History Film / TheTexasChainsawMassacre

* ChooseYourOwnAdventure: An unusual example. After the 1974 original, the story branches into three separate [[AlternateContinuity Alternate Continuities]], giving the viewer the choice which direction to take it: 2, III, or 3D.

[[redirect:Franchise/TheTexasChainsawMassacre]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/texas-chainsaw-massacre.jpg]]
[-[[caption-width-right:300:Who will survive and what will be left of them?]]-]

Seminal slasher film by TobeHooper, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory based on the "true" story]] about a group of teenagers traveling through rural Texas, who happen upon a secluded old house inhabited by the world's most horrifying family -- in particular a disturbed young man with an interest in leather masks and amateur butchery.

Hooper initially took his inspiration from the real-life serial killer Ed Gein (who was also the inspiration for ''Film/{{Psycho}}'''s Norman Bates, and later for TheSilenceOfTheLambs' Buffalo Bill) and based the character Leatherface on him. It was produced on a budget of $140,000, and Hooper cast mainly unknown actors from the local Texan population. When it was completed, Hooper struggled to find a distributor, due to the graphic depictions of violence (although the film is not ''nearly'' as bloody as its reputation suggests.) The movie was ultimately rated R, instead of the PG rating Hooper had intended.

Followed by three sequels and a remake, which had a prequel. A seventh movie is currently in production.

The chainsaw as a murder weapon was iconic enough to be part of the HockeyMaskAndChainsaw trope.
----
!This franchise provides examples of:

