The father at the gas station tried repeatedly to get the group to stay at the gas station and not go to the Franklin house. Maybe I missed something, but why did he do this? Was he afraid of them stumbling upon his house, or did he have real concern for them?
shareFor the record he is the older brother, confirmed in the sequels. Though in this film he's simply credited as 'old man'.
To answer your question, he didn't want them fumbling around near his house and near his deranged brothers. 'Old man' was clearly the figurehead of the family and considered his brothers to be nitwits. He was at work at the gas station and couldn't keep an eye on his brothers so was heavily concerned the teenage group would either stumple upon something and escape to report it to police, or be set upon by 'hitchhiker' or 'leatherface' and escape to tell the tale.
He didn't care for the teenagers, just for getting caught. This is best explained in the scene where he asks 'leatherface' is any of them got away.
I agree with your assessment. Though I still wonder if a hint of split personality wasn't afoot. The scene where the 'old man' reassures Sally that "everything will be alright" then a moment later maniacally jabs her in torture while having a decided change of expression on his face might imply this.
If so, it could be that the scene at the gas station would reflect this flourish as well. When he notices the girls then doubles back to tell the men again that they shouldn't roam around the area -- the old house -- because of the girls. Not to mention his later admission that he takes no pleasure in killing -- while simultaneously facilitating and condoning the murders at the same time.
He definitely showed a reluctance to kill her. "Some things you just got to do, don't mean you got to like it." But then shortly after he's laughing, and seems to be really enjoying her suffering.
I've seen a split personality suggested before. They were clearly not sane at all, so it's possible.
what about that BBQ rotisserie he left cooking after Sally shows up and he throws her in the truck?
was it gonna be an overnight batch?
The Oldman tries really hard to get them to stay for BBQ and always wondered if he would have killed them at the station. Also, it’s a gas station with NO gas so the family is obviously preying on out of our gas out of towners. The cars they were hiding was a decent amount alone.
I think there is a few ways this could have played.
Pickup hitchhiker they do take him home as he asked. He and Leatherface kill the group.
Pickup hitchhiker, plays out on film as he does till they get to gas station… similar scenario with the Oldman sees hitchhikers marking on van. It’s a shape so I think the van was truly marked to tell him. He is telling them not to go, not poking on other people’s property etc.. it was too much of a risk in case they got away with the working van. As others said. I think the Oldman was going to kill them at the gas station and there was the other employee who I’m convinced is also family. Due his job and the Oldman is unhinged so only really family can work with him. He kept trying to get them stay for BBQ “ makes me wonder if he druffed or poisoned it.
Okay same scenario as before. Except the don’t stay for BBQ but the continue to drive toward San Diego. The next gas station is really far away so they don’t have enough gas but try anyway, they run out of gas and maybe the redhead(who could have headed that way to be sure) but out of gas they get killed by the family: either walking back toward the gas station, waiting for someone etc…
We now also have a scenario of how it plays out on film except…instead of going swimming they all stay at grandpa’s house and don’t leave. Obviously the family is frequenting there and started to decorate so they would have been killed probably at night at grandpas old house.
Final scenario is how it plays out in film..
I really think that no matter what they are screwed. The oldman is a lunatic. One second saying one thing but encouraging doing another like killing. All roads led them to dying:
Interesting analysis. I never really thought about it that way. I always assumed he had good intentions, and just wanted to keep them away from stumbling upon his house and getting killed (knowing the others are severely unhinged). Maybe I'm a bit naive or so. I myself would have listened to his advice. I don't think there was any way he could have forseen them escaping if they stumbled upon them, considering that they are just kids and his family are unhinged lunatics with a lot of experience in the killing business. Regarding this aspect, I think he wanted to help them stay away from trouble. I didn't consider what would happen to them if they had to stay at the gas station, though. But I would think he didn't want to risk anything by doing something away from the safety of the house, and would just have got them the gas and sent them on their way.
shareNot sure but maybe he was playing a mind trick on them like “hey you guys shouldn’t go there!” Just knowing that they were teens and probably would want to do it even more if told not to
Btw who was the red haired window washer at the gas station? Was he part of the family? He seemed a bit slow and he never said anything
I've always thought that was Leatherface. Prove me wrong LOL!
share