In 1974, director Tobe Hooper terrorized audiences worldwide with the release ofThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre, an unprecedented creation that introduced a fresh perspective within the horror genre. The first film, centered around the demented and bizarre Sawyer family, echoesthemes of cult fascinationand affiliated cannibalism. Even though Tobe Hooper based the movie very loosely on the real-life serial killer named Ed Gein, the grotesque violence in the movie had an identity of its own.
The 1974 low-budget classic dissects the outlandish macabre, relying heavily on outright unsettlement rather than gory violence. The film’s central character,the infamous Leatherface, is largely responsible for the franchise’s overall success. Strongly guided by the influence of his deranged family, Leatherface remains one of the most impactful characters in the realm of cinematic horror. Despite its initial average reception,The Texas Chain Saw Massacrelater received an abundance of critical and audience praise alike. Following the success of the first film, Tobe Hooper created an underrated encore whenThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2reminded audiences of its predecessor’s perturbed status.
Updated, August 06, 2025: This article has been updated to with additional information regardingThe Texas Chainsaw Massacrefilms.
Riding a wave of popularity, the franchise proceeded to generate seven more films. While the following sequels never matched the attainment of the first two installments, the engaging movies have attracted horror fans nevertheless. One of the main reasons behind the success of the franchise is obviously the character of Leatherface, whose mental illness was immorally exploited by his demented family and made into a psychopathic serial killer.
While the rights toFriday the 13thandA Nightmare on Elm Streethave been held up due to legal issues,Texas Chainsaw Massacrehas seen a rise in installments, with the franchise adding five new entries since the beginning of the 21st century. Every slasher thriller fan in the world is well acquainted with the movie franchise. With that, here are all theTexas Chainsaw Massacremovies ranked.
9Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)
Before David Gordon Green’s 2018Halloweenwould disregard its continuity to tell a direct sequel, 2013’sTexas Chainsaw 3Ddid that five years prior and was designed to be a direct sequel to the original 1974 film.Texas Chainsaw 3Dattempts to portray the origin of the family’s sadistic path. With that,Alexandra Daddario playsHeather Miller, a relative of Leatherface, unaware of the family’s tormenting methods. However, Heather soon realizes that blood is certainly thicker than water in more ways than she’d like to know. The movie tried to recreate the original’s flavor when they also starred a group of five youngsters, but it still failed to touch the hearts of the audience.
The film garnered 19% on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely regarded as the worst of the series. Ultimately,3Dhas too many inconsistencies with the first film and is a bland slasher that fails to culturally match prior entries, especially the 1974 original. Other than a few gory murder scenes, the movie does not offer much else. Yet it would be one of three separateTexas Chainsaw Massacrefilms made in just under a decade.
8Leatherface (2017)
The eighth installment in the controversial franchise seeks to reflect the decent success ofTexas Chainsaw 3D, while desperately trying to replicate the first film’s beloved essence. Once again, the plot centers aroundLeatherfaceand his cannibalistic family’s unimaginable formation. However,Leatherface’sunderwhelming impact pales in comparison to Hooper’s original nightmare, insteadrelying on heavy violenceto try and captivate its audience.
This film served as a prequel to bothTexas Chainsaw 3DandThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The script forLeatherfacewas actually based on statements by Tobe Hooper and original Leatherface actor Gunnar Hanser about how the character is devoid of identity beyond the masks he wears and his family’s commands. It is a movie worth watching for those who are hardcore fans of the series and want to know more about the origins of their favorite psycho killer.
Leatherfaceis notable for being shelved by Lionsgate films for over a year until it was made an exclusive release through DirecTV, and later released on video on demand and a limited theatrical release. The delay in the film’s release also meant that Lionsgate lost the rights to the franchise.
7Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995)
The lackluster fourth addition to the acclaimed franchise initially tanked royally at the box office. However, a recent debate overThe Next Generationhas some fans admiring the film’s campy humor and pointless direction. Perhaps the giftedperformances by Matthew McConaugheyand Renée Zellweger, before their blockbuster successes, attracted a modern following to such a mess of a movie. The film also features a cross-dressing Leatherface, which many fans have praised for the inclusion of the character in a different light. Still,The Next Generationceases to reach its potential hype. Though the film has had mostly negative reviews, a few big-name critics in the horror world, like Joe Bob Briggs, have praised it for its uniqueness.
Related:Matthew McConaughey Reflects on His Crazy Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation Audition
The movie was just one of many new entries of slasher icons fizzling out in the 1990s, likeJason Goes To Hell,Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, andHalloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myerswhich made critics and audiences wonder if these icons had a place in the world anymore.
6The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
The 2006 installment serves as a prequel to the 2003 remake, which received a tremendous amount of attention. Much like previous sequels,The Beginningattempts to provide a deeper backstory into the creation of Leatherface. In this movie, the infamous deranged family changed from Sawyer to Hewitt, groom Thomas Hewitt to become the monstrous,chainsaw-wielding Leatherface. Similar to the 2003 remake, a group of friends is traveling through the dirt roads of Texas, unsuspecting of what’s to come. Despite best efforts, the movie failed to make fans happy, most of whom casted it aside as just another slasher movie with too much blood and gore and not enough plot.
While the movie sported a decent cast, including an unforgettable performance by R. Lee Ermey, its critical slaughtering speaks volumes.Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginningwas nominated for a Razzie in 2006 for Worst Prequel or Sequel and also saw a significant drop off at the box office compared to its predecessor, and the franchise would lay dormant for seven years until the release ofTexas Chainsaw 3Dwould restore the original series continuity.
5Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Once again wiping the slate clean of other sequels and prequels, David Blue Garcia’sTexas Chainsaw Massacrepicks up 50 years after the events of the first film by introducing a group of young entrepreneurs as they arrive in the small, abandoned town of Harlow, TX, with the goal to auction off its buildings and create a gentrified new vacation spot. Little do they know, they’re kicking an older Leatherface and his elderly mother out of their house, and awakening the dormant psychopath. This film is the most brutal and bloody in the franchise, but it isn’t without some severe plot holes and nonsensical scenes. The film garnered a lot of attention from the fans, but in the end was lost in the sea of modern slasher movies and failed to make its own identity.
Related:Texas Chainsaw Prequel Mystery Asks: Who Is Leatherface?
This movie is very much made as a way to cash in on the success of 2018’sHalloween, from the fact that it is a direct sequel that wipes away all previous continuity while using the same name to invoke the original and a return of the original’s film final girl. Yet while Jamie Lee Curtis did reprise her role as Laurie Strode in a new trilogy of Halloween movies, originalTexas Chainsaw Massacreactress Marilyn Burns passed away in 2014 so the role of Sally Hardesty is recast as Olwen Fouéré (Mandy) which sort of cheapens the character’s return. The new film has a lot of unlikeable characters and doesn’t really establish a strong “final” character.
Texas Chainsaw Massacrereviewshave come in conflicted among horror fans and currently stand at 30% on Rotten Tomatoes and was also overshadowed by the filmXwhich was released two months afterTexas Chainsaw Massacrewhich felt more like the original 1974 classic than the newest entry.
4Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
Under new directionfrom New Line Cinema, the third installment set out to recreate the franchise’s vision with a fresh spin. However, the lackluster reception by both audiences and critics stuck a knife in the resourceful sequel. Born on the cusp of the ’80s slasher genre entering the ’90s, the film attempts to borrow the slasher sub-genre methods to entertain a newer generation of horror fans.
Despite its below-average audience reception, the movie’s violent moments somehow provide a sense of unexplainable cinematic nostalgia. The third film in the franchise does a decent job of attempting to combine the terrifying moments from the first film with the comedic moments of the second film. However, it was a commercial failure at the time of release and fans of the original movies did not like this new addition at all. The film also sported a lesser-known role from Oscar-nominated actor Viggo Mortensen.
3The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
As far ashorror movie remakesgo, it’s hard to deny the cultural impact the 2003Texas Chainsaw Massacreremake made and kickstarted a new era of horror remakes for franchises likeHalloween,Friday the 13th, andA Nightmare on Elm Street. Led by an impressive performance from Jessica Biel, the plot follows a group of friends traveling to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert in Mexico. The young group, carefree and unbeknownst of a sadistic family, encounter the ruthless Leatherface, now meaner than ever. Set in 1973, the movie reminded the audience of the violent original classic in more ways than one.
Highlighted by the emergence of R. Lee Ermey’s Sheriff Hoyt, this installment remains one of the most beloved and financially successful installments. The re-imagination of the original film undoubtedly shines through an increased level of violent brutality, along with a healthy dose of memorable scenes, that include several meat hooks. Its visual aesthetic was grim, dirty, and unpleasant which was a sharp contrast to the striking clear visuals of the horror movies of the late 90s and early 2000s and was a shot in the arm to the genre the same way the original film was in 1974.
2The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Obviously, originals are difficult to ever replicate. However, Tobe Hooper’s enticing sequel gives it an impressive effort. More than a decade after the 1974 movie, Hooper returns with a colorful, dark comedy approach to a rather nightmarish narrative. If the original movie was known for its outlandish violence and gore, then this one became a fan favorite for being the movie that introduced the campy horror genre in this franchise. It even had a poster that was a parody of the beloved classic teen movieThe Breakfast Club,which was released in 1985. The over-the-top sequel features memorable performances by several actors playing key characters, with a creative script that helps to further cement its credibility as a stable follow-up to the original.
Discounting its mundane reception,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2has gained a staggering cult appreciation and certainly deserves a second look in the eyes of horror fans everywhere, especially with an appreciation toward Dennis Hopper and Caroline Williams.
A noteworthy mention also goes to the lost Texas Chainsaw movie,All American Massacre.The movie was supposed to release in 2000 but never saw the light of the day. It is said to have featuredChop Top,a beloved villain who was first seen inThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2and a sibling of Leatherface.
1The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The one that started it all and one of themost important horror films ever made. As far as horror audiences and renowned critics are concerned,The Texas Chain Saw Massacrecan never fully be replicated. Its authenticity as an eerie classic with memorable horror tropes constantly reminds fans why it’s often regarded as a recognizable staple. Hooper’s low-budget masterpiece beautifully captures the fear in uncomfortable and insane situations while blending careful cinematography with cannibal maniacs.
In the daunting originator, Leatherface and the rest of his family terrorize Sally Hardesty and her brother, along with their friends. Marilyn Burns' exceptional portrayal of Sally is still talked about to this day, and she is often listed as one of horror’s most resilient and iconic final girls.The Texas Chainsaw Massacrehelped create the prototype template for the slasher with Leatherface that Michael Myers would perfect four years later. Despite several influenced remakes and sequels, the 1974 movie will forever stand in its own remarkable spotlight.
