| “ | I'm the one that got away and I'm here to make sure you don't. | ” |
— Sally to Leatherface
| ||
Sally Hardesty was the final girl of the 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. She was the sole survivor of the murders. She became a staple in horror film history and often accredited by scholars when discussing the final girl trope. She was played by actress Marilyn Burns until her passing. Olwen Fouéré portrayed an older Sally in the 2022 reboot.
Texas Chainsaw series[]
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre[]
Sally Hardesty and her brother Franklin are on their way to Texas with the friends to visit their grandfather's gravesite to investigate recent reports of grave-robbing and vandalism in the area.
Along the way, Sally and her friends pick up a hitchhiker, who unnerves them and makes them fear for their lives and their safety. He is ejected from their van. After being told the gas station is out of gas, they decide to go back later.
With darkness fast approaching and all of their friends missing, Sally and her brother go out searching for the others. Franklin is killed by Leatherface. Sally makes her way to the house where her friends are killed, but manages to escape the house and make it to the gas station.
However, her savior in the proprietor turns into the devil, as he is working with Leatherface and his cannibal family, which includes the hitchhiker they picked up at the beginning of the film. Sally is taken back to the home and tied up. When the hitchhiker recognizes Sally, he begins taunting at her, delighted at the reversal of fortunes.
Sally is tortured and tormented by the family. They bring down their grandfather, who is supposed to kill her. He is unable to, and Sally manages to break free from the rest of the family and escapes the house by leaping through the front window. She runs for her life, finding rescue in a truck driver. Covered in blood, Sally laughs hysterically at her ordeal as Leatherface is left swinging his chainsaw in irritation.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II[]
Since her escape, Sally tells the police the horrific details of her ordeal, including how she had escaped from a window in hell. She became catatonic soon after telling her story.
Sally did not physically appear, though her fate is relayed in a narration at the beginning of the film.
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III[]
In 1977, Sally is believed to have died in a private health care facility.
Sally, similar to her previous mention, did not physically appear, though her fate is relayed in a narration at the beginning of the film.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation[]
Sally lays on a gurney looking at Jenny, the newest survivor of Leatherface.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre[]
In the 50 years since her encounter with Leatherface, Sally is living a quiet life on a farm as a hardened Texas Ranger. She learns that Leatherface has begun killing again and drives across the country to face the man who hurt her. She arrives at a crime scene that disturbs her, as the body is posed in a similar fashion to how Sally was the last time she encountered the serial killer. She arrives in Harlow just in time to help Lila and Mel, the only survivors of the new massacre. After locking the girls in her car, Sally confronts Leatherface, thinking he'll remember her, but he stays silent. She attacks him with a knife and gun, but he ultimately rams her through the stomach with his chainsaw. She awakens in time to fire a shot that saves Lila, but is dying quickly. She warns Lily to not run, but stay and kill Leatherface or he'll haunt her forever, as he once haunted her. She dies moments later and her body is thrown in the trash.
The Ones Who Failed[]
- Hitchhiker/Nubbins Sawyer tries to attack Sally and her brother Franklin with a razor after they pick him up on the side of the road. She and Franklin kick him out of the van and speed away as he chases them, marking the van with his bloody handprint.
- Leatherface attacks Sally and her brother while they're out looking for Jerry. He chainsaws her brother and chases Sally, though she flees to a local gas station.
- Sawyer family kidnapped Sally and held her hostage at their farmhouse.
- Drayton Sawyer/The Cook is working at the local gas station when Sally comes in seeking refuge from Leatherface. Instead of helping her, he knocks her unconscious and kidnaps her.
- Grandpa Sawyer prepares to kill her with a hammer, but he's elderly and can't manage to raise the hammer. Growing impatient, Drayton and Leatherface decide to take over. Drayton grabs the hammer from Grandpa, releasing Sally in the process. She takes advantage of their mess-up and runs, jumping out of a window.
- Drayton and Leatherface chase Sally after she escapes and she fights back despite the slashes that Drayton inflicts. A truck driver accidentally runs over Dayton, saving Sally, though Leatherface uses his chainsaw on the truck, forcing the driver and Sally to flee. She jumps onto the back of a pickup truck and escapes Leatherface.
Trivia[]
Sally's Fandom trading card
- While Sally is accredited for being the first in the final girl trope, she is controversially preceded by Jess Bradford in the 1974 film, Black Christmas.
- Marilyn Burns' costume was so drenched in fake blood that it was practically solid by the final day of filming.
- Marilyn Burns cut herself a lot on the branches and things running from Leatherface. Some of the blood on her and her clothing is real.
- Kim Henkel, the writer of TCM series, spoke on Sally's inclusion in The Next Generation, saying he wanted to include as "perverse passing of the torch".
- In 2023, Sally was featured in the Final Girls Trading Cards deck for Fandom's Final Girls on the Final Day of Women's History Month.