The Horror Game Awards Launches “Talking Terror” Podcast, Chats About Brass Token Games’ ‘The Chant’ [Video]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre series has always been my favorite horror franchise, with every single one of these gnarly films boasting at least one unique (or absolutely bonkers) element even when the filmmakers stumble over garbled timelines and confusing retcons. That being said, fans of the original film are likely aware that the homicidal Leatherface was never actually meant to be a traditional slasher icon, with this child-like brute simply fulfilling a violent role that was thrust upon him by the real antagonist of the film – family.

Unfortunately, with the exception of Tobe Hooper’s underrated 1986 sequel, every subsequent entry in the series would continue to focus more on Leatherface as a cold-blooded murderer rather than the maniacal family that raised him. That’s not to say that the sequels didn’t present us with memorable additions to the extended clan (I’ll always be partial to Matthew McConaughey’s scenery-chewing portrayal of Vilmer), but this fundamental misunderstanding of Leatherface’s character would continue to haunt these films as producers attempt to turn what was originally a deadly victim of circumstance into the next Jason Voorhees.

Ironically, the first major piece of Texas Chain Saw Massacre media to return to Hooper and Henkel’s narrative roots wouldn’t be a theatrical release at all, but instead Gun Interactive’s asymmetrical multiplayer videogame adaptation of the original film. And while games like Dead by Daylight and even Gun’s own Friday the 13^th adaptation have already done the asymmetrical horror trope to death, 2023’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre miraculously manages to stand out from the crowd by making the whole affair a team-based effort on both sides.

Like the games that inspired it, Gun’s TCM features a small cast of survivors attempting to escape from eerie locations while dealing with deadly security measures (like bone-based noisemakers and electrified doors). However, instead of having players be hunted by a single overpowered killer, the game instead tasks three other players with stepping into the shoes of the Sawyer family and dispatching these victims before they can call for help. This simple change means that matches play out more like a horrific blood-sport than a prolonged game of hide and seek, though the experience is usually balanced in favor of the family.

The odds are not in your favor…

While there’s currently no single player story mode, there is some semblance of a plot here, with brief cut-scenes and supplemental material weaving a loose prequel to the original film. However, this backstory is more of a narrative justification for the ensuing bloodshed than a proper horror yarn, setting up the disappearance of a teenager named Maria as the catalyst for a traditional Texas Massacre as the missing girl’s friends and family come to the rescue and find themselves trapped by the cannibalistic Sawyers.

In a refreshing turn of events, the inclusion of the rest of the family means that the game doesn’t really portray Leatherface as a stereotypical lone slasher with a personal vendetta. Sure, he’s the deadliest family member by a long shot, but he’s really just a bloodhound employed by the rest of the Sawyers as they try to systematically corner victims and execute them, coordinating as if this were an online-based dysfunctional family simulator.

Hell, the game even manages to include Grandpa in on the action, with this often-ignored element of the original film playing a vital role in detecting victims as the family feeds him blood. It might not be the most realistic bit of gameplay here (I mean, how exactly does this blood-based sonar work?), but I don’t think that matters when your source material already features an elderly vampire that only awakens to feed.

Admittedly, a large part of this faithfulness to the source material is due to the fact that Gun only licensed the rights to the first TCM film. Naturally, this means that the finished game has no choice but to be more influenced by Hooper and Henkel’s 1973 production than any of the madness that followed it. However, even some of the title’s brand-new additions carry the spirit of the filmmakers’ original intention.

Go get ’em, Grandpa!

For starters, the franchise’s entire premise of horrifying audiences with a murderous perversion of a nuclear American family was obviously inspired by the nation-wide paranoia sparked by the (then-recent) countercultural movements and the Manson family murders. This is made even more obvious in the game with the inclusion of an original character who happens to be a literal ex-resident of the infamous Spahn Ranch, Sissy.

And while some hardcore fans have lamented these seemingly non-canonical inclusions, it’s worth remembering that the original film never made it clear if anyone in this godforsaken household was actually related by blood. In some ways, the Sawyer clan is already more akin to a cannibalistic cult than a true “family,” making unique additions like Sissy and Johnny fit right in with the lore.

At the end of the day, generational evil is much scarier than a single madman with a chainsaw. This kind of evil can spread and even live among us, infecting others while hiding (and growing) in plain sight. This specific kind of fear has been largely absent from the Texas Chainsaw movies for decades now, but I’d argue that some semblance of it lives on when you see online strangers working together to corner virtual survivors while pretending to be psychotic killers.

Like the ill-fated Franklin said back in 1973 when first hearing about the Hitchhiker’s family history: “it’s a whole family of Draculas.”And while I can only hope that the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie can take some inspiration from this passionate love letter to the disturbing classic that started it all, it’s nice to know that the interactive portion of this franchise is in good hands.