The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror franchise began with a clever means of political satire and exploitation. A low-budget independent film, the original 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, was shot entirely in Texas and utilized budding actors. Director, producer, and co-writer Tobe Hooper made a slasher ripe with clashes between counterculture and conservative viewpoints. He also marketed the movie as based on true events to reach a wider audience, with its iconic, unhinged, cannibal killer Leatherface being loosely based on serial killer Ed Gein. Another notable fact is the movie's lack of onscreen violence. This was due to budgetary constraints, the rating system, and the search for a willing distributor, but limitations gave rise to unspeakable horrors in the back of viewers' frightened minds. The franchise has evolved in remarkable and unbelievable ways, finding its next victims under a Texan sun, still on the run from its face-wearing, chainsaw-slashing murderer.
9 Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995) - Plane Stupid
The unceremonious deus ex machina in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is also the most convenient, if not the craziest kill in the series. Leatherface takes the backseat (familial abuse is a killer, too) while Matthew McConaughey as Vilmer, a tow truck driver, becomes the main antagonist. A subplot borrowed from Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, the band of sadistic killers aren't family, but lackeys working for the Illuminati. They scare civilians (half) to death in order to achieve an out-of-body experience, but all they got was a propellor blade to the face. Lucky plane got to fly away from this mess. At least the movie came in for a crash landing.
8 Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) - Tree Hugger
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III isn't much better than The Next Generation, but it makes more sense. The crazed killer strikes again with his cannibal family, preying on countryside drivers. Sara was an escapee who later runs into the main cast of characters. Her return is cut short when Leatherface carves their names into a tree.
7 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) - Crotch Shot
Morgan suffers a fate every man can relate to in the 2005 reboot, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As the group decreases in numbers, a handcuffed Morgan escapes with the last girl Erin, and they hide inside a shack. Both try to avoid making noise, but Erin is found by Leatherface. Morgan comes out of hiding to attack Leatherface, but the killer quickly hoists him up to hang on the chandelier. As he dangles, Morgan watches his manhood get pulverized.
6 Leatherface (2017) - Use Your Head
Elizabeth is a nurse who cares for troubled youths at the Gorman House Youth Reformery. A boy named Jackson develops an affinity for Elizabeth since the young people are not allowed to see visitors or their families for protection. One woman breaks this rule, causing a riot and leading to Jackson and Elizabeth running from crooked cops and unstable enemies. She learns Jackson's true identity and family name, but tries to win back his better nature. Elizabeth makes the mistake of mentioning his mother and Jackson decapitates her.
5 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) - Held Down, Cut Up
Holden is a member of a biker gang who gets entangled with an unfortunate group of teens. Leatherface and his family take advantage of the feuding parties, forcing Holden to split up and find their missing friends. He holds one family member at gunpoint until Leatherface throws him on top of his chainsaw. Holden is held down and cut straight up through his front to his back.
4 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) - Party Bus
For all its insensitive faults, modernized mundanity, and shoehorned Halloween reboot revenge subplot, Texas Chainsaw Massacre does give Leatherface a gruesome bloodbath, a first in the franchise. Young entrepreneurs plan to sell old properties to wealthy investors looking to develop the rural parts of Harlow, Texas. Resident Leatherface takes pride in his hometown and decides to cut the buyers a deal they couldn't cancel.
3 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) - Road Rage
Tobe Hooper would change the series forever in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 by using black comedy. Two drunk high schoolers, Buzz and Rick, are driving to a football game when they aggravate a pickup truck driver. As night falls, the truck from before catches up to them. Leatherface emerges from the truck bed, swinging his chainsaw at their car. He finally slices through metal at top speed while Buzz receives a splitting headache.
2 Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) - Half the Man
Kenny was making dinner without human flesh and died for it. Supporting his friend who travels to her deceased grandmother's house to collect her inheritance, he discovers a hidden room he believes to be a butler's pantry. Kenny descends its stairs, perhaps looking for more ingredients, only to find Leatherface impaling him on a meat hook to cut him in half.
1 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - Hooked
A classic kill in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is brutally and beautifully understated. Couple Kirk and Pam plan to have sex, but have to find gas for the group's car. Kirk decides to ask a nearby home to borrow some, but when he goes missing, Pam goes searching for him. She stumbles on a living room of death, furnished with animal and human bones. Leatherface catches Pam and impales her with a meat hook, forcing her to watch him cut off Kirk's limbs as she bleeds out and dies from shock.