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Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn ... see more see more... , Gunnar Hansen , William Creamer , John Dugan , John Henry Faulk , John Larroquette , Jerry Lorenz , Edwin Neal , Jim Siedow , Allen Danzinger

Tobe Hooper's influential cult classic continues the subgenre of horror films based on the life and "career" of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, which began with Alfred Hitchcock's own influential cul... read more read more...t classic Psycho. When Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) hears that the Texas cemetery where her grandfather is buried has been vandalized, she gathers her wheelchair-bound brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) and several other friends together to see if grandpa's remains are still in one piece. While in the area, Sally and her friends decide to visit grandfather's old farmhouse. Unfortunately, a family of homicidal slaughterhouse workers who take their job home with them have taken over the house next door. Included amongst the brood is Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), a chainsaw-wielding human horror show who wears a face mask made out of human skin. Sally's friends are rapidly exterminated one-by-one by the next-door neighbors, leaving only Sally left to fight off Leatherface and his clan. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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78% liked it

178,141 ratings

Critics

90% liked it

42 critics

R, 1 hr. 23 min.

Directed by: Tobe Hooper

Release Date: October 1, 1974

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DVD Release Date: October 13, 1993

Stats: 8,613 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (8,613)

  • fb100002384654145
    April 27, 2012
    fb100002384654145
    It is not as bloody and shocking as the title may suggest, but "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is a competently-made chiller nonetheless. The plot is pretty basic and straightforward. Five teenagers are going to a weekend getaway home, and once they get their they are victimized ... read moreby a family of cannibals. The actors who play the teenagers are pretty bland, with the possible exception of the wheelchair guy, but the actors that play the maniac family steal the show. The dinner scene at the end is the ultimate high-point of the film. The edgy performances of the actors combined with the claustrophobic camera work is terrifying and chilling. The gritty low-budget settings give the movie charm and the realistic approach gives the film a documentary feel. The movie can get pretty slow at times but "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" still manages to be a rather entertaining piece of gritty 70's horror cinema.
  • aquateen2
    January 19, 2012
    aquateen2
    This movie is relentlessly disturbing and jaw droppingly shocking. No horror film in the history of cinema could be more unethically entertaining. Horror films today usually try to carry narrative's that make some sort of sense and its these storylines that always cause the film ... read moremakers to hit a brick wall and forget that they are trying to scare people out of their minds. The reason The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is so scary is because it carries no explanation for all these mad killings. Slasher film's should contain no character development in my opinion and this movie couldn't be more of a milestone of exploitational slasher horror even though barely any blood is seen. To sum up, the cult classic is a truly terrifying experience that draws you in as if you are there.
  • fb1664868775
    October 23, 2011
    fb1664868775
    This movie is so gritty and grimey, 70's classic.
  • DreamExtractor
    September 28, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    The Texas Chainsaw Massacre give you the chills just saying the title, because now after seeing it, I consider it one of the greatest horror films I have ever seen. What started as a simple slasher film created one of the most famous murderers in horror history, Leatherface. Th... read moree story is great, its simple and it creeps the crap out of you, and it is just like Halloween, cheesy and great. The cast is great too, the looks ontheir faces when dying are priceless, and they really help the film seal the deal. This film is bloody, scary, cheesy, and almost perfect in every way, and it started one of the most memorable and scary chase scenes in film history, I love Leatherface.
  • blkbomb
    September 10, 2011
    blkbomb
    Hitchhiker: You could have dinner with us... my brother makes good head cheese! You like head cheese? 

    "Who will survive and what will be left of them?"

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a brutal, disturbing, filthy, terrifying and disgusting film. It's one of those movies that m... read moreakes it hard to trust anyone in this world; especially hillbillies. This is one of the most effective and well done horror films ever done. It's a no nonsense look at the disturbing goings on in rural house. Leatherface, for good reason, is one of the more disturbing horror icons ever. Unlike Freddy and Jason, this villain is an all too real part of the world. The first time we see him snatch two of the friends is such a freaky scene, especially when he gets the man. Tobe Hooper just let's it play out. He doesn't throw in a heavy score at that moment for a jump scare. He knows how disturbing the scene is by itself and let's Leatherface do what he has to do. When he slams that big metal door shut and we hear a low droning score is easily one of my favorite horror movie moments. It's just so well done, it's ridiculous.

