Editorials
Every Character in ‘Leatherface’ Who Connects to a Previous ‘Chainsaw’ Film
The saw is most definitely family in brand new prequel Leatherface.
Now available exclusively through DirecTV, with a traditional VOD release to follow on October 20, Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s Leatherface returns to the continuity of the original franchise, taking place before both the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre and 2013’s Texas Chainsaw 3D.
The events of Leatherface are set in two different time periods, kicking off 18 years before Tobe Hooper’s classic (1955) and then jumping ahead to just 8 years before Sally Hardesty and friends crossed paths with the twisted family (1965). One of the coolest things about the film, penned by Seth M. Sherwood, is that it’s loaded with fun ties to the franchise’s past, most of which go weirdly unacknowledged or only mentioned in passing.
To make sure you know exactly who’s who in Leatherface, we’ve put together a handy little guide that points out all of the fun character connections. We think you’ll get a whole lot more enjoyment out of the film if you’re armed with this knowledge going in…
TED HARDESTY
Early on in the film, we meet a young man and woman whose names we never learn; they appear very briefly in the film, confined to a single scene that plays during the opening credits. Only by looking on IMDb would you realize that the male character, played by Julian Kostov, is actually Ted Hardesty… the father of Sally and Franklin!
Writer Sherwood explained the subtle connection to us recently.
“Yes, Ted Hardesty is Sally’s dad,” he told us months ago. “There was a later scene that went into it, but it was cut for budget reasons. I don’t know if we ever hear Ted’s last name in the movie as it is– but he’s there briefly. I mean, Grandpa Hardesty’s farm was in walking distance of the Sawyers, sooooo…”
Eighteen years before Sally and Franklin arrived at the Sawyer house, their father had his own experience with the family as a young man. Pretty cool!
GRANDPA SAWYER
Easily the most bizarre character in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is Grandpa, an ancient corpse who feeds on human blood. Grandpa Sawyer appears in most films throughout the franchise, but Leatherface introduces us to him as a living, breathing old man for the very first time. The film even shows us his weapon of choice, serving to explain his bizarre role in the infamous dinner scene in the 1974 classic.
DRAYTON SAWYER
Referred to as “Cook” and “Old Man” in the original film, we learned in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 that Leatherface’s oldest brother is named Drayton Sawyer. The memorable character was played by Jim Siedow in the first two films, with Bill Moseley taking over the role for his brief appearance in Texas Chainsaw 3D. Drayton is back in Leatherface, giving us a glimpse into what he was like as a much younger man.
Hint: he was just as sick and twisted back then.
NUBBINS SAWYER
Another thing that Leatherface takes from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is the name Nubbins Sawyer, who is of course the same character known as “The Hitchhiker” in the original. We catch up with Nubbins at two different points in the film, first in 1955 as a child and then later in 1965, played by Dejan Angelov. The couple scenes that Nubbins appears in are darkly lit, but if you look closely you can spot the facial birthmark that identifies him as the sadistic character Edwin Neal played in the original film.
VERNA SAWYER
Verna Sawyer-Carson, the matriarch of the family, is played by The Conjuring star Lili Taylor in Leatherface, and the character has a fairly sizable role in the film. As we learned in Texas Chainsaw 3D, Verna is the mother of Leatherface and the grandmother of Heather Miller; in a fun little tribute, Verna was played in that film by the original Sally, Marilyn Burns.
Leatherface is really the first time we’ve ever gotten to know Verna, which is another little treat for longtime fans of the Chainsaw franchise.
HAL HARTMAN
The connections found in Leatherface aren’t just in regards to the Sawyer family; Stephen Dorff’s Hal Hartman, though never outright mentioned in the film, is the father of Chainsaw 3D‘s Burt Hartman (Paul Rae). Burt was one of the men who burnt down the Sawyer family home immediately after the events of the first film, and he later became mayor and waged war on the family. Dorff’s Hal Hartman is out for revenge in Leatherface, stopping at nothing, like his son later would, to put an end to the family once and for all.
As Sherwood explained to us, Hartman was also inspired by Dennis Hopper’s character in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
“From Chainsaw 2 I borrowed a few things. Obviously, the character names,” he explained. “Mainly though, the idea of a corrupt, mentally unstable Texas Ranger on a vendetta against the Sawyers gave birth to Hartman, the real villain of my story. Like Lefty, he’s out for revenge against the Sawyers over something they did to his family.”
Similarly, new character Clarice was inspired by Chainsaw 2‘s Chop Top.
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
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