How to Watch ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Movies In Order

In 1974, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre premiered — a movie so shocking that it forever changed horror.

Made on an initial budget of just $60,000, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre follows a group of kids who run out of gas in rural Texas. When they approach a house looking for fuel, they’re greeted by the cannibalistic Sawyer family, who use their giant, mask-wearing, chainsaw-wielding son to hunt down their victims.

What’s even more disturbing is that the maniacal killer’s mask is made of human skin, giving him the nickname Leatherface among horror fans. The character was loosely inspired by Ed Gein, a real serial killer and grave robber from Wisconsin who dug up corpses and used their bones and skin to make everything from clothing to furniture and even silverware.

The original movie shocked audiences, and its low-budget aesthetic helped make the madness look even more grisly, macabre and real.

Since the first movie, there have been eight more films released in the franchise, and the chronology is complex. In fact, there are actually four chronological orders in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.

Here’s how to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise in order by release date and all four chronological orders.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Movies by Release Date

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995)The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)Leatherface (2017)Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

The Original Texas Chainsaw Massacre Movies in Chronological Order

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The original film from 1974 set the stage for the franchise and is credited by many for co-creating the modern slasher genre along with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

The 1986 sequel took the franchise in a whole new direction. Whereas the original movie was low-budget and had an amateur, homemade feel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 became a bombastic, larger-than-life spectacle.

In the sequel, Lt. Boude “Lefty” Enright has been trying to track down Leatherface for over a decade, and with the help of a radio DJ, he finally finds him. But the Sawyer family isn’t going down without a fight, and, this time, they’ve built a subterranean lair beneath an abandoned amusement park for their dark deeds.

The film leaned heavily into dark humor, giving it a wildly different vibe from the original. 

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III

In 1990, the third film hit theaters. Leatherface continued the story of the Sawyer family as they kidnap and kill travelers in rural Texas.

The movie was panned both by critics and audiences, and only grossed $5.8 million at the box office.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation 

Originally titled The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the fourth film was a wild, meta and campy romp following four teens who are driving along a rural road after prom and hit another motorist. Searching for help, they stumble upon Leatherface and his family.

The movie introduced two actors who became Hollywood stars shortly after the film was made: Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. 

The Early 2000s Reboot Movies in Chronological Order

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning 

In 2003, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre got a reboot, followed by a prequel in 2006. The Beginning sought to explain how the Sawyer family (renamed the Hewitt family in this new timeline) turned into the heartless cannibals they are.

The movie shows how the local slaughterhouse was the rural town’s only real source of employment, and when it closed, everyone left … except the Hewitts. Angry, resentful and financially struggling, the family ends up unleashing their rage and hunger on innocent victims. The film starred Jordana Brewster, Matt Bomer and Taylor Handley.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The 2003 reboot sought to retell the original story but modernized it for a new generation. With a massive budget, the new movie was also able to give the franchise a new level of cinematography, costuming and sound design it hadn’t seen before.

Just like the original film, a group of young people in the ’70s (including Jessica Biel and Jonathan Tucker) find themselves stalked by Leatherface in rural Texas. The movie grossed over $107 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing Texas Chainsaw movie to date. 

The Lionsgate Movies in Chronological Order

Leatherface

The third timeline began with 2013’s Texas Chainsaw 3D, but chronologically, that movie comes third. First up is 2017’s prequel Leatherface.

Originally slated to premiere in 2016, the film suffered numerous delays in production and release. It ended up being temporarily shelved, before it was released on video on demand and in select theaters.

The movie goes back to the beginning and shows the traumatic childhood that caused Leatherface to become a sadistic chainsaw-wielding killer. It serves as a prequel to the original 1974 movie.

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Texas Chainsaw 3D premiered in 2013, claiming it was a direct sequel to the 1974 film and ignoring all the films that came between.

In the movie, a young woman named Heather (Alexandra Daddario) learns that she’s actually adopted and her biological grandmother has died. She and her friends travel to a small Texas town to collect her inheritance … only to discover that Leatherface lives in the basement of her grandmother’s old house.

The 2022 Sequel

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Set in the modern day, this 2022 Netflix movie is (another) direct sequel to the original, ignoring every film that comes between.

The latest film in the Texas Chainsaw franchise reveals that Leatherface has been quietly living in an abandoned ghost town. But when a group of young developers arrives hoping to gentrify the town, Leatherface begins his killing spree yet again.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre received mixed reviews among both critics and fans.