    When people say, "They don't make horror movies like they used to" this is what they are referring to. Now horror films are to worried about special effects and gore, which I do like too. It's just, given the choice, I'll take this over any modern gorefest. This is so raw without being gory. It manages to sicken the viewer without showing blood squirting out of mouths and intestines being pulled out. It's scary because its characters are so realistic. The only movie that comes close to this in the same kind of way that has been made in the last ten years is, The Devils Rejects. It had that same filthy, raw production value, just less effective and more bloody.

    For any horror fan, this is one of those movies that's impossible to not like. If you don't like it, you're not much of a fan. This is a movie that weeds out the posers. Without a doubt The Texas Chain Saw is Hooper's undisputed masterpiece, which is saying a lot because he has Poltergeist to his credit also. This is a movie that will live on as one of the greatest horror films ever made.

    In a way I love that this movie was remade because it got a lot of younger audiences interested enough to watch the original. That's a great thing too because The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a must watch, so watch it.

    Jerry: That's the last goddamn hitchhiker I ever pick up. 
  • fb100000673345931
    June 29, 2011
    fb100000673345931
    When I watch horror movies i don't really look forward to a well written story or character dev. since for a horror movie it's very rare. I didn't really expect it either with this movie, but after i was done watching I was really, really surprised. I was so surprised I couldn't ... read moreeven believe myself, so I immediately went to read reviews, then i couldn't believe my eyes. A horror movie with actual effort into it, it was a actually almost amazing. But, it still doesn't make it the best. But I hope I live to see the day of a great horror film.
  • fb100000040220993
    June 18, 2011
    fb100000040220993
    This is a brilliant piece of work, and one of the greatest horror movies ever produced. Tobe Hooper created an assault on the senses, as filthy as it is intense. The scenery and characters practically tug at your nostrils with the stench of death. The psychological torture tha... read moret becomes the dinner scene, sticks with me everytime I watch it. I can't promise you'll enjoy this. In modern horror movies, what you see is what you get. So hopefully, you're not desensitized to the film's greatness. I love it, probably always will. It's spot in history is secure.
  • garyX
    April 8, 2011
    garyX
    A group of friends on a road trip unwitting stumble into the lair of a chainsaw wielding psychopath. Celebrated as one of the all-time horror greats, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is more an exercise in the macabre than outright gore. In fact, there is very little in the way of blood a... read morend guts and the murders happen swiftly and without gruesome detail. The reason that this film is so unsettling is the way that Leatherface is so matter of fact about it all; despite the fact that his victims are pretty girls, he has no interest in molesting them in any way. They are just meat, pure and simple. He basically treats human life with no more respect or reverence than any other animals and the constant references to slaughterhouses and the furniture and trophies fashioned from bones of all kinds, animal and human indiscriminately mixed, highlight this fact. In a way it could be interpreted as the most militantly vegetarian film I've ever seen! Despite the low budget it's surprisingly well directed and it effectively cultivates an atmosphere of a disturbing world where the normal rules of society just don't apply. I personally felt it needed a bit more plot and dialogue to hang these themes upon and when the film degenerated into constant screaming and running around it got a lot less interesting. Still certainly worth seeing as a cornerstone of an entire genre but for me, Night Of The Living Dead was a far more complete package.
  • kenstachnik
    February 12, 2011
    kenstachnik
    Terrifying and hilarious!
  • sanjurosamurai
    January 15, 2011
    sanjurosamurai
    to think of this film as a typical horror/slasher film would be missing the point. far more, this film is a commentary on the obsurdety of much of the worlds criminal activity. this point is illustrated at the outset by the radio brodcast of the bizarre crimes across america th... read moreat was playing in the background when the story begins. the scene where leatherface chases sally was haunting and her entire ordeal is the greatest fear of anyone who realizes that those things really happen. the scene where grandpa tries to club sally is filled with great irony, it is a painful scene to watch yet it allows for the escape. in a usually weak genre of horror this is one of the few films with depth and purpose.

