Grandpa (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Texas Chainsaw Massacre character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Grandpa | |
| Aliases | Grandad Gran'pa [1] |
| Gender | Male |
| Location | Texas |
| Race | Caucasian |
| Creator(s) | Tobe Hooper Kim Henkel |
| Portrayed by: | John Dugan [2] Ken Evert [3] |
Grandpa is a fictional character from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film franchise; a cannibal and supercentenarian, the suit garbed Grandpa is largely immobile, emaciated and mute.
Contents |
[edit] Appearances
Snippets of Grandpa's history prior to the events of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films are made throughout the series; it is revealed that Grandpa was originally a worker at a slaughter house whose skills at killing and butchering cattle were unmatched. After new technology was implemented in abbatoirs, Grandpa lost his job due to "the shame". Grandpa later apparently settled down with the unnamed Grandma and began a family, the cannibalistic Sawyers. [2]
[edit] Films
In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the one-hundred and twenty-four year old Grandpa (John Duggan) appears as a somewhat minor character; after heroine Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) is captured by his grandchildren, Drayton (Jim Siedow), Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and the Hitchhiker (Edwin Neal), Grandpa is taken from the second floor of the house and brought to her by them. The Hitchhiker proceeds to slash Sally's finger and forces it into Grandpa's mouth, so he can suck her blood, an event that causes Sally to fall unconscious. Some time after Sally is awakened, Drayton, Leatherface and the Hitchhiker decide to allow Grandpa to end her life through the use of a hammer; due to his advanced age, Grandpa is largely incapable of using the hammer efficiently and continues to drop it. The hassle that ensues with Grandpa's continued dropping of the hammer and his grandchildren's over-eagerness to help him causes Sally to break free of the Sawyer family and jump out a window. [2]
Grandpa (Ken Evert), now one-hundred and thirty-seven years old, later appears in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, inhabiting a fictional abandoned theme park named the "Texas Battle Land" with what remains of his family; when the film's heroine, Vanita "Stretch" Brock (Caroline Williams), is captured by his grandson Chop Top (Bill Moseley), Grandpa is brought forth to kill her with help from Chop Top, though he succeeds in only causing a minor head wound to her with a sledgehammer. When character Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper), the film's male protagonist, engages in a chainsaw duel with Leatherface (Bill Johnson), Grandpa attempts to aid his grandson by throwing a hammer at his opponent, only to hit Leatherface instead and subsequently fall to the floor. Grandpa apparently meets his demise when a grenade, accidentally set off by Drayton (Jim Siedow), Lefty and Leatherface, detonates in close proximity to him. [3]
In Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, which has only loose connections to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Grandpa appears only as a decayed corpse kept and treated as if he were alive by Leatherface (R.A. Mihailoff) and his new family; when one of the film's protagonists, Benny (Ken Foree), opens fire on the Sawyer house with an automatic rifle, Grandpa's body takes several shots to the chest and one to the face, but the body is left for the most part intact. [4]
In the 1994 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, a minor character similar to Grandpa, referred to as "Grandfather" (Grayson Victor Schirmacher), appears as a member of the Sawyer family. [5]
In the trailer for the unreleased short film All American Massacre, which was meant to show the history of the Sawyer family, Grandpa appears several times; as the bulk of the short film is meant to take place in flashbacks, Grandpa is portrayed as much younger and fitter, shown to be able to stand under his own power and effectively wield a sledgehammer. [6]
[edit] Literature
In the 1991 Leatherface comics by Northstar Comics, which are based upon Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Grandpa appears, though he is portrayed as extremely different in this appearance than in others; instead of the solitary and silent figure he is usually shown as, this version of Grandpa is depicted as a rambling old man with a habit of telling non-linear stories, he also appears largely oblivious to his surroundings. It is also revealed by the character Mama that Grandpa isn't biologically related to the featured version of the Sawyer family and that he was abandoned as a child and subsequently adopted into it. [7]
Grandpa also appears throughout the 1995 Jason vs. Leatherface comic miniseries by Topps Comics; in the comics, Grandpa acts as essentially nothing more than a background character and has little interaction with any other characters, mostly appearing only in dinner scenes in the comics. Also of note, a picture depicting a much younger Grandpa, possessing a full head of black hair and a stern demeanor, is found by Jason Voorhees in the attic of the Sawyer ranch. [8]
[edit] Behind the scenes
Tobe Hooper has stated that Grandpa, along with the rest of the Sawyer family, is based upon murderer Ed Gein. [9]
In an original draft of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 by L. M. Kit Carson, Grandpa was originally meant to be killed off, his body carried around by his family; Grandpa's role as a mannequin-like body was later taken by the Hitchhiker.
Jim Siedow, who portrayed Drayton Sawyer, was approached for the role of Grandpa for Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, which was originally meant to be a direct sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but refused the part [10].
[edit] References
- ^ Nancy Collins (w), "Goin' South" Jason vs. Leatherface vol. 1, #1 (October 1995) Topps Comics
- ^ a b c Tobe Hooper (Director). (1974). The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [DVD]. United States: Bryanston Distributing Company.
- ^ a b Tobe Hooper (Director). (1986). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 [DVD]. United States: Cannon Films Inc..
- ^ Jeff Burr (Director). (1990). Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III [DVD]. United States: New Line Cinema.
- ^ Kim Henkel (Director). (1994). Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation [DVD]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
- ^ The Official All American Massacre Website
- ^ Mort Castle (w), "Reach Out of the Darkness" Leatherface vol. 1, #3 (October 1991) Northstar Comics (21/1)
- ^ Nancy Collins (w), "A Day in the Life..." Jason vs. Leatherface vol. 1, #2 (November 1995) Topps Comics (29/All)
- ^ Gregory, David (Director and Writer). (2000). Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth [Documentary]. Blue Underground.
- ^ The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994) - Trivia
|
||||||||||||||
