Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022): The 9 Most Shocking Deaths

With the recent release of Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Netflix, fans of slasher films have been able to enjoy a fresh, modern take on a classic. A direct sequel to the original, the movie fulfills the genre’s promise of blood, gore, and violence.

Unexpected twists and turns, close calls, and narrow escapes take the audience through the return of Leatherface as he carves through his victims. With each death including a range of blood, brutality, and surprise, the filmmakers turn up the shock factor to keep viewers watching. One of the film’s stars has already declared their character’s death the best part of Texas Chainsaw Massacre due to its shock factor, but there are plenty of other shocking deaths that give it a run for its money.

9 Ruth

The first of the main cast to separate from the others, slasher fans will have known early on that Ruth’s death was imminent. With even the subtitles simply referring to her as “Dante’s partner,” it was demonstrated early on that Ruth would be among the first deaths, the character’s story purpose fulfilled shortly before dying.

Still, with a couple of twists, close calls, and a brief struggle against the killer, Ruth’s death still provides the audience with some shock and a chance to see Leatherface don his signature masked look.

8 Virginia

Serving as both a question of morality and an inciting incident, Virginia was the first to die, and the only death to not be a murder. Shown from the beginning as being ill and on a respirator, Virginia cared for and raised Leatherface, and it was her wrongful eviction that led to her dying in his arms.

Setting off his murder spree, hers is the face this terrifying incarnation of Leatherface cuts off and wears as he returns to Harlow to kill the newcomers that Virginia her from her home, which is perhaps the most shocking element of her demise.

7 Deputy

The first victim of the movie, the deputy is quickly dispatched in a particularly gory manner; killed with his own snapped forearm, as Leatherface hadn’t yet acquired his iconic weapon.

Other than the grisly nature of his death, the unnamed deputy was destined to die, even unknowingly riding in the back of the ambulance with the killer. Because of the timing of the kill, the deputy was the only character murdered prior to Leatherface putting on his “mask.”

6 Sheriff Hathaway

Sustaining his initial injury from a missed shot by the deputy, the Sheriff’s death was not all it seemed. Seemingly dead in the driver’s seat of the crashed transport vehicle, he later jerks and moans in pain, the noise drawing the attention of Leatherface.

After Sheriff Hathaway shocks Ruth and the audience by surviving a gunshot to the throat and a collision, the killer is swift to take care of loose ends, bashing Hathaway’s head with an oxygen tank. Given the man’s injuries, it’s borderline merciful.

5 Dante

Established early on as a confident and charismatic leader of the group, which often doesn’t end well for horror movie characters, Dante’s death was both brutal and deceiving. The first to die within Harlow itself, Dante was ambushed quickly with a butcher’s knife.

The audience is left to think that’s the end of the character, but the real shock factor comes when Dante’s eyes fly open a few scenes later. Bleeding profusely, it was clear that he would meet his end eventually, but the twist of his awakening boosts the shock rating of this particular murder.

4 Richter

The gun-wielding nihilist shows no love for the crowd of outsiders in the town, but after Dante’s death he’s the first to investigate. When Leatherface nearly gets the drop on him in the orphanage, he holds his own for a few moments.

He fights the killer as best he can, even after his knee is snapped in the process, serving to heighten the shock factor and keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Ultimately, however, it proves not to be enough but Richter is able to use his final moments to try to return the car and bus keys to a hidden and horrified Mel.

3 Sally

The only other returning character, Sally is the lone survivor of the original movie. When she arrives, Sally puts up a fight with her shotgun, but is slain before too long; impaled on the chainsaw and hoisted into the air before being thrown into a pile of garbage bags.

Aside from the shocking death itself, Sally is another character that surprises the audience with a final surge of defiant life, getting off another shot at Leatherface to save Lila before dying, arming and inspiring the girl with her last moments.

2 Catherine

When a large group of people is trapped on a bus with a chainsaw-wielding killer, the only shock to be had is the bloody, gruesome deaths. After victims attempted to stop Leatherface, the killer carved his way through the bus, slashing through arms, torsos, and impaling a man and a woman against the wall in what is an altogether brutal and shocking scene.

Catherine, one of the few named characters on the bus, nearly escapes but is tragically caught halfway out of the window. Her near escape makes her demise all the more shocking.

1 Mel

After a long series of twists where Lila and Mel desperately fight for their lives, it seems as if Mel has slain the killer with his own chainsaw. The sisters begin to drive away from Harlow, using the autopilot function on the car, when Mel is suddenly yanked from the vehicle.

Lila watches and cries out from the sunroof as Leatherface, shockingly still alive, beheads his would-be killer, throwing her head off of the chainsaw while Lila is taken away by her car. It’s a shocking end to the film and gruesome death for one of Texas Chainsaw Massacres’ best characters.

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