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If you haven't watched The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, I highly recommend it! The original 1974 film is extremely well made for the budget and started a lot of tropes in modern horror.
I'll try to avoid spoilers for the most part. Unless the movie is ass then I'll tell you why its ass, in which case I'll put a spoiler warning.
#1: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The original movie is the best out of all the sequels and remakes- which is something you'll find most people agree on. Despite the budget and cast and crew not thinking it would actually end up in theaters, it's a beautiful mess of the mad and macabre. None of the movies following it have been able to reproduce the raw, real disaster it was. Most of the acting was real, and the conditions throughout filming were the real horror. The use of camera angles, set detail, and characters bring it all together. The amount of sweat, blood, and tears put into the production of this film isn't something seen in the other films. In my opinion, it's one of the best if not the best horror film ever produced. It feels real. Like you're actually there and it's really happening. They didn't use cheap sound effects for jumpscares, leaving you in a constant feeling of unease that doesn't ever leave.
10/10, the best in the franchise, should be the first you watch.
#2: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
A lot of people didn't like this film for a variety of reasons, but the main reason was the genre change. It's more of a dark comedy than it is a horror movie, and a lot of fans hated how unserious it was. If you like Leatherface however, it has good characterization between him and those around him and is very fun to watch. The set design is also very detailed and makes it very interesting! It was written and directed by Tobe Hooper, the writer and director of the first film, but he didn't want to direct the second but had to because of budget issues, and it does show at times how much he hated doing it. The ending is a good example of this. It falls apart into quite the nonsensical comedy and doesn't end on the strongest note and makes it feel like a dupe of the original, but the rest of the film is quite enjoyable.
9/10, my second favorite movie, must watch if you really like Leatherface and want to see more of him.
#3: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
You know it's not great when the director wants his name removed from the credits. This was the first movie in the series not produced by the original creators Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, so its not canon (thankfully). The third movie could have been good, but they added that one unnecessary part and derailed the whole thing in what I can only assume was an attempt to make Leatherface seem less human, but backfired.
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In the movie, they move Leatherface to live with his extended family in a different house, introducing a bunch of new family members which included a daughter. In the uncut version they outright tell you he assaulted one of the victims and his daughter was a product of that (The cut version alleges to it). Which was out of the blue and makes no fucking sense whatsoever- the original Sawyer family was sexually inept, and Leatherface was never that kind of monster. When I watched the movie it felt like that part was a page ripped out from a random book and glued in to the script. It just doesn't fit his character at all. Tobe Hooper never portrayed Leatherface sexually in the original film, which is the set in stone canon, and the most he did was in the second movie which was nothing more a joke meant to make the viewer laugh when he fucks the air with his chainsaw. Because it was a comedy. If anyone at all were to do something like that to the victims it would have been one of the new family members. Not Leatherface. But the main point was it was wholly unnecessary. I could go on all day about how out of canon and unnecessary that was but I digress.
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Aside from that, the movie itself was one of the better ones out of the rest of the franchise after the first two. They did their own take on Leatherface that was enjoyable, making him a bit more rebellious like a teenager. They had a funny scene where he gets frustrated as well that I really enjoyed. And the saw. The saw they made was beautiful!
5/10, could have been 6.5/10. Wouldn't recommend watching unless you plan to watch every movie in the franchise.
#4: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995)
Next Gen could have been good, just like part III, but it also had its own downfall. This one was produced by Tobe Hooper, so its a lot better than the other sequels and remakes because he actually knows what he's doing and how the characters operate, but it fell a bit flat. It seems to me he saw what Jeff Burr did with part III, said what the fuck, and came out with this after to sort of restore the legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
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The film was good aside from the family's motive for the killings being different. Originally they partook in cannibalism and murder to survive, because they'd lost their jobs and couldn't make a living anymore. The cannibalism kept them fed and The Cook made a few extra bucks selling it at his gas station. In Next Generation, the fucking illuminati are controlling the family and make them kill people. Tobe Hooper completely disregarded his own writing of the original in this film. Also the family dinner was pizza. Which is notable because it had green peppers and vegetables on it... might have even been a vegetarian pizza. In a family of cannibals? If they ate any kind of pizza it would be meat lovers, or even just pepperoni. But sure, maybe they went vegan. Or the deranged family decided they needed to eat fruits and vegetables too, because eating healthy is good for you and they suddenly care about that but not the state of the house or themselves.
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Aside from this weird plot point change, Hooper's inspiration from Ed Gein was much more apparent with Leatherface's dinner apparel, which was interesting to see. The movie was an enjoyable split between the original when it comes to set design and overall feel, and the comedy of the second movie. The new characters introduced were each very eccentric but it was enjoyably over the top. Also the stunts were good.
5/10, I'd say this one is tied with part III. Would recommend if you've got time to spare and liked both of Tobe Hoopers other TCM movies (1974 and 1986).
#5: Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)
Texas Chainsaw 3D was so bad it was good. The most notable issue was the timeline didn't line up. It takes place in 2012, and without spoiling it the main character should be 39 years old if that's the case, but she looks like a teenager. Like 19 at the oldest. And if she is a teenager like how she looks, supposedly taking place a good what, twenty years after 1974, its set in modern times? They have a 2012 modern superstore and things that shouldn't exist when the film takes place around 1994...?
