This article is about the 2017 prequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. For the prequel to the remake, see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. For the 1990 film, see Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3.
- "The origin story of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'"
- ― Tagline
Leatherface is a horror film written by Seth M. Sherwood, directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, and starring Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor, Sam Strike , Vanessa
Grasse, James Bloor, Jessica Madsen, Sam Coleman, Chris Adamson, and Finn Jones.[1] It is a prequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Texas Chainsaw 3D, focusing on the origins of the chainsaw-wielding killer known as Leatherface.
It premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival on 25 August 2017, to be followed by a DirecTV exclusive release on 21 September 2017, with wide V.O.D. and limited theatrical releases set for 20 October 2017.[2][3]
Plot[]
In 1955, couple Betty Hartman and Ted Hardesty are driving down a country road when they come across the seemingly wounded child Jedidiah Sawyer. In an attempt to help him, Betty follows him to a dilapidated barn, where she is promptly killed by his murderous and sadistic family. Her father, Sheriff Hartman, is called to the crime scene, where he is shocked to find his daughter deceased. Despite the efforts of matriarch Verna Sawyer, Hartman responds by taking Jedidiah into custody as retribution against the Sawyers, sending him to a mental institution known as the Gorman House Youth Reformery.
Ten years later at the Gorman House, nurse Elizabeth White forms a bond with an older Jedidiah Sawyer, now renamed Jackson. Verna later shows up to the institution with an injunction to allow family visitation, only to be rejected by the director of the facility Doctor Lang. On the way out, she violates security, causing an escape riot in which many of the nurses and patients are killed. Elizabeth is saved by Jackson, who gets her outside where they are taken hostage by escapees Ike and Clarice.
The group arrives at a rest stop diner after ditching their Gorman House uniforms. In an altercation with waitress Tammy, Ike and Clarice begin a murder spree within the diner, which forces them to flee. Hartman arrives on the scene and pieces together that one of the escaped inmates is in fact Jedidiah Sawyer. That night, the escapees take refuge in an abandoned mobile home. Believing that everyone is asleep, Elizabeth tries to escape but Ike stops her from doing so. The next morning, Clarice notices Ike is missing and heads off to find him. She searches the woods and is consequently apprehended by a patrolling Hartman. Upon disparaging both him and his dead daughter, he impulsively kills her as the others watch from a distance. Horrified, Elizabeth flees with Jackson in tow. As a police car passes, she screams for help, causing the deputy to notice them.
The deputy attempts to call for backup, but an enraged Jackson murders him. Panicking, Jackson and Elizabeth steal his vehicle and try to reach safety, but are pursued by the deranged Hartman. He opens fire on them and one of the bullets severs Jackson's face, while another injures Elizabeth, causing the vehicle to careen off the side of the road. Later that night, Elizabeth regains consciousness at the barn where Betty Hartman was murdered, to find that she and Jackson are being held hostage by Sheriff Hartman. Planning to kill them, he gleefully tells Elizabeth that the now mentally-damaged Jackson is really Jedidiah Sawyer. However, the Sawyer family arrives to save the helpless Jedidiah, beating Hartman into submission and taking all three of them.
Back at the Sawyer home, Verna stitches the remnants of Jedidiah Sawyer's face and applies a muzzle to hold them together. She then leads him into a room where his siblings are holding Elizabeth and Hartman captive. Verna gifts Jedidiah with a chainsaw and Elizabeth watches on in horror as he bisects Hartman to death. As the family celebrates, Elizabeth flees into the woods while the Sawyers give chase. She nearly escapes, only to be caught in a bear trap. Elizabeth attempts to appeal to Jedidiah's sympathy, while Verna encourages him to kill her to protect their family. Unable to recall events prior to his injury, Jedidiah begins to listen to Elizabeth's pleas, but spitefully decapitates her after she insults Verna. The next morning, Verna burns the evidence of the prior night's events and the other Sawyers feed the remains of their victims to the pigs. In the house basement, Jedidiah crafts the faces of Hal Hartman and Elizabeth into a mask, donning it to a mirror as he applies lipstick. The film ends with him smashing the mirror at the sight of his reflection.
Cast[]
- Sam Strike as Jackson/Jedidiah Sawyer
- Stephen Dorff as Texas Ranger Hal Hartman
- Vanessa Grasse as Nurse Elizabeth "Lizzy" White
- Sam Coleman as Bud Horton
- Jessica Madsen as Clarice
- James Bloor as Isaac "Ike"
- Lili Taylor as Verna Sawyer/Carson
- Finn Jones as Deputy Sorells
- Christopher Adamson as Dr. Lang
- Dimo Alexiev as Drayton Sawyer
- Nathan Cooper as Farnsworth
- Dejan Angelov as Nubbins Sawyer (as Devan Angelov)
- Boris Kabakchiev as Young Jed
- Lorina Kamburova as Betty Hartman
- Hristo Milev as Young Nubbins
- Simona Williams as Brunette Nurse
- Venelina Ghyaurova as Demure Nurse
- Velizar Binev as Orderly #1
- Vladimir Vladimirov as Orderly #2
- Vladimir Mihailov as Orderly #3
- Eduard Parsehyan as Grandpa Sawyer
- Julian Kostov as Ted Hardesty
- Ian Fisher as Dave
- Nicole Andrews as Tammy
- Elena Zamyarkova as Scared Girl
- Matthew Martin as Deputy #1
- David McKay as Deputy #2
- Todor Berov as Bert Hartman
- Velizar Peev as Lowly Deputy
- Asen Mutafchiev as Young Boy
- Lilia Ivanova as Young Girl
- Brian Terrance as Blake
Trivia[]
- Leatherface (2017) depicts its titular character as a functional human being whose mind is destroyed in a horrific event, turning him into the iconic killer. However, this concept wasn't entirely invented for the film. Jeff Burr (director of Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3) is quoted as saying "I would say he's mindless as result of injury. I don't know; I would have to assume that the catastrophic injury that destroyed his face may have destroyed his vocal cords."[4]
- This is the first film in the franchise to be filmed outside of North America as it was filmed in Bulgaria.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170703205815/http://www.millenniumfilms.com/Details.aspx?id=fd1aa90c-93a5-e411-8748-d4ae527c3b65
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170703210803/http://collider.com/leatherface-released-date-texas-chainsaw-massacre-prequel/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170703210830/http://www.screendaily.com/news/frightfest-2017-to-open-with-cult-of-chucky-starring-jennifer-tilly/5119551.article
- ↑ Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 - DVD audio commentary (46:50-48:00)