Hitchhiker (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Texas Chainsaw Massacre character | |
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| Hitchhiker | |
| Aliases | Nubbins [1] Hitch [2] Plate-Head |
| Gender | Male |
| Location | Texas |
| Race | Caucasian |
| Creator(s) | Tobe Hooper Kim Henkel |
| Portrayed by: | Edwin Neal [3] |
The Hitchhiker is a fictional character from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. Created by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, the character first appears in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Aside from films, the Hitchhiker has also appeared in various comic books. The Hitchhiker is portrayed in the first of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films by Edwin Neal, while in the sequel he appears only as an inanimate mannequin created from a body mold of actor Bill Moseley. [4]
The Hitchhiker, whose actual name is never revealed, appears in an antagonistic role throughout his appearances. A mentally unstable cannibal and grave robber, he lives with his equally depraved family, the Sawyers, in the back roads of Texas, capturing, torturing and feasting on unwary travellers. [3]
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[edit] Appearances
[edit] Films
The Hitchhiker is first seen in the The Texas Chain Saw Massacre film walking along a road, where he is picked up by a group of friends traveling through the area, who feel sorry for him having to walk in the heat. The Hitchhiker soon begins acting erratically after being allowed into the traveller's van, slashing his own hand with a knife; after Franklin Hardesty (Paul A. Partain) refuses to buy a picture he took of him, the Hitchhiker sets the photo on fire and slashes Franklin's arm with a straight razor before being kicked out of the van. The Hitchhiker briefly chases after the van, yelling and smearing a bloody handprint on it, but soon relinquishes his attack on it. [3]
The Hitchhiker is later revealed to be the brother of the two other main villains of the film, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and Drayton Sawyer (Jim Siedow), as well as the middle son of a family of murderous cannibals. Together, they torment Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns), Franklin's sister whom Drayton had captured. Eventually deciding to kill Sally, the Hitchhiker, Drayton and Leatherface are at first content to allow their highly-regarded Grandpa (John Dugan) to do so, but when Grandpa proves unable to kill Sally with a hammer, the Hitchhiker and his brothers become impatient and over-eager in trying to help him, causing Sally to eventually break free of their grasp and jump out a nearby window; as Sally flees, the Hitchhiker and Leatherface give chase to her, with the Hitchhiker catching up to her on a road. While slashing Sally with a knife, the Hitchhiker meets his demise when he is run over by an 18-wheeler. [3]
In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, the Hitchhiker, having been reassembled by his family after the events of the first film, appears only as a macabre puppet-like corpse carried around by his twin brother, Chop Top (Bill Moseley). The Hitchhiker's corpse is presumably destroyed when a hand grenade, accidentally set off by Drayton and the film's secondary protagonist, Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper), blows up the family's hideout with the Hitchhiker's body in it. [1]
The trailer of the so-far unreleased short film All American Massacre, which features the Hitchhiker's brother Chop Top as its main protagonist, reveals that neither of the brothers have seen each other alive in over twenty-five years. [5]
Footage featuring the Hitchhiker from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is incorporated into Boogeymen: The Killer Compilation, a 2001 release featuring clips of famous horror films and the characters in them. [6]
[edit] Literature
In the Jason vs. Leatherface Topps Comics' miniseries, the Hitchhiker (bearing only a minor resemblance to his film counterpart) appears as a main character. Encountering Jason Voorhees (the main villain of the Friday the 13th franchise) in the woods near the Sawyer house, the Hitchhiker, after seeing Jason non-lethally disarm Leatherface after a brief skirmish and decapitate a man he and Leatherface were chasing, befriends him and takes him home, where Jason is inducted as an unofficial member of the family by Drayton. [7]
The miniseries expands upon the Hitchhiker's character, revealing that he owns a pet dog named Sparky (whom he killed by shooting in the head and treats as if it were still alive) and that he creates furniture and sculptures out of corpses (a possible reference to Ed Gein, upon whom The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series is loosely based). [8] The miniseries also showed the extent of the Hitchhiker's abuse of Leatherface whom the Hitchhiker constantly bullies for little or no reason (although he apparently respects Leatherface's prowess at frightening and killing people, as he laments to Jason). The comics also hint that the Hitchhiker, as well as Leatherface, were born of incest, with Drayton's younger sister Velma being implicated as being their sister and mother. [2]
An unnamed character similar to the Hitchhiker in both mannerisms and appearance appears in the one-shot comic book The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut! by Wildstorm, which takes place in the remake continuity of the films. A member of the Hewitt family and brother to Leatherface and an unnamed, Drayton Sawyer-esque character, the Hitchhiker look-alike utilizes a sledge hammer and bolt stunner as his weapons. In the comic, the character terrorizes and murders two members of a group of teenagers seeking to make an amateur film about the Hewitt family murders, and near the end of it, aids his siblings in slaughtering the film project’s director in a manner similar to livestock. [9]
[edit] Other
A replica of the Hitchhiker's corpse from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 comes as an accessory to the Chop Top figurine released by Mezco Toyz under the Cinema of Fear line. [10]
In October, the Hitchhiker is set to have a figure based upon his appearance from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the Cinema of Fear Series 3 line. [11]
[edit] Behind the scenes
Tobe Hooper has stated that Drayton, along with the rest of the Sawyer family, is based upon murderer Ed Gein. [12]
Edwin Neal based his performance as the Hitchhiker largely on his schizophrenic nephew. [13]
In the first draft of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 by L. M. Kit Carson, the Hitchhiker was originally to be featured as alive and well, though with a metal plate attached to his head (which gave him the new name of "Platehead") and Grandpa was to be the marionette-like corpse carried around by the family; in the final version of the film, the Hitchhiker took Grandpa's intended role as the puppet-corpse, while original character Chop Top took the Hitchhiker's place. [14]
In the 1994 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation the character Vilmer (who is similar to the Hitchhiker in demeanor, even mutilating himself in a manner similar to him in one scene) was originally meant to be the Hitchhiker, as the film was at first meant to be a direct sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. [15]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tobe Hooper (Director). (1986). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 [DVD]. United States: Cannon Films Inc..
- ^ a b Nancy Collins (w), Steve Montano (i). "A Day in the Life..." Jason vs. Leatherface vol. 1, #2 (1995) Topps Comics
- ^ a b c d Tobe Hooper (Director). (1974). The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [DVD]. United States: Bryanston Distributing Company.
- ^ Bill Moseley
- ^ The Official All American Massacre Website
- ^ (2001). Boogeymen: The Killer Compilation [DVD].
- ^ Nancy Collins (w), Steve Montano (i). "Goin' South" Jason vs. Leatherface vol. 1, #1 (1995) Topps Comics
- ^ Ed Gein - Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The True Story
- ^ Will Pfeifer (w), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut! vol. 1, #1 (2007) Wildstorm
- ^ Mezco Toyz | Movie, Television and Proprietary Action Figures & Collectibles
- ^ http://www.amazingtoyz.com/COF_AF.html
- ^ Gregory, David (Director and Writer). (2000). Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth [Documentary]. Blue Underground.
- ^ Edwin Neal interview
- ^ Gutz N' Gory: Horror At Its Best!
- ^ The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994) - Trivia
[edit] External links
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