10 Most Memorable Hammer-Wielding Movie Characters

The entire Sawyer clan in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is a terrifying assortment of murderous cannibals. However, the 1974 original movie kicks up a notch during its legendary dinner table finale when the family wheels in their exceptionally elderly grandfather. Terrified victim Sally, played by Marilyn Burns, is informed that Grandpa was "the best killer there was at the slaughterhouse" back when he was working.

What follows is an excruciating scene, in which Leatherface repeatedly tries to help his grandfather bash in Sally's brains with a hammer. Grandpa can't hold on to the weapon and drops it over and over again, while Sally screams for help every time he fails to land a blow. It's the perfect culmination for the sweaty, grindhouse intensity that powers Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a real glimpse at the madness of the Sawyer family.

Grandpa Sawyer would return in some of the various sequels and reboots that have seen the franchise expand since Tobe Hooper's original movie. However, he was never quite as terrifying and unsettling as he was that first time around.