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HORROR 101: The Texas Chain Saw Family Trees
Welcome BACK to Horror Press’s Horror 101, a series of articles where we explain horror movie legends and their lore. For beginners, the confused, or just those who need a refresher, these articles are for you. Today, we’ll clear up the record on one of Texas’ bloodiest families, the Sawyers from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series (and their remake counterparts, the Hewitts). It’ll be a rough ride to get to the bottom of who they are, why they kill, and how they developed their…particularly peculiar diet.
We won’t be delving into the David Blue Garcia 2022 requel much this time or that reboot trilogy with Leatherface and Texas Chainsaw 3D. Instead, we’re focusing on the longest-running series, which we’ll call the mainline continuity (that’s the original, Part 2, 3, and The Next Generation), and the remake duology (the 2003 remake and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) which shares some similarities. See the handy dandy chart courtesy of Bloody Disgusting for a proper timeline breakdown.
So, get to the back of the pickup and ensure you got your chainsaw filled with gas. Or make sure the battery is charged if you’re one of those eco-conscious city types!
Who’s up for a field trip to Texas?
WHO ARE THE SAWYERS?
The people who make Leatherface who he is, the Sawyers (originally named the much less subtle “Slaughters” in the script), are a cannibalistic family with more quirky and colorful members than you can shake a stick at. Their M.O.? Luring victims on the land around their home so they can toy with, kill, and eat them.
Most of their rituals and behaviors are a perversion of the traditional nuclear family, with the most infamous being their prolonged and exhausting dinners in which they relentlessly mock their targets and relish their suffering through torture.
Possibly with or without literal relish.
In Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, the immediate Sawyer family is comprised of:
- Standing patriarch, father, and award-winning chili cook Drayton Sawyer not-so-standing living fossil, Grandpa Sawyer
- Deranged hitchhiker, Nubbins Sawyer
- Nubbin’s twin brother, army veteran, and music lover with a skull plate, Chop Top
- And, of course, titular chainsaw wielder and mask maker Bubba “Leatherface” Sawyer
AN ALL NEW FAMILY FOR THE SEQUELS
There’s also Grandma Sawyer, a chainsaw-holding corpse shrine in Part 2 with no living appearances. Though…this crew is all dead by the end of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (except for Leatherface, depending on your interpretation). At the film’s end, Chop Top was supposed to have survived his scuffle with Stretch. However, this was a plan for the unmade short-film All-American Massacre and never came to fruition, so its canonicity is dubious at best.
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 shows us a new family, which includes:
- Suave faux cowboy, Eddie “Tex” Sawyer
- Mechanical genius, Tinker Sawyer
- Peeping Tom, Alfredo Saywer
- Leatherface’s unnamed daughter, who is credited in some places as Babi Sawyer
- And Leatherface’s mother, Anne Sawyer
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation rounded us out with only three more official Sawyers: the pretty u nremarkable W.E. Slaughter, a brand-new impostor Grandpa, and extended family member with robot legs, Vilmer Slaughter.
WHO ARE THE HEWITTS IN THE TEXAS CHAINSAW REMAKE?
The remake duology introduced a new version of the family. The Hewitts are distinct from the original Sawyers, in that rather than being a campy bunch of freaks, they’re pseudo-religious nutjobs that don’t take much pleasure in what they do. That is, barring our Drayton analog and head of the family, Charlie Hewitt (using the disguise of Sheriff Hoyt), who commands the rest of them with an iron fist and enjoys abusing captives. Beyond him, there’s:
- Surrogate mother to Thomas, Luda-Mae Hewitt
- Her brother, wheelchair-bound creep Monty Hewitt
- The youngest son Jedidiah Hewitt
- Baby thief Henrietta Hewitt and her mysterious cohort, The Tea Lady
- And Thomas “Leatherface” Hewitt
HOW DID THE SAWYER FAMILY BECOME CANNIBALS?
We can lay the blame on one: Grandpa Sawyer.
At the time of the original film, Grandpa Sawyer is about 120, meaning he most likely was born in 1854. As a young man, he became a skilled hand in abattoirs and stood as a renowned butcher; Grandpa was deemed (by Drayton) as once having been the family’s best killer due to these skills. We only ever get to see them on display in Leatherface, the first time he wields his trusty hammer with some level of efficiency beyond flapping his wrist around.
