The Texas Chainsaw Massacrehas had various sequels, prequels and reboots, and now as well as a new iteration of the iconic 70s horror coming to Netflix we are also getting a brand new multiplayer video game based on the franchise. Announced during The Game Awards, Gun Interactive’s asymmetrical game based on the original movie will be heading to PC and consoles soon and will allow players to take on the roles of various characters including The Cook, The Hitchhiker and of course the original chainsaw wielding Leatherface. As an added bonus for horror fans, the character of Leatherface will be created by one of the genre’s biggest icons, Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder.
In an exclusive conversation withFangoria, Hodder discussed how he will be recording motion capture to bring Leatherface to life in much the same way he did with Jason onFriday the 13th: The Game. As well as playing Vorhees in numerousFriday the 13thmovies, the actor has already playedLeatherfacewhen he provided stunt work forThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre IIIback in the 1990s and despite R.A. Mihailoff being credited with the role, Hodder was actually responsible for many of the scenes that made it into the final cut of the movie.
The originalTexas Chainsaw Massacrewas released in 1974, and while it became notorious for its expected amount of gore that actually never really materializes. While the film does have some bloody scenes, it was more about the terror induced through sound and jarring visuals by Tobe Hooper in a horror film that brought the slasher out of the darkness and into the light of day where you could see the killer coming from a long way off. The setup of the movie brought something different to cinemas than had been seen in other slashers of the time, and while tame in terms of actualchainsaw actioncompared to the overly gory offerings that followed, it is a classic lesson in making a lot from not very much.
Based on true events, the movie and therefore the game are based onthe story of Ed Gein, the serial killer who also inspired cinema characters Norman Bates inPsychoand Buffalo Bill inThe Silence of the Lambs. Gein became notorious for having a taste for human flesh and making items from his victims' leftover body parts including pieces of furniture and clothing. While the movie takes this true-life detail and then developed it into something much expanded, the story of Gein and the movie are very different beyond those facts.
The trailer forThe Texas Chainsaw Massacregame brings a lot of the atmosphere of the movie to a playable format, and delivers on the themes of the film which centered on isolation, exploration and helplessness. Just like Hooper’s movie, the game appears to lean into allowing players to explore the game environment and having bad things just happen without any warning or reason, leading to a unique sense of unpredictability that could make thevideo gamea huge hit when it is released. Check out the trailer below.
