Leatherface

Real Name: Bubba Sawyer, Jr. / Thomas Hewitt
Date of Birth: Unknown
Place of Birth: Backwoods, Texas
Race: Caucasian Sex: Male
Height: 6' 3" (est) Weight: 300 lbs (est)

Current Location: Well, jeez. Leatherface takes on incarnation after incarnation. Most recently seen as Thomas Hewitt in Marcus Nispels 2003 remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the subsequent follow-up prequel, Leatherface appears to still be at large following some disturbing police footage found at an unsecured crime scene.

HE CAME, HE SAW!

With a healthy round of mass murder and cannibalistic tendencies under his belt, he remains a disturbing and unforgettable figure in the horror world. For he is Leatherface, and may you all tremble in his presence.

He wears a mask of crudely sewn together skin, taken from past victims. It is kind of reminiscent of facial surgery gone awry. He blunders along grunting and making other incomprehensible sounds as he goes. He has only a single friend. And that friend is his very own trusty, rusty chainsaw. Because to him, the saw is family.

Yes, Leatherface is a maniacal chainsaw wielding monster of modern times. Based on the horrific past of the notorious grave-robbing murderer Ed Gein whose learned leather making skills enabled him to piece together belts from nipples, vests from skin and hanging mobiles from noses. Leatherface is an incarnation of all the stories, rumours and reports based around the life and times of Ed Gein. But the physicality, the build and stamina that Leatherface conveys is very different. It is this added physical presence that makes the whole horrendousness of the situation all the more terrifying.

So who is Leatherface? A bit of a loner, and a little bit deranged – of course! There’s always that unsettling incestuous feeling you get when seeing Leatherface and his family in action. A peculiar coming together of generations that form into a bigger and more bizarre group dynamic. Having lived like this his whole life then the assumption of disturbed or unusual behaviour should be expected.

Being bought up into cannibalistic surroundings is enough to alter the mind state of any bouncing baby. Fed on the fleshy nipple of your specially crafted skull shaped babies bottle. Those adolescent years spent squeezing zits, doing homework and chewing flesh. And a shiny new chainsaw for your 18th birthday is not exactly commonplace. Give it a whirl and I guarantee unusual behaviour and attitudes in your later life.

Of course a previous analysis victim, Norman Bates, portrays similar characteristics. Mostly as both are based on serial killer Ed Gein. But it is the chainsaw that acts as Leatherface’s extra appendage. It gives him that extra reach, it attaches that superfluous fear within you. The sights and the sounds of the whole character is fear-provoking. Which only leaves the question, who will survive and what will be left of them?