View All The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
September 19, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

The picture gets to you more through its intensity than its craft, but Hooper does have a talent. Full Review

Variety Staff
September 19, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

Despite the heavy doses of gore in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper's pic is well-made for an exploiter of its type. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 3, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie is some kind of weird, off-the-wall achievement. I can't imagine why anyone would want to make a movie like this, and yet it's well-made, well-acted, and all too effective. Full Review

Beth Pratt
January 1, 2011
Beth Pratt, Common Sense Media

Best for older teens and adults only. Full Review

Tom Coates
October 19, 2010
Tom Coates, BBC

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre doesn't try anything funny, there are no winks to the audience. And it's all the better because of it. Full Review

Stan Hall
March 20, 2009
Stan Hall, Oregonian

Artfully documentarylike and shot under conditions that produced genuinely traumatized performances, the original Massacre eschews cheap thrills and attacks the psyche. Full Review

Anton Bitel
November 6, 2008
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film

All these elements set the stage for some of the most prolonged scenes of sustained panic ever captured by cinema, as Hooper infects characters and viewers alike with the thrill of a madness from whic... Full Review

Dustin Putman
October 24, 2008
Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com

A cutthroat, unendingly bleak masterpiece of horror cinema. Full Review

Tim Brayton
June 1, 2008
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

It's a masterpiece, pure and simple..a smart young director summing up the basest instincts of his species. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
October 15, 2007
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Seeing this again recently has convinced me that it's quite a bit better than I initially judged. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Narrator: The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother, Franklin. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But, had they lived very, very long lives, they could not have expected nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that day. For them an idyllic summer afternoon drive became a nightmare. The events of that day were to lead to the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
    • Sally: [to The Cook] You're crazy! Please, you've got to make them stop.
    • Hitchhiker: [laughing and mocking Sally] He can't stop it. He's just a cook!
    • Old Man: [to the Hitchhiker] Shut up, you bitch hog!
    • Hitchhiker: Isn't that right? Me and Leatherface do all the work. You're just the cook.
    • Old Man: Shut your mouth! I just can't take no pleasure in killing. There's just some things you gotta do. Don't mean you have to like it.
    • Old Man: (yelling at the hitchhiker and Leatherface, as they taunt Sally) You don't need to torture the girl!
    • Hitchhiker: You just shut, remember you're just a cook! - (points to Leatherface. And me and him will handle this!
    • Old Man: Well get on with it. I won't have this.
    • Hitchhiker: (looks and smiles at Sally) We ain't in no hurry, cause you ain't going no place, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
    • Sally: (tied up on a chair, crying for the Old Man) You're crazy. You got to make them stop. Please.
    • Hitchhiker: He's nothing. He's just a cook.
    • Old Man: (mad at the hitchhiker) Shut up you bitch hog!
    • Hitchhiker: Me and Leaterface do all the work. He don't like it, ain't that right, You're just a cook!
    • Old Man: (yells) Shut your mouse! (sits down) You don't understand.
    • Hitchhiker: I understand you ain't nothing. (points to Leatherface). Me and him do all the work!
    • Old Man: Well I just can't take no pleasure in killing. There is, just some things you gotta do. Don't mean you have to like it.
    • Hitchhiker: (up in Sally's face, smiling, taunting her) You like this face?
    • Sally: (tied up on a chair, crying) Please. You can make them stop!
    • Hitchhiker: (in a mocking voice) No he can't.
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Trivia

  • Before he ever starred as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen played the effeminite murderer "Tex" in what horror movie sequel?  Answer »
  • an independent low-budget horror film classic made in 1973 (released in 1974) by director Tobe Hooper. It concerns a family of cannibals in Texas, who abduct customers from their gas station, and their attempts to cannibalize them.   Answer »
  • Which movie is inspired by the real-life serial killer Ed Gein?  Answer »
  • The film shows how Leatherface came to use the chainsaw as his weapon of choice, which one was it?  Answer »
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