* AssholeVictim: The obnoxious drunk idiots at the beginning of ''TCM 2'', Barry in ''The Next Generation'', and the meat plant owner and female biker in ''The Beginning''.
** Not to mention the obnoxious wheelchair bound guy in the first movie.
* AxCrazy: Leatherface and the rest of his family.
* {{Badass}}: Benny ([[TookALevelInBadass and later]] Michelle) in ''TCM III'', [[AwesomeMcCoolname Agent Baines]] in the Wildstorm comics.
** Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright from TCM II. After thirteen years of searching for for his niece and nephew's killers, [[spoiler: he finally confronts them in an epic chainsaw fight to the death.]]
* BackupTwin: Chop Top of ''TCM 2'' is apparently the twin brother of Nubbins from the original. Hank from the Wildstorm comics was confirmed (via WordOfGod) to be Sheriff Hoyt's twin brother.
* BarrierBustingBlow
* BerserkButton: In the remake series calling Leatherface a "freak" or "animal" is guaranteed to enrage him.
** Tex of ''TCM III'' hates being called by his real name - Eddie.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: Lets count Leatherface's relatives, [[LongList shall we?]]
** Original
*** Drayton, Nubbins, Grandpa and Grandma
** ''2''
*** Chop-Top
** ''TCM III''
*** Eddie, Alfredo, Tech, Mama and Little Girl
** ''Return/The Next Generation''
*** Vilmer, Darla, W.E. and Grandfather
** Remake
*** Luda Mae, Monty, Jedidiah, Henrietta, the Tea Lady and Charlie, Jr. (better known as Sheriff Winston Hoyt)
** Wildstorm Comics
*** Ezekiel, Shiloh, Hank, Adam, Cain, Abel, Connie Jean, Cal, Earl, Cain, Jr., Abel, Jr., Lyle, Clem, two unnamed brothers in ''Cut!'' and several other unnamed relatives in ''Raising Cain''.
** ''Jason vs. Leatherface''
*** Amelia, Emery and Velma.
* BloodlessCarnage: The original (for the most part), with ''The Next Generation'' being a near example.
* BodyHorror: In the second film, a character's face is cut off with an electric carving knife. '''WHILE HE'S STILL ALIVE!''' And he stays that way for several minutes.
** In the same film, Chop Top has an exposed metal plate, which he constantly picks at with a heated coat hanger, eating whatever skin gets caught on it.
** Rothman's abdominal mutilations in ''The Next Generation''.
* BoundAndGagged: Nearly every FinalGirl at some point.
* BroadStrokes: The loose connections between the sequels.
* TheCameo:
** Joe Bob Briggs had a deleted appearance in ''TCM 2'' as a victim.
** Kim Burns, who played the main character in ''TCM 2'', appears briefly as a reporter in ''TCM III''.
** Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain and John Dugan (Sally, Franklin and Grandpa from the first film) all appear briefly at the end of ''The Next Generation''.
** Harry Jay Knowles shows up as a severed head in the Hewitts' basement in the remake.
* BrokenHeel: Various instances. Notably, at one point in the remake, it's Leatherface who trips during the chase.
* CannibalClan
* CarFu: Nubbins gets crushed by a truck in the original, Vilmer [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill repeatedly]] runs Sean over in ''The Next Generation'' with his tow truck, and Leatherface gets (non-fatally) hit with a van in the Wildstorm comics.
** [[spoiler: Erin runs over Sheriff Hoyt [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill repeatedly]] in the remake.]]
* ChainsawGood: Oh, hell yeah.
* CoolMask: More "fear inspiring mask of madness" than cool.
* CorruptHick: Leatherface and his family. They are a BigScrewedUpFamily who are inbred, murdering, cannibals. At least one source implies that other people in the community know about the family's business, and will cover for them if an outsider tries to turn to them for help. Even though Texas is outside of Appalachia and the Ozarks, the community is supposed to be made up of hillbillies.
** Although it's probably less a matter of the locals wanting to cover up the depredations of the Hewitts because "they're one of us" or anything like that, and more a matter of grim survival. The locals turn a blind eye to the Hewitts slaughtering travelers and outsiders who won't be missed, and in return, they don't need to worry about their own loved ones (or themselves) being hacked up, brained, chainsawed or ground into chili.
* CreepyChild: Little Girl from ''TCM III'', and Jedidiah in the remake.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Played as straight as possible, especially in the first film.
* DeepSouth: In the form of TheSavageSouth.
* {{Determinator}}: Even after getting one of his arms cut off in the remake, Leatherface still tries to kill Erin.
** Leatherface continues fighting Lefty in the first sequel, even after he is impaled by a running chainsaw.
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters
* DirtyOldMan: Monty in the remake series.
* TheDitz: Heather in ''The Next Generation''.
* DomesticAbuser: Jenny's asshole stepfather in ''The Next Generation'', plus Vilmer had habit of smacking Darla around in the same film (though she's perfectly capable of hitting back).
* RedRightHand: Nubbins's facial birthmark, Chop Top's similar birthmark and exposed metal plate, Tinker's HookHand, Mama's electronic voice box, Alfredo's speech impediment and heterochromia, and Vilmer's bionic leg.
* DoomedByCanon: Any characters from the remake's prequel, and any from the comics set before the remake.
* DramaticUnmask: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Averted]] in ''TCM III'', and the remake (where the unmasking isn't dramatic, Leatherface just takes it off while making a new one).
** Subverted in the comic ''The Grind''. The main character escapes and survives, but is framed for the murders of her friends by the Hewitts, and is stuck in an insane asylum, where she spends her days freaking out and ranting about the inbred hicks who killed everyone.
* DropTheHammer: Leatherface arguably uses a sledgehammer as much as a chainsaw.
** Chop Top also brains somebody with a regular hammer several times.
* TheEndOrIsIt: Every film (except ''TCM 2'', probably) ends with Leatherface and a few relatives still alive. ''TCM III'' is the straightest example.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas
* EvilCripple: Mama in ''TCM III'', and Monty in the remake series.
* ExpandedUniverse: Various comics have been released, the bulk of them taking place in the remake universe and filling in the gaps there.
* FatAndSkinny: Henrietta and the Tea Lady from the remake series.
* FatBastard: The Tea Lady.
* TheFaceless: Leatherface only rarely appears without his mask, and even then his face is never given that much detail.
* FanDisservice: And ''how''. The remake and prequel protagonists are hot, half-dressed teenagers...that get cut up, hacked and doused in blood. Then eaten.
* {{Fanservice}}: The sweaty Jessica Biel wears such snug tank tops and jeans, which get wet often.
** Darla flashing her breasts in ''The Next Generation''.
* FinalGirl: Sally Hardesty, Vanita "Stretch" Brock, Michelle, Jenny, Erin Hardesty and Chrissie.
* {{Fingore}}: In the third film Tech has several of his fingers shot off by a burst of machine gun fire.
** The fingernail ripping scene from the remake.
** The finger slicing scene in the original.
*** Which was actually done for real, after the blood pumping machine broke.
* FlayingAlive: L.G. in ''TCM 2'', and Dean's arm in ''The Beginning''.
* {{Gorn}}
* GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Several people are sliced in half throughout the series, notable the aforementioned Morgan.
* HookHand: Tech in ''TCM III''. Leatherface gets one in comics set after the remake.
* ImAHumanitarian: It's implied very heavily that the family eat their victims.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice
* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: Sheriff Winston Hoyt was originally Charlie Hewitt, Jr. He killed the real sheriff and stole his identity and car.
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: There's a scene in the remake where the sadistic Sheriff Hoyt forces Morgan into sticking a gun in his mouth, under the pretense of reenacting a suicide committed earlier in the film; continually goading the obviously terrified Morgan (who doesn't know if the gun is loaded or not) into pulling the trigger Hoyt arrests him under the charge of attempted murder when Morgan tries to shoot him with the gun. [[MagnificentBastard Its implicated this was Hoyt's plan all along.]]
* LaughingMad: Sally at the end of the first film, and possibly Stretch at the end of ''TCM 2''.
* MadeOfPlasticine
* MalevolentMaskedMen
* MamaBear: Luda Mae Hewitt.
* ManOnFire: Tex in ''TCM III'', Heather in ''The Next Generation''.
* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: The family have habit of treating dead relatives as if they're still alive, going as far as turning Nubbins's corpse into a crude puppet in ''TCM 2''.
* MyCarHatesMe: Most of the time its due to them being trashed by the villains, not some malfunction.
* NeckSnap: Done by Vilmer in ''The Next Generation''. The Wildstorm comics had Luda Mae kill a girl this way.
* NewAgeRetroHippie: Chop Top in ''TCM 2'', and Tech in the ''Leatherface'' comics.
* NothingIsScarier
* NotSoHarmless: The minor relatives from the remake series are given more to do (rape, torture, kill, etc.) in the comics.
* {{Novelization}}: The remake had one and one (by the same author) was planned for ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'' but nothing came of it.
* OffWithHisHead: Surprisingly averted, though a severed and preserved head does show up in the remake.
* PeekABooCorpse
* PoliceAreUseless: Especially in the Bud's Pizza scene in ''The Next Generation''.
* PsychopathicManchild: Leatherface, and some of his relatives.
* TheQuisling: In the remake series the family abduct young children and raise them as their own.
* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: The second film and (maybe... possibly) the fourth are comedy horror.
* TheStoner: Morgan in the remake, Karla in the Wildstorm comics. Sean from ''The Next Generation'' was apparently supposed to be this, but his screentime is so minimal it's hard to really tell.
* SuperWindowJump: In the original and ''The Next Generation''.
* TortureCellar
* TheUnintelligible: Leatherface.
* VillainousCrossdresser: Leatherface in ''The Next Generation'', and briefly in the original film.
* TheVoiceless: Leatherface - the only times you hear him it's when he screams or grunts.
* WeaponOfChoice: Obvious.
----
!!Each film provides examples of:

