Though it never spawned a selection of sequels as impressive as Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is heralded by horror fans as one of the most important films in the genre.
That said, while the story of the cannibalistic Sawyer family was more or less wrapped up in Toby Hooper's 1986 direct sequel, a new Texas Chainsaw film reintroducing famous final girl Sally Hardesty was recently released on Netflix, and those enamored by the new installment may harbor a morbid curiosity for more malicious media.
The Last House on the Left (1972)
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Directed by horror legend Wes Craven, 1972's The Last House on the Left is a gruesome and gritty tale of revenge. After a group of escaped prisoners torture and kill their daughter and her friend, Estelle and John Collingwood enact disturbing and visceral revenge.
Perverse and provocative, The Last House on the Left was initially panned by critics following its initial release. However, it was eventually recognized as an important part of '70s horror. Sharing the frighteningly realistic, low-grade documentary aesthetic of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, those who can never forget Sally Hardesty's tale of uncanny survival will want to check out The Last House on the Left.
Halloween (1978)
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After escaping from a psychiatric facility, familicidal killer Michael Myers is hellbent on slaying the promiscuous teens of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. However, his rampage is brought to an end by the cunning Laurie Strode and the quick-witted doctor Samuel Lumis.
Simplistic and evoking an eerie verisimilitude, Halloween brings about the point that horrors such as those perpetrated by Myers are very real and could happen to anyone. Just as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre thrived on realism, Halloween portrays its ghoulish events in a terrifyingly relatable light.
Psycho (1960)
Rent On Apple TV
Likely the most famous work of auteur horror director Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho tells the tale of Norman Bates, a strange man apparently compelled to kill at the behest of his wrathful mother. However, it's eventually revealed that Norman's obsession with his mother has manifested in a split personality, and, in actuality, his mother has been dead for some time.
Eerie and thrilling, Psycho relies heavily on a delicate psychological terror on which the viewer may only put a finger on once the film's secrets have been revealed. Similar to Texas Chainsaw, the horror here is about the realistic perversity of the characters.
The Devil's Rejects (2005)
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After their home is raided by state troopers, the Firefly family flees across a scorching Texas desert, all the while continuing their atrocious killing spree. Highlighting the sickening brutality of both the evil-doers and the so-called good guys, The Devil's Rejects is a gruesome ride throughout which there are new real heroes for whom to root.
A sequel to director Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses and the middle installment of his Firefly trilogy, The Devil's Rejects features a deranged family that feels very reminiscent of the Sawyers from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Those who enjoyed Toby Hooper's eventual sequel film will definitely want to check this out.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
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A twisted take on Dante's Divine Comedy, Lars von Trier's The House That Jack Built is a polarizing examination of the line between artistry and atrocity in horror filmmaking. Jack spends the movie attempting to contextualize his killings as works of high art that should grant him entrance to heaven, though he's the only one able to see things that way.
While its arthouse style and convoluted storytelling make for a wildly different watch when compared to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Von Trier's Dogme 95 philosophy, a movement that places a heavy emphasis on acting and theme, helps to evoke the same sense of morbid reality for which Texas Chainsaw is famous.
Black Christmas (1974)
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While 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is often celebrated as the premiere proto-slasher film, Black Christmas, which was released the same year, is perhaps more befitting of that title. When a mysterious killer sneaks into a sorority house, he begins methodically killing the occupants while making cryptic phone calls that hint at his motives.
Much like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas attained notoriety partly because of its brutal realism. With a very matter-of-fact presentation and a premise that could be mistaken for a macabre headline, it's every bit as stomach-churning as the more well-known Toby Hooper-directed film.
Split (2016)
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Mild-mannered Kevin Wendell Crumb seeks psychiatric help for his dissociative identity disorder by day, but, by night, he kidnaps women and prepares to feed them to "The Beast," one of his many alternate personas.
On the surface, Split, the second in director M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable series, has nothing to do with Toby Hooper's A Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But, upon closer inspection, there's a distinct similarity between the simultaneously protective and vicious Kevin Wendell Crumb and the violent yet victimized Leatherface. Both films hint at unnatural abilities stemming from acts of cannibalism, as well.
Friday the 13th (1980)
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Directly inspired by Halloween and a huge part of the slasher craze of the 1980s, Friday the 13th is the first installment in one of the most important horror series of all time. A seemingly-cursed summer camp is set to reopen after decades of abandonment, but, when the new camp counselors arrive, they're stalked by a vengeful murderer.
Featuring tons of teenage promiscuity, brutal kills, and a final girl surviving to tell the tale, Friday the 13th common genre tropes first established by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Saw (2004)
Stream On Starz
After waking up in a dilapidated bathroom, two men must work together to uncover the reason for their torment, though it will inevitably end in bloodshed. James Wan's 2004 hit Saw dared the squeamish to endure it and rubbed elbows with similarly notorious contemporaries such as Hostel and The Human Centipede.
In terms of narrative, Saw and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are almost entirely unrelated. However, both films are about unwitting characters forced to experience atrocities, and, though the latter is now considered to be relatively tame, both films were renowned for their depravity.
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
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When three go-go dancers embark on a whirlwind adventure across California, they encounter a family rumored to be sitting on a sizeable fortune. What follows is a tale of betrayal, debauchery, and massacre as the group vie for the hidden treasure.
A grindhouse cult classic, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! doesn't really qualify as a horror movie. However, its low-brow, gruff nature would pave the way for similar grindhouse productions like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's heavy on sex and light on gore, but its tale of tumultuous friendships and fiendish families feels not at all dissimilar to Toby Hooper's classic.