Synopsis

In 1969, brothers Eric and Dean prepare to leave for Vietnam while traveling across Texas with their girlfriends. After a roadside accident separates Chrissie from the others, a murderous sheriff takes the group to the Hewitt family home. There, the young Thomas Hewitt is being shaped into Leatherface, as the family's violent traditions develop into a terrifying ordeal.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is a prequel to the 2003 remake, rather than to Tobe Hooper's 1974 original. Its story was developed to answer questions left by the remake, including how Thomas Hewitt became Leatherface and how Sheriff Hoyt emerged as the family's leader.

• Principal photography took place in central Texas, including Austin, Elgin, Granger, Taylor, and Cele. Several locations had also been used for the 2003 film.

• The production filmed the story in chronological order. After the roadside crash, the cinematography shifted to a shorter shutter angle, giving the action a more frantic and unsettled appearance.

• The film's visual design used a deliberately desaturated red, white, and blue palette. The colors were intended to suggest the deterioration of the American ideal and the collapse of the Hewitt family.

• The chainsaw used by Leatherface weighed approximately 35 pounds.

• The cow struck by the jeep was a fiberglass prop filled with fake blood, entrails, and bones.

• Home-video editions include three alternate endings, including variations in Leatherface's final attack on Chrissie and one version that replaces the theatrical voice-over with subtitles.

• Released in the United States on October 6, 2006, the film earned approximately $51.8 million worldwide from an estimated $16 million budget.