition tapes to the producers before they had him perform an audition for Álvarez. Burnham was told by producers what they wanted in his performance as something that could mirror Hansen's portrayal of

24486-475: Was protected and insulated from the outside world by his family. In contrast to other incarnations of the character, which have depicted Leatherface as child-like in his behavior, Brynuarski stated that Leatherface was fully aware of his murderous actions and violent nature to the point where he enjoyed killing , seeing it as a way of revenge for the way he was treated throughout his life and an outlet for his long-suppressed rage. The novelization further explored

24645-410: Was redefined as a transvestite that dressed in the flesh of female victims, something film scholar Scott Von Doviak described as a "tortured drag queen ". The three interchanging masks for the character returned for the film to show off the character's sexually confused and deranged mental state. As actor Jacks explained, each mask represented a different "character" or aspect of Leatherface, which he

24804-449: Was something other than 'just a crazed killer'; observing the character's child-like behavior and submissive demeanor in regards to the orders dictated to him by other members of his family, made the character something different than just a madman and more of an obedient child. Critic and author Jason Zinoman compared Leatherface's depiction to that of Boris Karloff 's performance as Frankenstein's monster , commenting how each character

24963-485: 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

25122-399: Was to be more graphic than previous versions of the character's face mask, as it was made by one of Leatherface's more recent victims. Design details such as more jigsaw-style patchwork for the stitches, dried blood around the stitches, and tears, in addition to a wider opening for the mouth, that exposed the character's cracked lips and crooked teeth. Strawn and Nicotero based the design on

25281-449: Was tormented as a child due to his appearance which carried on into adulthood, affecting his mind in the process, "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." This was further elaborated by Terrence Evans , who played Leatherface's uncle Old Monty , stating, "I think there

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