The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game from Gun Interactive was just released for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One back on August 18th, and the developers have been keeping a steady flow of updates coming ever since. As we’ve previously covered, tomorrow – June 11th – they will be adding a new villain character to the game in the form of Hands, the man who inspired Leatherface to start wearing masks of human flesh. They’ll also be adding a new victim character, and this one is an unexpected move: Maria Flores, the young woman whose disappearance kicked off the events of the game, is now going to be a playable character!
Fans have assumed that Maria was dead, but that’s not the case. As explained on the game’s official website, “Maria Flores, voiced by the talented Stephanie Panisello, is the heart and soul for our cast of Victims. Her disappearance sent shockwaves across central Texas and her sister Ana’s life. As a lover of art and nature, Maria’s fateful trip (head to her Instagram page here) to explore the vast Texas countryside during wildflower season put her in grave danger with the Slaughter Family. Having caught the attention of ‘Pretty Boy’ Johnny, she was stalked and abducted by him. Maria seemed lost to the outside world. However, deep within the bowels of the Slaughter Family’s property, Maria was alive and fighting like hell for her survival. Amidst the horrors, she began to realize that something strange was happening. She was being kept alive because of Grandpa. His affinity towards her was perhaps some sort of past connection. All she knows is that she has to use this vulnerability against Grandpa to escape the nightmarish hell she’s living in and escape for good!” More information on Maria and what she brings to the game can be found at the website link.
Stephanie Panisello provided the following statement: “Getting into Maria’s headspace was definitely not a happy place to be in but finding the strength and resilience to push further when all odds of survival were stacked against her, was a treat to discover. Her desire to live is incredible. She had me pulling from my own Latin upbringing that taught me to create possibility where there may not be and to always find the beauty in life- though it’s the very thing that got her in this position, I’d like to think it’s also what’s kept her alive. I can’t wait for the world to finally experience the character that started the whole search.“
Matches of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game pit 4 victim characters against 3 killer characters. The story of the game has the following set-up: When Maria Flores went missing, and local law enforcement seemed to stall out in their search, her younger sister Ana teamed up with some of Maria’s friends from college to pick up the trail. The game takes place before the events of director Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (watch it HERE).
Kane Hodder (who also worked on Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) did the motion-capture performance for Leatherface in the game, as well as the Grandpa character. Other motion-capture performers include Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs) as The Hitch-hiker; Troy Burgess (Swedish Dicks) as The Cook; Kristina Klebe (Don’t Kill It) as new killer character Sissy; and Dove Meir (Dig) as new killer character Johnny. Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween) did the mo-cap for all of the female victim characters while Hunter C. Smith (Lucky) did the mo-cap for all of the male victim characters. Although Whalen did the mo-cap for the Hitch-hiker, Edwin Neal, who played the character in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, provided his voice for the game. Damian Maffei (The Strangers: Prey at Night) provided the voice of Johnny, and Michael Johnston of Teen Wolf did the same for Danny. BAFTA winner Cissy Jones did the mo-cap and vocal performance for Nancy. Robert Mukes (House of 1000 Corpses) brought Hands to life. Barbara Crampton provided the voice and likeness of a character named Virginia. You can find out more about the killer characters at THIS LINK and the victim characters HERE. To learn more about the voice cast, head over HERE.
Have you been playing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game, and are you looking forward to playing as Maria Flores? Let us know by leaving a comment below.