Viewing order · The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies in order
Nine films and four timelines, all of them starting from the same 1974 afternoon. Box office and continuity per Wikipedia.
By the Horror Planet editors · Updated November 9, 2026
Release order
| Year | Film | Director | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | Tobe Hooper | $30.9M |
| 1986 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 | Tobe Hooper | $8.0M |
| 1990 | Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III | Jeff Burr | $5.8M |
| 1995 | The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Kim Henkel | $0.19M |
| 2003 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Marcus Nispel | $107.4M |
| 2006 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning | Jonathan Liebesman | $51.8M |
| 2013 | Texas Chainsaw 3D | John Luessenhop | $47.3M |
| 2017 | Leatherface | Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo | $1.5M |
| 2022 | Texas Chainsaw Massacre | David Blue Garcia | Netflix |
The four timelines
| Timeline | Story order |
|---|---|
| Original | 1974, Part 2 (1986), Leatherface III (1990), The Return (1995) |
| Platinum Dunes remakes | The Beginning (2006), then The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) |
| Millennium | Leatherface (2017), then 1974, then Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) |
| Legendary | 1974, then Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), set 50 years later |
Every timeline except the remakes treats the 1974 film as canon, so you can start there and pick a branch (Wikipedia).
How we'd watch them
Watch the 1974 original first, ideally alone and late. Then Part 2, Tobe Hooper's own black-comedy answer to it. If you want a modern double bill, the 2003 remake is the strongest of the rest.
What's next: Curry Barker and A24
After a bidding war in 2025, A24 acquired the film and television rights in February 2026. On April 21, 2026, Curry Barker, the director of Obsession, was announced as writer and director of the tenth film. There is no release date yet (Wikipedia).