Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 is set to release in theaters on February 18, 2022—for those looking to get caught up, here's the best order to watch or rewatch every entry in the franchise. Texas Chainsaw Massacre will be the ninth film in the almost five-decade-long horror series, following eight sequels, prequels, and remakes. This list isn't an exact science, as the Texas Chainsaw timeline is perplexing, not strictly linear, and many of the movies don’t directly relate to the 1974 original.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 is directed by David Blue Garcia, and will see Mark Burham in the role of Leatherface and Olwen Fouéré portraying the original final girl, Sally Hardesty, in addition to Eighth Grade's Elsie Fisher, Nell Hudson, Happy Death Day 2U's Sarah Yarkin, and Jacob Latimore. The film serves as a direct sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), effectively ignoring the other entries in the franchise.
The movies can be watched in order of their original release, but to follow consistency, the timeline needs to be broken up into three parts: the direct prequels and sequels, the production order, and finally the remakes and reboots. The first category creates a trilogy starting with Leatherface (2017), a prequel to the original film which provides a background to Leatherface's young adult life and shows how he resorted to cannibalism. Next is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), the film that started it all, followed by Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013), a direct sequel to the original.
After these, the subsequent films to watch are the following sequels, which are in production order: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995). These films don’t necessarily connect to the original, but they are enjoyable entries. The reboots and remakes are next. To keep up with consistency, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) should be watched first, as it's technically a prequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003).
Those who don't care about the timeline can always watch the films in production order: The Texas Chainsaw 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), and finally Leatherface (2017). If short on time, one really only needs to watch the original film, as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 is a direct sequel, but there is a specific order to watch every entry to keep up with the timeline.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre timeline can get confusing, similar to the Halloween franchise and other long-running series that have been rebooted and revisited over multiple decades. The timeline above is the best way to watch for real fans of horror who want to freshen up for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 reboot.