At the turn of the 19th century, Grandpa Sawyer would see the Texan meatpacking industry slowly begin to replace smaller butcher businesses. Due to the speed of the industrialized process, Grandpa lost his job, and soon the family became more insular. The fear of starvation from poverty and general isolation in rural Texas pushed the family to begin the practice.
HOW DID THE HEWITT FAMILY BECOME CANNIBALS?
In the remake duology, the failure of industrialization sets into motion the Hewitt Family’s corruption; newspapers shown in the film mention a local meat packing plant, The Lee Bros. Meat Processing Plant had gone under and left hundreds in town jobless. It closed due to numerous health violations, most likely related to the mistreatment of workers like Leatherface’s mother who dies on the job after stress-induced labor kills her (though a deformed infant Thomas with a skin condition still survives).
Unlike Grandpa Sawyer, Charlie Hewitt introduces his family to cannibalism due to his time in the Korean War, where he picked up the habit as a means of survival. Taken captive in 1952, Charlie and other prisoners were forced to choose among themselves who would be sacrificed to feed the rest. Though they were eventually rescued, this practice awakened something in Hewitt that he would eventually spread to the rest of his kin. This also expands on the anti-war subtext of the original film, as much of The Beginning does.
WHY IS THE SAWYER FAMILY DIFFERENT IN EVERY FILM?
While Part 2 mainly adds Chop Top, a trend pops up in 3 and The Next Generation, where a new version of the family exists to aid Leatherface.
There are a few explanations for this.
One could be that Sawyer progeny are just everywhere. After Sally escapes in the first film, Drayton and company relocate to the abandoned Texas Battleland Amusement Park. However, the Sawyer House in 3 and The Next Generation are also different homes, which may be inhabited by extended family members. By this logic, Leatherface somehow survives his wounds in Part 2 and simply moves from family to family whenever he needs assistance. This theory is backed by the fact that Stretch, the protagonist of Part 2, makes a cameo in 3, looking for Leatherface as a now fully-fledged T.V. reporter.
The more outlandish explanation? The Sawyer Family isn’t a real family.
In Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, it’s revealed that the Sawyers are funded and protected by a shadowy conspiracy, most likely the Illuminati of legend. Their representative even abducts the last survivor of that film to observe the effects of the Sawyer-induced trauma on her mind. It would make sense that whenever Sawyers are killed, the Illuminati simply funnels in new family members to replace them, and perhaps even creates and installs a new Leatherface should the current one suffers wounds too great to recover from (such as the ill-fated chainsaw duel with Lefty at the end of Part 2).
HOW DID BUBBA SAWYER BECOME LEATHERFACE?
The primary explanation for Bubba Sawyer, and Thomas Hewitt for that matter, becoming Leatherface is that their families simply brainwashed them into serving as a grunting, violent attack dog. Abused by their respective father figures, the mentally stunted Leatherfaces came to mimic their violent parentage and ended up as a distortion of the breadwinner by hunting down and butchering innocents for the family.
Hurt people hurt people, you know?
WHY DOES LEATHERFACE WEAR THE MASKS?
Contrary to popular belief, the grisly masks Bubba sports in the mainline continuity are meant to reveal more than they conceal. While human consumption is a matter of sport and sustenance for the rest of the family, Leatherface’s masks are mostly separate from this as a sign of care and craft. They’re used as a reflection of his emotional state.
Gunnar Hansen has mentioned many times that Tobe Hooper’s original intent for the varying masks we see is to reflect how Leatherface feels on any given day. They’re used to make him feel pretty or powerful, and he takes great care in fashioning them. The masks can even function as gifts: in Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, he shares a makeshift mask with Stretch in an attempt to save her. Their feminine connotation also directly opposes Drayton’s very masculine, very aggressive energy.
In the remake duology, however, the answer is much more straightforward: Thomas Hewitt suffers from a mysterious congenital skin disease that ate away at his nose and mouth and uses the mask to cover it up. It’s never outright stated but implied to be caused by the sanitary conditions of the meat packing plant harming his mother while pregnant.
WHY DOES LEATHERFACE USE A CHAINSAW?
