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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

R 83 min  -  Horror | Mystery | Thriller  -   1 October 1974 (USA)
7.5
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Ratings: 7.5/10 from 50,066 users   Metascore: 75/100 
Reviews: 742 user | 161 critic | 5 from Metacritic.com

Five friends visiting their grandpa's old house are hunted down and terrorized by a chainsaw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers:

Kim Henkel (story), Tobe Hooper (story)
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marilyn Burns Marilyn Burns ...
Allen Danziger Allen Danziger ...
Paul A. Partain Paul A. Partain ...
William Vail William Vail ...
Teri McMinn Teri McMinn ...
Pam (as Teri Mcminn)
Edwin Neal ...
Jim Siedow Jim Siedow ...
Gunnar Hansen ...
John Dugan John Dugan ...
Robert Courtin Robert Courtin ...
Window Washer
William Creamer William Creamer ...
Bearded Man
John Henry Faulk John Henry Faulk ...
Storyteller
Jerry Green Jerry Green ...
Cowboy
Ed Guinn Ed Guinn ...
Joe Bill Hogan Joe Bill Hogan ...
Drunk
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Storyline

En route to visit their grandfather's grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated), five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse, pick up (and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station, before ending up at the old family home... where they're plunged into a never-ending nightmare as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills... Written by Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Grandfather | Cannibal | Leatherface | Chainsaw | Hitchhiker  | See more »

Taglines:

It Really Happened. It's Terrifying. It's Here. [Australia, Video] See more »

Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Stalking Leatherface See more »

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$83,532 (estimated)

Gross:

$30,859,000 (USA)
See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vortex See more »
Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

 | Germany: (new longer Version)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's original distributor was Bryanston Distribution Company, in fact a Mafia front operated by Louis "Butchie" Peraino, who used the movie to launder profits he made from Deep Throat. In return, the production received only enough money to reimburse the investors and pay the cast and crew $405 a piece. The producers eventually discovered that Peraino had lied to them about the film's profits; after Peraino was arrested on obscenity charges when his role in Deep Throat was revealed, the cast and crew filed a suit against him and were awarded $25,000 each. New Line Cinema, which obtained the rights to "Chain Saw" from the bankrupt Bryanston, paid the cast and crew as part of the purchase agreement. See more »

Goofs

Continuity: The blood the hitchhiker smears on the van is gone in the long shot a few seconds later. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother, Franklin. It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But, had they lived very, very long lives...
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Connections

Referenced in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) See more »

Soundtracks

"WACO"
Timberline Rose
(Recorded at Hill on the Moon, Austin, TX., Engineer: Jim Inmon) See more »