The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
85%RT Audience Score: 82%
Awards & Nominations: 4 wins & 17 nominations
Thanks to a smart script and documentary-style camerawork, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre achieves start-to-finish suspense, making it a classic in low-budget exploitation cinema
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a movie that will have you on the edge of your seat, or maybe even hiding behind it. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’re a horror fan, it’s a must-watch. Leatherface is one of the most iconic horror villains of all time, and this movie is a big reason why. Just be prepared to never look at a chainsaw the same way again.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
New Line Cinema, Pioneer Entertainment
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Taylor, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, language and drug content
Year of Release
2003
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 23m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 1, 1974 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 26, 2006
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $107,363,905
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $174,023,120
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 771
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 18,977,439
US/Canada gross: $80,571,655
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $130,596,319
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 584
US/Canada opening weekend: $29,100,000
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $47,167,368
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 256
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $9,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $15,398,282
Production budget ranking: 1,501
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $8,291,975
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $150,332,864
ROI to date (est.): 635%
ROI ranking: 196
Marilyn Burns – Sally Hardesty
Gunnar Hansen – Leatherface, Bubba Sawyer, Jr.
Allen Danziger – Jerry
Paul A. Partain – Franklin Hardesty
William Vail – Kirk
Teri McMinn – Pam
Director(s)
Tobe Hooper
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Tobe Hooper
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
4 wins & 17 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (64) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (7)
This movie is nothing but an exercise in tension. Grotesque, looming, filthy tension — and on that count, the film works extremely well.
October 9, 2020 | Rating: A-
Chris Stuckmann
ChrisStuckmann.com
TOP CRITIC
Morally retrograde it may be, but then so are nightmares. The point is that this one, though often crude and raw, really leads the imagination. What also works in its favour is that it doesn’t pretend to do anything more than scare the pants off you.
April 7, 2015
Derek Malcolm
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
This abattoir of a movie boasts sledgehammers, meathooks and chainsaws, and the result, though not especially visceral, is noisy, relentless, and about as subtle as having your leg sawed off without anaesthetic.
October 14, 2014
Chris Peachment
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
As disgusting, harrowing, and ugly as the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is, the film has moments of eerie beauty.
September 22, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Noel Murray
The Dissolve
TOP CRITIC
Chainsaw-wielding Leatherface remains one of the most disturbing characters in horror.
October 9, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Sophie Morris
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
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.
October 19, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Tom Coates
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a horror classic, not only beloved by many horrific cinephiles but is a lasting inspiration for the horrific filmmakers that followed.
March 5, 2022
Stephanie Archer
Film Inquiry
TCM is a remarkable albeit macabre cinematic achievement, a film that feels as hot, smelly, and horrible as Sally’s (Marilyn Burns) terror would lead us to believe it was…
April 14, 2021
Jim Rohner
Battleship Pretension
Time and pained effort was put into creating a terrifying film that doesn’t shirk away from distinct characters, with actors giving performances that remain markedly above the caliber we’re used to seeing in a variety of knock-offs.
November 3, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
One of the most outrageously terrifying movies ever made.
August 31, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A movie that goes a lot deeper than just a maniac with a chainsaw, and more political than many may realize.
December 3, 2018
Chauncey K. Robinson
The Twisted Girl Next Door
One of the best horror films I’ve seen, since it picks up the trend at that time and expresses it to the maximum to offer us a title that still holds its full strength. [Full review in Spanish]
August 28, 2017
Mikel Zorrilla
Espinof…
Plot
Driving through the backwoods of Texas, five youths pick up a traumatized hitchhiker, who shoots herself in their van. Shaken by the suicide, the group seeks help from the locals, but their situation becomes even more surreal when they knock on the door of a remote homestead. It’s quickly apparent the residents are a family of inbred psychopaths, and the unlucky youths suddenly find themselves running for their lives. In hot pursuit is a disfigured, chainsaw-wielding cannibal known as Leatherface.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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