With that being said, you don't take it seriously from the beginning so you enjoy it at bit more because its so stupid. They have some dumb lines all over the place that make no sense, like a character not from Texas saying "welcome to Texas, bitch," to Leatherface, who's from Texas, that just make you sigh and ask yourself why. The ending was the best part of the film in my opinion. I did think they wrapped it up considerably nice and it met my expectations after sitting through the mess the rest of the film was.
4/10, felt like someone's found family fanfiction got turned into a movie. Would recommend to watch it for shits and giggles if you're bored.
#6: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
The Beginning was the first of a two remake series, and was supposed to be a bit of an origin story for remake Leatherface. It showed him working at the slaughterhouse and it shutting down which was interesting, to say the least. After that it follows the main style of most of the Texas Chainsaw films, and was decent to watch.
My main issue is the disconnect from the franchise as a whole. I'm aware its a remake and its not supposed to be exact, but it just feels so off. I don't know what it is about it, but I'd almost say it feels uncanny? Maybe part of that is Leatherface's actors fault, I'm not sure. His performance was fine, but I can't look at Leatherface without feeling... disgust? Which in turn makes it hard to look at Leatherface and see the character, all I really saw was Andrew Bryniarski, the actor. I'd like to clarify I love Leatherface, and he's never disgusted me, but his actor certainly has, which makes it difficult for me to see the character. When I see Leatherface I think of Gunnar Hansen, the original Leatherface, but Andrew who plays him in this movie said some pretty awful things on Facebook about Gunnar when he died. Maybe it's that or there is something actually off about the movie, I can't tell. Just the way he carries himself as Leatherface seems out of character and ruins the movie for me.
?/10 on TCM rating, 6/10 as a standalone unaffiliated rating. I don't want to rate it since I feel biased but its just off. Would recommend to watch last, after all the other movies.
#7: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
This remake had the most terrifying mask out of all the movies, I will give it that. It was a good movie: the plot was good, it was paced well, the acting was fine. It just had the same issue as The Beginning: it doesn't feel like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. I still think it might be how evil Leatherface feels because of his actor. I really don't like his actor.
The weird disconnect is probably largely because its a remake, and it all just feels like it's in another timeline. Which is probably what they're going for but the most notable thing about it for me is that it feels weird. I don't really have much else that's notable to say, its a remake and part two for The Beginning.
?/10 on TCM rating, 5/10 on standalone unaffiliated rating. Would recommend watching after The Beginning if you've seen the original two already. If you do watch it let me know what you think and if there's that weird off feeling or if it's just me.
#8: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Everyone agrees this was a shitshow but it had a few good points, like the cinematography and the bus massacre scene. But it was really nothing more than a shitty Halloween dupe. They didn't even try to hide it: The actor from Halloween who plays the old woman who waits and waits for Michael to come so she can kill him... They casted her to play an older Sally. Who spends fifty years looking for Leatherface so she can kill him.
...Sounds familiar. But whatever, we'll ignore that for now, like they ignored the rest of the family and made the movie focused solely on Leatherface and the most fucking boring and unlikeable characters I think I've ever seen. They set so much up and just didn't use any of it. Like the main character was a victim of a school shooting, and they barely touch on it and don't use it to give her any depth. And the rest of the characters I couldn't even tell you what their specific issues are because they were boring enough my brain just forget everything and put them all in the "annoying" category.
The movie was so bad they shot it and decided it wasn't good so they reshot the whole thing, and the second version was so bad they didn't even try to do a theater release they just sent it straight to Netflix. Yikes. The only thing it had going for it was the bus scene and the relationship Leatherface had with the old woman at the orphanage.
2/10, wouldn't watch it again, wouldn't recommend, and they're making a second one that's most likely going to be him returning to the original house and the girl who got away comes back to kill him like Sally. I'm calling it. Watch.
#9: Leatherface (2017)
The origin story idea could have been good if they had done it properly, but they'd relied too heavily on a plot twist that was just so fucking confusing and wasn't a shock. You literally spent the whole movie trying to figure out who is who, and neither equation works.
I wouldn't flag this as spoilers because you figure it out almost instantly, but they switched Leatherface and his brothers appearance and everything around. So you think Leatherface, the originally giant of a man who is mentally stunted would be the fat, mentally stunted man, right? No that's his brother now apparently. And the guy who is skinny, who you think is his brother? That's Leatherface now. And he's got no mental issues like at all. The "plot twist" is that you think they're who you think they are, not who they fucked around and switched them to be, and its a horrible fucking twist that just confuses you. Even after watching it when I try to explain I still get turned around.
Point is its a waste of time. For an origin story that only connects to the 1974 movie, you'd think they link up but they don't, in every fucking way possible. It's just so bad you can't believe it. The only decent scenes come when you flip the characters around mentally to who they should be, but its not worth watching for those crumbs. I wish I could get my time back.
1/10 No comment.
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Anyways, now that you're at the bottom I have some fun facts for you.
The original movie, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), was registered in the American Box office as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, with the spelling of Chainsaw being two words. They abandoned the spelling in some of the promotional posters and all the following movies, but Chain Saw is the correct spelling.
The movie also had a few different names before The Texas Chain Saw Massacre;
Headcheese, as mentioned by the hitchhiker, made from the parts of a cows head. Leatherface, named after Leatherface. And lastly, my personal favorite: Saturn In Retrograde, taken from Pam, who reads everyone's fortunes in the car on the way to the Franklin House. The movie was supposed to have a lot more astrology symbology in it but a lot of that was cut.
Hooper decided on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre about a week pre production, and paid John Larroquette with a half smoked blunt to narrate the movie's prologue.
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