Loud and scary.
This is still my favorite jumpscare of all time.
Just kidding, the actual answer is it’s a phallic symbol.
From subtext to almost plain text, Part 2 lays it out on the table. Between Bubbas’ beer-spraying chainsaw malfunction and Drayton’s iconic quote about choosing between sex and the saw (see below) makes Leatherface’s chainsaw a representation of sexual repression as the family forces him into the role of being a deranged killer.
It also symbolizes how toxic masculinity has eaten at the whole family. It’s the ultimate tool of a boy being forced to become the Sawyers’ perception of a man: an aggressive predator who hurts women, built through the teachings of his almost entirely male family. Everybody must emulate Grandpa because he was a “strong” man through tough times. They ignored all the very clearly messed up things he did for and to his family.
Really, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies are some of the most heavily dissected horror films regarding sex and gender, so if you have the time, read some of the many wonderful scholarly works about the franchise. Do I even have to say it? I’m talking about Carol J. Clover. Read “Her Body, Himself” from the legendary Men, Women, and Chainsaws. It’s an excellent essay.
And that will be it for today’s Horror History 101 lesson. See you in the next class, and stay tuned for more content concerning horror movies, television, and everything in between.
When I think of Gothic horror, I typically imagine haunted and decaying castles, ghosts from the past, and arguments of morality. The colors are usually dark, often cool-toned, and shadowy. Part of this might be due to German Impressionism bleeding into classic American Horror films. Many of the early horror films naturally incorporated gothic elements such as fighting supernatural forces, big old houses, and religion. According to the New York Public Library, gothic fiction was established after Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto was published in 1764. The subgenre was named after the gothic castles that were often featured in earlier gothic works, such as Frankenstein and Dracula.
The aesthetic of death and decay around Gothic horror is reinforced with retellings of the most impactful gothic tales. There are countless remakes and retellings of Dracula. We just saw a new adaptation of Frankenstein from Guillermo Del Toro within the last four months. Additionally, the Hammer films from the 50’s-70’s focused on Gothic stories and helped to bolster the box we tend to place the subgenre in.
Gothic Horror Turned Southern Black Gothic
It’s easy to associate the subgenre with dread and gloom inside a Victorian mansion. However, Gothic horror has evolved with the times. There might not be an old haunted castle, but there might be an abandoned school from the 80’s. The elements of dread and decay remain, but have spread to other eerie buildings or maybe a forest. The same themes of sanity (or losing one’s sanity), death, morality, and the supernatural are still being explored, but updated and expanded with time. Gothic horror has even branched off to have its own subgenres like Gothic romance, Southern Gothic, and Urban Gothic.
Being a southern girl, I am fascinated with the Southern Gothic flavor of the subgenre. Britannica characterizes Southern Gothic as stories set in the American South with elements of the macabre and grotesque. The stories frequently tie into American history, which is riddled with ghost stories and tragedy, especially in the South. Many of the classic Gothic stories are set in Europe and take place over 100 years ago, so they feel distant to me. I haven’t been to a single decaying castle, but I have been to plenty of plantations.
Southern Gothic horror brings gloom and doom, but the color palette feels warmer. The terrors feel close to home. Black Southern Gothic films take a step closer to my heart by shifting the subgenre to a Black lens. The movies can feel like warm hugs, although they often explore America’s very dark past and present. Here are some excellent Black Southern Gothic Films you should watch right now!
Southern Black Gothic Films and Where To Stream Them
Sinners (2025)
Where to Stream: HBO Max
The world is going to have to pry Sinners from my cold, dead hands! It follows two brothers who come back home to start a business. It takes place in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The movie is dripping in Blues and Black history while incorporating so many Gothic horror elements. Instead of a big haunted Victorian house, there’s a juke joint with an implied violent past. The building is foreboding and dark against the sunny sky. The inside is old and worn. Before anything supernatural plays out, the brothers mention how they will handle the very real threat of violence from the Klan. Sinners also displays how poverty affected people and what it could drive them to do.
Religion also plays a big part in the story. We start and end the movie at church. The discussion of music and the devil is very prevalent in Black churches. Christianity isn’t the only religion included. I love the use of folk magic and the idea of “the other side.” If Sinners didn’t have enough Gothic flavor, it adds a supernatural threat with Remmick. Sinners is a must-see film!
