<P> Serving as a direct prequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Leatherface was written by Seth M. Sherwood to also act as a prelude to the series as a whole . Sherwood intentionally distanced the film from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and its prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, while respecting the fictional events of the original film and its various sequels . Leatherface's characterisation is based on Gunnar Hansen's performance from the original film . Certain character names, such as Drayton, Nubbins, and the Sawyer surname, were pulled from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 . The creation of the deranged lawman Hal Hartman was inspired by Lefty Enright, a Texas Ranger that appeared in the second film, while Clarice was originally conceived as a tribute to Chop Top Sawyer . Hal Hartman is the father of Burt Hartman, a vigilante character that first appeared in Texas Chainsaw 3D . The character Verna Sawyer (Lili Taylor) was played by Marilyn Burns in Texas Chainsaw 3D . Sherwood confirmed that the Texas Chainsaw film canon followed by Lionsgate Pictures and Millennium Films consists of, chronologically, Leatherface, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Texas Chainsaw 3D: "While there's plenty of things for fans, one could also go into (Leatherface) blind as their first TCM film and effectively see the beginning of the story ." </P> <P> Leatherface was originally slated for a 2016 release, which it did not meet . Despite having reached completion, it was temporarily shelved by Lionsgate Films . Sherwood speculated that the studio might have been afraid that they wouldn't make back their investment after another film underperformed, but admitted that he had no concrete explanation for the delay: "In a strange way, I started to romanticize the idea it became some legendary lost film . It would be coveted--something spoken about, something people would try to contrive some way of seeing, something that would show up on a tired unused media at a convention in 50 years ." A film titled Leatherface received a direct - to - video release from Lightning Pictures in the United Kingdom in January 2017, featuring a masked chainsaw - brandishing figure on the home video cover . However, this film was not the Texas Chain Saw Massacre prequel, but rather a re-packaging of the unrelated Playing With Dolls: Bloodlust . The release was criticised by members of the press for its misleading marketing, with William Bibbiani scrutising on Blumhouse.com that "It's not uncommon for horror movies to pick up new titles in domestic or foreign markets in an attempt to capitalize on various trends, but this is a particularly egregious example . It goes beyond mockbusters, which try to trick you into thinking it's the real deal, and simply takes the title of an upcoming, anticipated horror movie and tries to pass itself off as that movie ." Playing With Dolls director Rene Perez apologised for the title change, "I am apposed (sic) to this title change but I am powerless to stop it . The sales agency didn't even inform me that a sale was made to the UK . At the moment I am making a 3rd Playing with Dolls movie . I will be self releasing the new Playing with Dolls online to avoid any issues like this in the future ." </P> <P> In May 2017, producer Christa Campbell stated that the prequel would be released in October 2017 . It premiered at FrightFest 2017 on August 25, followed by an exclusive release through the DirecTV satellite service on September 21, and wide distribution via Video on demand and a limited theatrical run coinciding on October 20 . It was also selected as programming for the 2017 Screamfest Horror Film Festival, which ran from October 10, 2017, to October 19 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, as well as the Nightmares Film Festival on October 19 . The motion picture will be published on home video platforms, specifically Blu - ray, DVD, and digital media, on December 19, 2017 . Additional Blu - ray features include deleted scenes, a Making of featurette, and an alternate ending . </P> <P> On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Leatherface received an approval rating of 33% based on 33 reviews, and an average rating of 3.9 / 10 . On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". </P>

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