Horror films, in general, and slasher films, in particular, are in a game of constant one-upmanship, always trying to outdo the last death sequence. More creative, more brutal, more horrific. With so graphic and violent a title, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre sets high expectations for kills.
Leatherface is unique in being part of an entire killer family, and over the years audiences have seen a number of his relatives murder. Yet, Leatherface himself is and will always be the soul of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, so whenever he picks up his saw, there's guaranteed excitement. Here are the memorable and appalling kills that go into making his infamous barbecue and chili.
10 Chrissie
2006's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning isn't the series's best, but it does offer one of its best kills. Chrissie drives frantically away, trying to escape the cannibal's clutches, only for him to pop up in the backseat and shove his chainsaw through Chrissie's chair, impaling her. Though "killer in the backseat" is a well-worn horror trope, this scene adds some flair: Chrissie's death causes the car to veer, killing an officer and motorist on the side of the road, bringing Leatherface's death count to three with a single slice.
9 Benny
Continuing the pattern of mediocre films featuring excellent kills, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 is the first notable step down in quality for the series, yet it also gave audiences the spectacular swamp fight between Benny the survivalist and Leatherface.
Benny and the cannibal do battle in the putrid water while skulls from the family's past kills float and bob around them. Michelle watches from the shore as the two wrestle, unable to assist Benny, and the cannibal's chainsaw continues to churn and sputter on the surface. At last, Leatherface presses Benny's head into the saw, dispatching the would-be hero in gruesome fashion.
8 Holden
Slashers like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees lack the empathy that would cause them to hesitate before killing. The moment a victim is in front of them, they act. In the 2003 remake, we see that Leatherface is different. He knocks the biker Holden to the ground to protect his family, only to hesitate. Only when Charlie shouts commands at Leatherface and reminds him of the torment he once faced at the hands of people like Holden does Leatherface rev his chainsaw and slice the biker in half. It's moments like this one that remind viewers it's the cannibal's family that drives him to kill.
7 The Slaughterhouse Manager
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning opens with a worker dying in labor in a Texas slaughterhouse, only for the manager to throw the baby in the dumpster. The child is rescued and raised, and 30 years later he works at that slaughterhouse for the very manager who once threw him away.
Leatherface's murder of the slaughterhouse manager is well-executed in terms of its SFX, a flurry of hammer blows accompanied by excruciating cries, but it's the story behind it that makes the kill one of the cannibal's best. The scene may be too ham-fisted to bring audiences real catharsis, but it's still satisfying to watch someone so despicable reap what he sowed.
6 Morgan
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) may not be a shining star in the TCM constellation, but Morgan's death is. Suspended from the ceiling in an homage to the meat hook scene from the original film, Morgan struggles before ultimately being chainsawed by Leatherface. Morgan might've been the film's comic relief, but cracking a few (too many) jokes isn't enough to spare someone from the wrath of the saw. At least his death put Erin in a position to survive as Final Girl, so it wasn't for nothing. Nonetheless, it's brutal.
5 Hartman
Texas Chainsaw 3D is riddled with flaws, beginning with its use of 3D technology, and its finale is no less riddled with problems. Setting aside the chainsaw throwing and the weird decision to cast Leatherface as a last-minute antihero, Hartman's death makes the film's conclusion great
As the corrupt mayor holds on for dear life above a churning meat grinder, Leatherface saws off his hands, letting Hartman slide down and be consumed by the machine. One of the best kills in the franchise, it's visceral and crude, which is at least in keeping with a 3D horror film.
4 Buzz And Rick
There's a proud tradition in horror cinema of killing the most obnoxious characters, upping the body count, and satisfying the audience with a single stroke. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is far campier than the original film, and prank-calling, X-Ray glasses-wearing high school seniors Buzz and Rick are the perfect jerks. SFX legend Tom Savini shows off his unparalleled practical effects when Leatherface uses his chainsaw to scalp and end the pair. Lighter and funnier than the original, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 still packs in some brutal moments, and this is one of the best.
3 Franklin
Traveling through the woods at night is about as quick a route to death as there is in horror movies. Enter Franklin and his sister Sally, doing exactly that in the original film. Franklin has no time to escape due to his wheelchair, and Leatherface drives his saw into the man's chest. Sally, meanwhile, can do nothing but stand by and scream
Franklin's demise is so shocking a cinematic moment that it got its own perk named after it in Dead by Daylight. Hooper spares viewers the worst of the gore, keeping the camera on Leatherface and Franklin's twitching flashlight instead, but that doesn't make the kill any less horrific.
2 Pam
Leatherface is an unintelligible, childlike villain whose more endearing and pitiable features are offset by his hulking presence and general willingness to murder strangers on behalf of his cannibalistic family. Watching Pam struggle in the original film, helpless to escape the killer's grasp, as Leatherface carries her to and impales her upon a meat hook, is awful. Even though viewers never see the meat hook pierce Pam's back, Teri McMinn's acting perfectly conveys her character's agony, and watching her writhe while knowing there is no hope for escape is a devastating moment in an almost unendurable film.
1 Kirk
This moment from Tobe Hooper's 1974 original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the most memorable in the entire franchise. The first appearance of the mute and terrifying Leatherface should be memorable, and it is. Masked in flesh and wearing a bloody apron, the killer smashes Kirk's head with a hammer, drags him into a hallway, and slams a sliding door behind them. The image is devastating in its bleakness, and it only gets worse, because moments later Kirk is thrown upon a table to be dissected by Leatherface's saw in front of Kirk's girlfriend Pam.