User:Paleface Jack/The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (franchise) Revision

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an American horror franchise created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper.

Overview


The franchise is notable for its multiple timelines, continuities, remakes, and reboots, which can make it confusing for new viewers, often leading to articles explaining the previous films before each new release. Most entries in the franchise center on a group of youths traveling through the back countries of Texas, becoming the target for Leatherface and his family.

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), co-written by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel and directed by Hooper, tells the story of a group of teenagers as they are tormented and murdered by a family of cannibals. The film begins with five teenagers as they road trip through rural Texas. After an incident, where a hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) attacks them with a knife when they give him a ride, one by one the group is killed by Leatherface as they trespass onto his family home. The sole survivor, Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns), is later kidnapped by a gas station proprietor (Jim Siedow) while fleeing from Leatherface. Brought to the family home, the proprietor, Leatherface, and the hitchhiker are revealed to be family members who have been murdering and cannibalizing travelers for some time. When the family tries to have her killed by their decrepit grandfather (John Dugan), Sally manages to escape, fleeing to the highway with the hitchhiker and Leatherface in pursuit, the hitchhiker is killed by an oncoming semi-truck and Leatherface is injured after attacking the driver. Sally manages to flag a passing motorist, and as the pickup drives away, Sally laughs hysterically while an enraged Leatherface swings his chainsaw in the road as the sun rises.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), picks up thirteen years after the events of the first film. Leatherface (Bill Johnson) and his family, now revealed to be called the Sawyers, have been on the run following the discovery of their crimes. Radio host Vanita "Stretch" Brock (Caroline Williams) is targeted by the family after two teenagers are murdered by Leatherface and his brother Chop Top (Bill Moseley) while on the air; meanwhile Lieutenant Boude "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper), the uncle of Sally and Franklin Hardesty, hunts down the family in revenge. Kidnapped and taken to their lair in an abandoned amusement park, Stretch is rescued by Lefty who fights Leatherface and most of his family with a large chainsaw. Lefty and the cannibal family are seemingly killed when a grenade detonates in their hidden lair, while Stretch engages with Chop Top in a chainsaw shrine on top of a stone tower in the amusement park, killing him with a chainsaw in the resulting fight.

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) begins an indeterminate length of time after the previous film. It is revealed that Leatherface (R.A. Mihailoff) now living with different relatives after surviving the explosion in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Leatherface and his new family continue their cannibal-murder spree. Motorist couple Michelle (Kate Hodge) and Ryan (William Butler) pick up hitchhiker Tex ([Viggo Mortensen]]) and stop by a gas station owned by the lecherous Alfredo Sawyer (Tom Everett), Tex is seemingly killed in a confrontation with Alfredo. The couple flees the station with fellow motorist and survivalist Benny ([Ken Foree]]), encountering a hook-handed man named Tinker (Joe Unger), who offers his assistance but is revealed to be a member of Leatherface's family and they flee once again. Pursued by Leatherface, Michelle is later captured by the family, and brought to their home where she meets an unharmed Tex, revealed to be a member of the family, along with "Mama" Anne Sawyer ([Miriam Byrd-Nethery]]) and a little girl (Jennifer Banko) who is implied to be Leatherface's daughter. The family torments Mitchelle by forcing her to watch as a beaten and bloodied Ryan is murdered. Before they kill her, she is rescued by Benny, who opens fire on the house, killing Anne and presumably Tinker. Tex is killed in a confrontation with Benny and Leatherface seemingly drowns after being knocked into the nearby bog by Michelle. The film ends with Benny and Michelle driving away in Alfredo's pickup truck as a Leatherface revs his chainsaw in the distance.

The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995), while briefly acknowledging the events of the preceding two sequels, its plot is unconnected with any of the other films. Set in 1994, a group of high school students attending their prom are involved in an automobile accident, which forces them to seek help. They encounter Darla (Tonie Perensky), who notifies her boyfriend Vilmer (Matthew McConaughey) of the accident and promises to help. Vilmer arrives at the scene, murdering and kidnapping some of the group alongside Leatherface (Robert Jacks) as the others flee in horror. Jenny (Renée Zellweger), Heather (Lisa Marie Newmyer), and Walter "W.E." Edward (Joe Stevens) are later captured by the killers and brought to their family home. The family are revealed as members of a secret society dedicated to the terrorization and murder of anyone they come across. After a confrontation between Vilmer and fellow society member Rothman (James Gale), Heather and W.E. are murdered by an enraged Vilmer, and Jenny manages to escape. During their pursuit, Vilmer is killed and Jenny is "rescued" by Rothman, who claims to have manipulated the events to get rid of Vilmer.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), a remake of the original film, reimagines and restarts the franchise's continuity. In the film, five young adults travel to a concert through the backroads of Texas in 1973. Picking up a despondent hitchhiker, the group tries to console her before she commits suicide in front of them.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), a prequel to the remake, picks up four years before the first film, and focuses on the origins of Leatherface and his family's cannibalism.

Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013),

Leatherface (2017),

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) is another direct sequel to the original film, ignoring the continuity established in previous installments.

Music
The film score for the first film was composed in collaboration between musician Wayne Bell and Hooper.

Comic books
Since New Line Cinema acquired the franchise, several Texas Chainsaw Massacre comic books have been published by

Video games
In March 1983, Wizard Video Games released The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the Atari 2600. The plot revolves around Leatherface as he attempts to murder trespassers while avoiding obstacles such as fences and cow skulls. As one of the first horror-themed video games, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre caused controversy when it was first released due to its violent nature; it sold poorly as a result, as many game stores refused to stock it.

In 2006, HeroCraft with publisher MindMatics released the mobile game Texas Chainsaw Massacre under license from New Line Cinema.

At The Game Awards held in December 2021, a new game titled The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, based around the original film, was announced, to be released by Gun Interactive, the company behind Friday the 13th: The Game. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on August 18, 2023, also releasing on Xbox Game Pass on the same day.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre content has been featured in the video games Mortal Kombat X, Dead by Daylight,  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Rocket League.

Merchandise
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has also seen profitability through various merchandise like toys, dolls, statues, model kits, bobbleheads, snow globes, movie posters, masks, T-shirts, hats, and more.