Start with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Its sequels split into separate timelines: Part 2 (1986), Leatherface (1990) and The Next Generation (1995); then Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) and its prequel Leatherface (2017); then Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022). The 2003 remake and its prequel The Beginning (2006) are their own story.
- Titles
- 9
- Films
- 9
- Watch time
- 14 hours
- Box office
- $252 million
- Avg IMDb
- 5.3
Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies in release order
Here is every Texas Chainsaw Massacre title in the order it came out, 1974 to 2022: 9 films.
| # | Title | Year | Type | Runtime | IMDb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | 1974 | Film | 1h 23m | 7.4 |
| 2 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 | 1986 | Film | 1h 40m | 5.6 |
| 3 | Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III | 1990 | Film | 1h 21m | 5 |
| 4 | Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation | 1995 | Film | 1h 35m | 3.4 |
| 5 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | 2003 | Film | 1h 38m | 6.2 |
| 6 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning | 2006 | Film | 1h 31m | 5.8 |
| 7 | Texas Chainsaw 3D | 2013 | Film | 1h 32m | 4.8 |
| 8 | Leatherface | 2017 | Film | 1h 28m | 5 |
| 9 | Texas Chainsaw Massacre | 2022 | Film | 1h 23m | 4.7 |
Texas Chainsaw Massacre timeline: movies in chronological order
The same titles in story order, by when they take place, with the year or era each one is set in.
| # | Title | Set in | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | Rural Texas, 1973 | 1974 |
| 2 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 | Thirteen years later | 1986 |
| 3 | Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III | A new family | 1990 |
| 4 | Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation | Prom night | 1995 |
| 5 | Leatherface | Leatherface as a teenager | 2017 |
| 6 | Texas Chainsaw 3D | Right after the 1974 film | 2013 |
| 7 | Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Harlow, 50 years later | 2022 |
| 8 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning | 1969 | 2006 |
| 9 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | 1973, retold | 2003 |
Release or chronological: which order is best?
Release order and story order disagree on 5 titles here. In release order you start with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974); in story order you start with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, set in Rural Texas, 1973.
First time through, watch in release order. That is how the twists, returning characters and callbacks were built to land, and later entries assume you have seen the earlier ones. On a rewatch, try story order. It turns The Texas Chain Saw Massacre into one continuous story and makes the prequels play as setup instead of backstory.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre also runs 2 separate continuities: Sequels to 1974 and The remake. Each has its own line on the timeline, so you can watch them on their own without breaking the main story.
Where to start
Start with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and go in release order.
The whole thing is 14 hours. At two hours a night that is about 7 evenings.
The three highest rated: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (7.4), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (6.2), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (5.8).
Every Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, explained
One entry per title in release order: what it is about, why it matters to the bigger story, who is in it and how it did.
No. 01 · 1974 · Film · 1h 23m
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way, they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Why it matters: Five friends on a Texas road trip meet Leatherface and his family.
- Starring
- Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, and Paul A. Partain
- Director
- Tobe Hooper
- Box office
- $31 million
- Scores
- IMDb 7.4 · Rotten Tomatoes 85%
No. 02 · 1986 · Film · 1h 40m
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
A radio host is victimised by the notorious cannibal family while a former Texas Marshal hunts them.
Why it matters: A radio DJ and a vengeful lawman take on the family in their amusement park lair.
- Starring
- Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, and Jim Siedow
- Director
- Tobe Hooper
- Box office
- $8 million on a $5 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 5.6 · Rotten Tomatoes 53%
No. 03 · 1990 · Film · 1h 21m
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
Two college students driving coast to coast are lured off the main highway and onto a deserted Texas road where they are stalked by the menacing Leatherface and his family.
Why it matters: A couple lost on Texas back roads meet a new branch of the family.
- Starring
- Kate Hodge, Ken Foree, and R.A. Mihailoff
- Director
- Jeff Burr
- Box office
- $6 million on a $2 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 5 · Rotten Tomatoes 13%
No. 04 · 1995 · Film · 1h 35m
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
A group of teenagers get into a car crash in the Texas woods on prom night, and then wander into an old farmhouse that is home to Leatherface and his insane family of cannibalistic psychopaths.
Why it matters: Prom-night teens crash and meet Leatherface; early roles for Zellweger and McConaughey.
- Starring
- Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Jacks
- Director
- Kim Henkel
- Box office
- $0 million
- Scores
- IMDb 3.4 · Rotten Tomatoes 15%
No. 05 · 2003 · Film · 1h 38m · 9th in story order
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a chainsaw-wielding killer and his family of equally psychopathic killers.
Why it matters: The remake: five friends in 1973 Texas versus the Hewitt family.
- Starring
- Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, and Andrew Bryniarski
- Director
- Marcus Nispel
- Box office
- $107 million on a $10 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 6.2 · Rotten Tomatoes 37%
No. 06 · 2006 · Film · 1h 31m · 8th in story order
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
Chrissie and her friends set out on a road trip for a final fling before one is shipped off to Vietnam. Along the way, bikers harass the foursome and cause an accident that throws Chrissie from the vehicle. The lawman who arrives on the scene kills one of the bikers and brings Chrissie's friends to the Hewitt homestead, where young Leatherface is learning the tools of terror.
Why it matters: How Thomas Hewitt became Leatherface, in 1969; prequel to the 2003 remake.
