“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is one of the most influential horror movie series of all time. From Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” to David Blue Garcia’s 2022 film “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, the nine films in the series have redefined the slasher film genre. The films in the series center on the cannibalistic mass murderer Leatherface, who kills innocent victims mostly with a chainsaw. One of the character’s most iconic features, Leatherface’s human skin masks are equally terrifying and intriguing. If you’re curious about the important feature of Leatherface, we’ve got you covered! FRONT SPOILERS.
Why is Leatherface wearing a human skin mask?
The main influence behind the Leatherface masks is Ed Gein, the murderer and body thief who largely influenced the characterization of the fictional character Leatherface. Ed Gein was a notorious criminal notorious for hoarding skin and other body parts from women’s graves and killing two women. He used the skin of corpses to wear as a costume to “become his mother” and peeling face skins to wear as masks. Gein as a child was extremely dependent on his mother, and after her death he began to resurrect her on his own. Using skinsuits and masks, Gein transformed into his mother.
Even though Gein heavily influenced Leatherface and his masks, the iconic feature is not limited to Gein. According to Gunnar Hansen, who portrayed Leatherface in the first film “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”, Leatherface’s distinct masks symbolize separate personalities from the mass murderer. Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, the screenwriters of the first film, designed the mask element to differentiate Leatherface’s “daily persona” and show the depth of his madness. In the first film, Leatherface uses three different masks and each displays a distinct personality.
The “Old Lady” mask symbolizes Leatherface’s maternal and domestic personality. The “Pretty Woman” mask symbolizes the young and lively personality and the “Killer” mask symbolizes the terrifying murderous personality of the mass murderer. According to Hansen, the motive behind the masks is to emphasize that Leatherface lacks personality in an individual sense other than those provided by the masks. Tobe and Kim used masks to express that the character is nothing but white without different masks covering his face and mind in terms of personality.
After the 1974 film, the directors and screenwriters of subsequent films redefined the meaning and history of the Leatherface masks in several ways. In the 2003 film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, Leatherface suffered from a skin condition that disfigured his face. He began using masks to cover his disfigured face and later began using his victims’ facial skin to do the same. In the 2017 film “Leatherface”, which follows the character’s origin story, Leatherface does not suffer from any skin disease. However, he gets shot in the face and his mother Verna sews his face together to join the face parts. He uses the facial skin of his two victims to make a mask to cover his disfigured face.
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” the 2022 film directed by David Blue Garcia, offers another interesting take on the mask used by Leatherface. In the film, Leatherface uses the facial skin of his caretaker Virginia, who died of a heart attack. When Virginia suffers a heart attack while contesting ownership of her orphanage with Dante and Melody, Leatherface helps the sheriff get her to the hospital. When Virginia dies halfway to the hospital, Leatherface’s murderous instincts kick in, only for him to peel the skin off Virginia’s face to use as a mask. With the skin from Virginia’s face, he kills Dante and others for indirectly driving his caretaker to death. Virginia’s facial skin like Leatherface mask symbolizes her attachment to her guardian and her revenge on the people who killed her.
Over the years, Leatherface’s masked visage has inspired countless filmmakers to propel the slasher and horror genres. We can also expect some interesting nuances regarding the masks to unfold in future films in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise.
Read more: The real story behind ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ explained