Read our review of Sinners here!
Sugar Hill (1974)
Where to Stream: Tubi & Pluto
A lot of people might not think about Sugar Hill (1974) when they’re thinking about Gothic horror. It’s one of the first movies that comes to mind when I think of Blaxploitation films, but it has plenty of Gothic elements. The story follows Diana “Sugar” Hill as she seeks revenge on the men who killed her man. Sugar Hill takes place in Texas, AND there is an old dark house. We don’t spend a lot of time in the house, but when Sugar walks through the webs and dust, it feels like it’s straight out of a classic Gothic horror movie. She ends up going through the woods, and eventually, the dead begin to rise from the ground. It is a scene full of death and decay, and the zombies slowly rise (and I mean slowly) for revenge.
There’s also a taste of religion with Baron Samedi from Haitian Vodou. As Sugar gets her revenge, she encounters plenty of racism along the way, because is it really American without a little racism? If you’re in the mood for something fun, Sugar Hill is the way to go.
Spell (2020)
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
Spell crept under the radar because it was released during the pandemic. The film follows Marquis (Omari Hardwick) after a plane crash in the Kentucky Appalachians, which lands him in the care of Ms. Eloise (Loretta Devine). Spell displays the use of folk magic for sinister reasons. In place of the decaying castle, there’s an isolated farmhouse creaking with age. Marquis quickly learns that his caretaker has sinister plans. He recognizes her magic, because he grew up in the area. He denounced parts of his culture that end up being integral to his salvation. As Marquis tries to escape, he tours all of the shadowy parts of the old dark house to keep the Gothic flavor intact. There are also some NASTY foot scenes that bring the grotesqueness to the screen.
Beloved (1998)
Where to Stream: VOD
Beloved is such a haunting movie. It follows Sethe, who lives with her daughter, after she takes in an old friend. A new stranger appears in the trio’s life, and strange things begin to happen. First of all, read Beloved by Toni Morrison! It is a great book, but a heavy story. While the story takes place in Ohio, which is above the Mason-Dixon line, the ghosts from the past have moved north with Sethe. Beloved demonstrates the dark decisions people will make to escape the circumstances of enslavement. The wailing ghosts are a classic staple. The dreadful atmosphere keeps you feeling uneasy. In many ways, Beloved feels like a classic Gothic horror film. It has an isolated haunted house, a ghost from the past, and discussions of morality.
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Where to Stream: Peacock, AMC+, Shudder
I usually have to come out swinging in order to prove that Eve’s Bayou is a horror movie in the first place. There are ghosts, people die, and people use dark magic. That’s enough for me! Eve’s Bayou centers on the Baptiste family and their turmoil. The sound of the swamp and nature is woven throughout the film. This movie feels so much like home that it feels like a grandmother’s prayer. I can nearly smell the summer air. The brightness, humor, and youth in the film are contrasted by the constant fear of loss that drives many of the characters’ actions.
There’s an entire plot point that involves the mom, Roz, keeping her kids inside, because their clairvoyant auntie saw a deadly vision. One of the most haunting scenes is when Mozelle tells the story of her curse and the fate of her husbands. It feels surreal and sad, but it still has the warmth of a southern summer. You can see her telling the story while it plays out in the mirror. Her voice is doubled with the voices of her past lovers, making the monologue more eerie. This movie is Black horror homework.
Wake (2010)
Where to Stream: YouTube
If you don’t have much time, Wake is only 20 minutes long, and it’s free on YouTube! The story follows a woman, after the death of her father, who uses rootwork to get what she wants, and she wants a man. The use of folk magic and the consequences of practicing but not understanding the magic almost plays out like a warning. Wake touches on repression and how far one would go to be free themselves. It also shows how societal standards can be a prison that people put themselves in. There’s a supernatural force, and an old house, two of the primary ingredients of Gothic horror. It is an underseen, but readily available, Southern Gothic film.
If you already enjoy Gothic horror, now is a great time to explore Black Southern Gothic films. The dark themes blend well with the warm hues. Although the dive into American history can feel heavy, it’s worth the weight. These are stories that need to be told.