- Starring
- Jordana Brewster, Taylor Handley, and Diora Baird
- Director
- Jonathan Liebesman
- Box office
- $51 million on a $16 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 5.8 · Rotten Tomatoes 16%
No. 07 · 2013 · Film · 1h 32m · 6th in story order
Texas Chainsaw 3D
A young woman learns that she has inherited a Texas estate from her deceased grandmother. After embarking on a road trip with friends to uncover her roots, she finds she is the sole owner of a lavish, isolated Victorian mansion. But her newfound wealth comes at a price as she stumbles upon a horror that awaits her in the mansion’s dank cellars.
Why it matters: A young woman inherits a house and learns Leatherface is her cousin.
- Starring
- Alexandra Daddario, Dan Yeager, and Trey Songz
- Director
- John Luessenhop
- Box office
- $47 million on a $20 million budget
- Scores
- IMDb 4.8 · Rotten Tomatoes 20%
No. 08 · 2017 · Film · 1h 28m · 5th in story order
Leatherface
A young nurse is kidnapped by a group of violent teens who escape from a mental hospital and take her on the road trip from hell. Pursued by an equally deranged lawman out for revenge, one of the teens is destined for tragedy and horrors that will destroy his mind, moulding him into a monster named Leatherface.
Why it matters: Teen Jedidiah Sawyer escapes an asylum and becomes Leatherface.
- Starring
- Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Grasse, and Sam Strike
- Director
- Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo
- Box office
- $1 million
- Scores
- IMDb 5 · Rotten Tomatoes 28%
No. 09 · 2022 · Film · 1h 23m · 7th in story order
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
After nearly 50 years of hiding, Leatherface returns to terrorize a group of idealistic influencers who accidentally disrupt his carefully shielded world in a remote Texas town.
Why it matters: Leatherface returns 50 years on, and Sally Hardesty is waiting for him.
- Starring
- Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, and Mark Burnham
- Director
- David Blue Garcia
- Scores
- IMDb 4.7 · Rotten Tomatoes 31%
Texas Chainsaw Massacre box office and budgets
The 8 Texas Chainsaw Massacre films with reported numbers have grossed $252 million worldwide on about $52 million in combined budgets, roughly 4.2 times what they cost. The biggest is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at $107 million, 43% of the franchise's total on its own, followed by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning ($51 million) and Texas Chainsaw 3D ($47 million).
Measured against what it cost, the best return belongs to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which made 11 times its $10 million budget. The weakest was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 at 1.8 times its $5 million budget. As a rule of thumb, a film needs about two and a half times its budget at the box office to cover marketing and the theaters' cut.
The best and worst rated Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies
Across 9 rated titles, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre averages 5.3 on IMDb. The top of the list is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at 7.4, then The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (6.2) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (5.8). At the bottom: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (3.4) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (4.7).
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre7.4 · RT 85%
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre6.2 · RT 37%
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning5.8 · RT 16%
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 25.6 · RT 53%
- Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III5 · RT 13%
- Leatherface5 · RT 28%
- Texas Chainsaw 3D4.8 · RT 20%
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre4.7 · RT 31%
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation3.4 · RT 15%
Who appears in the most Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies
Marilyn Burns leads with 2 appearances as Sally and Verna Carson, ahead of Jim Siedow (2) and Andrew Bryniarski (2). Counted from each title's top-billed cast.
| Actor | Role | Titles | First and latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marilyn Burns | Sally / Verna Carson | 2 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) to Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) |
| Jim Siedow | Old Man / Drayton Sawyer | 2 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) |
| Andrew Bryniarski | Thomas Hewitt / Leatherface | 2 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) |
| R. Lee Ermey | Sheriff Hoyt / Uncle Charlie Hewitt | 2 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) |
| Terrence Evans | Monty Hewitt | 2 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) |
| Marietta Marich | Luda Mae Hewitt | 2 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) |
Texas Chainsaw Massacre directors and creators
9 filmmakers have directed or created The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; Tobe Hooper has the most, with 2.
- Tobe HooperThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
- Jeff BurrLeatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
- Kim HenkelTexas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995)
- Marcus NispelThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
- Jonathan LiebesmanThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
- John LuessenhopTexas Chainsaw 3D (2013)
- Julien MauryLeatherface (2017)
- Alexandre BustilloLeatherface (2017)
- David Blue GarciaTexas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
How long it takes to watch every Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie
All 9 titles add up to 14 hours. That is about 7 two-hour evenings, or 2 days of ten-hour binges. The longest film is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 at 1h 40m.
The 4 best rated films: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
Everything takes about 2 weeks.
Track what you've watched on the timeline and it counts the hours left.
Upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies
- The Texas Chainsaw MassacreDate to be announced
Common questions
What order should I watch the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies in?
Start with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Its sequels split into separate timelines: Part 2 (1986), Leatherface (1990) and The Next Generation (1995); then Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) and its prequel Leatherface (2017); then Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022). The 2003 remake and its prequel The Beginning (2006) are their own story.
How many Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies and shows are there?
There are 9 titles in the The Texas Chain Saw Massacre franchise: 9 films and 0 series, released from 1974 to 2022. 1 more is announced: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
How long does it take to watch all the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies?
About 14 hours for all 9 titles, counting every episode.
What is the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre title in chronological order?
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, set in Rural Texas, 1973. In release order the first is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).
What is the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre release?
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, date to be announced.
What is the best Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie?
By IMDb score, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) at 7.4, followed by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at 6.2.
What is the highest-grossing Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie?
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), with $107 million worldwide. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre films have made $252 million in total.
Who has appeared in the most Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies?
Marilyn Burns, in 2 of them as Sally.
What is the longest Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie?
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, at 1h 40m.
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