‘Tis February, and because of 2025’s Heart Eyes, we now celebrate Valentine’s Day. While many outlets are going to list romantic horror movies featuring the ultimate horror couples, we’re doing something different at Horror Press. We’re highlighting horror movie red flags. That way, you don’t waste your time this Hallmark season with duds who watch crap. These movies are grounds for automatic swipes to the left and leaving messages on read. Read this list to see the ultimate film filter to help you focus on more sustainable hookups, dates, and cuffing season partners.
8 Horror Movies That Are Dating Red Flags
A Serbian Film (2010)
An old pornstar agrees to do an art film only to discover it’s a snuff film. A Serbian Film is possibly the reddest of the red flags. The pedophilia and necrophilia make it a hard watch, so anyone who revisits it often should probably raise all your alarms. We try not to judge people, but this is definitely a title that will get you some bombastic side eye if you try to bring it to movie night. Would definitely not recommend spending the night after being shown this hellish title.
Any Eli Roth Movie
They’re all the same, and that’s why Eli Roth movies are the free space on this red flag bingo board. Whether it’s taking place in a cabin, a hostel, or during Thanksgiving, there is something inherently gross about a Roth film. I need a shower whenever some guy tries to convince me Roth has made any movies of note. Only people who want to be ghosted are suggesting these movies, and you should respect their wishes this February.
Alone in the Dark (2005)
A paranormal investigator looks into mysterious events that connect to his past. There is nothing nice to say about this Uwe Boll movie. It’s actually one of the few movies where I can’t even count on the design team when searching for compliments. While Christian Slater, Tara Reid, and Stephen Dorff have the misfortune of being the faces we associate with this shit fest, I’m not even letting the colorist and craft service off for their parts in this dud. When we talk about how we all love an occasional bad movie, no one means this one. This makes Alone in the Dark a red flag and alerts you that someone might not have taste.
Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025)
A 1988 prom queen race turns deadly when a killer begins slaying the candidates. Fear Street: Prom Queen is another huge red flag because it has no redeeming qualities. People who like this movie are being contrarians and should immediately lose the right to recommend movies. From the lack of energy to the unserious kills, there is no reason to swipe right on anyone pretending this movie is good. Save yourself some time and probably more ridiculously bad watches and shut it down immediately.
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
When a Fourth of July Prank goes wrong, someone dies, and their friend circle finds themselves stalked by a mysterious figure. No matter what we think of any other installment/iteration of this story, this one is the worst. This is not my franchise, but this steep decline in quality is not like the others. Anyone who likes this movie is a walking red flag and possibly the most chaotic individual you have ever met.
Men (2022)
A woman heads to the English countryside to work through trauma and discovers more horrors are awaiting her. Men should have been my last straw with Alex Garland. However, I am a damn fool and suffered through Civil War, too. Which is why I can confidently say most Garland films are a red flag for me, but Men specifically underscores all of my problems with his work. If someone likes this movie, I will need them to explain it to me like I am five years old.
Skinamarink (2022)
Two kids wake up in the middle of the night and find that all of their doors and windows are gone. Skinamarink is the embodiment of “Girl, What?” The grainy footage gives many people headaches, and too much time is dedicated to the ceiling. Listening to people suggest watching it in closets, under blankets, with headphones to fully “get it” is weird and extremely unsexy. Which is why the movie and the people forcing the mood onto it are all red flags. I don’t want to kink shame but if someone is that into ceilings then maybe we’re not a good match.
Red Christmas (2016)
A family Christmas Eve gathering is interrupted by a killer seeking revenge. I cannot think of a bigger red flag than an anti-choice Christmas movie. I like my horror to be on the correct side of feminism, and this mess feels gross from a distance. That’s why this Dee Wallace title is a huge red flag and a festive horror mood killer. I know people like to talk about the great kills in this movie, but I insist on not hooking up with guys who like this one. If for no other reason, it probably tells you where they land on Roe v. Wade and we do not have time for that.
So these are some horror red flags from our team to your group chats. Now you can’t say no one warned you about the Eli Roth filmbros, or A Serbian Film fanatics.
Happy hookups and potential dating now that you know what to be on the lookout for! Never forget that it’s okay to swipe left, force close the app, and watch better horror movies than the ones listed above.
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