!!!''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (1974)
* EvilLaugh: An entire sequence in the original film just has the family laughing maniacally at the bound Sally's expense.
* FollowTheLeader: The first film is often viewed as being a [[SlasherMovies "proto-slasher"]]
** Likewise the reboot is often credited as starting the recent trend of remaking classic horror films.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Purposefully invoked by Tobe Hooper in the first movie for when Pam is hung on the meathook. He was seeking to cut down violent content to try to get a better rating, so he opted not to show the impalement. Instead, he established her wearing a shirt with no back, emphasized the hook and showed splatters of blood in the room. As he said, "The mind fills in the gaps for you." Other scenes in the film, such as Franklin's murder, make use of this as well.
* SanitySlippage: Happened ''for real'' while filming the infamous dinner scene. The food rotted under the filming lights, and created a horrific smell, combined with the one scene filmed for 27 straight hours in 110 degree weather that it actually drove the actors a bit nuts; the DVD commentary has Gunnar Hansen eerily recounting how he genuinely wanted to kill Marilyn Burns for a few seconds after being ordered to by his "brother." Vietnam veteran Edwin Neal even describes it as worse than anything he went through during the war.
* TheSavageSouth: When everyone but the "outsider" is OK with the events in this film, we have a problem.
* SlasherSmile: The original Leatherface pulled this one. It's little hard to see thanks to the mask but if you look closely when he licks his teeth, you can see that he smirks while doing it.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: This story is actually an amalgamation of three different elements. The famed necrophile/not-quite-SerialKiller Ed Gein, the legendary Scottish cannibal Sawney Bean and his clan (who probably never really existed) and Tobe Hooper's fantasies of mowing down shoppers at K-Mart with a chainsaw while he was trapped in the hardware department by the crush of the holiday crowds.
* SquashedFlat: Nubbins at the end of the original.
* SubliminalAdvertising: A persistent urban legend is that the first movie's popularity was due to including subliminal messages telling viewers they loved the film.

!!!''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2''
* CircusOfFear: Texas Battle Land.
* DeadGuyPuppet: The hitchhiker from the first has become a dried-up husk of a corpse named Nubbins. At first, Leatherface wears Nubbins like a costume. And then later, Chop Top uses Nubbins as a puppet.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Leatherface licking his lips and making pelvic thrusts with his chainsaw in the general vicinity of Vanita's crotch.
* DualWielding: Lefty combats Leatherface with a chainsaw in each hand at the climax of the second film.
* EvilAlbino: Possibly Chop Top from ''TCM 2''.

!!!''Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III''
* AmbiguouslyGay: According to Viggo Mortensen, this is how he played Tex.
* CaliforniaDoubling: The third film actually was filmed in California.
* FocusGroupEnding: In the third film, [[spoiler:Benny improbably survives having his head shoved into Leatherface's chainsaw thanks to this.]]
* MotorMouth: Alfredo from ''TCM III''.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Sally Hardesty is mentioned as having died in the intro of the third film.
* SwampsAreEvil: Alfredo's is to dump bodies in the swamp.
* UnexplainedRecovery: Leatherface, if ''TCM III'' actually does follow ''TCM 2''.

!!!''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation''
* ArtificialLimbs: Vilmer's weird leg contraption in ''The Next Generation''.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: A character in the fourth film with whom the protagonists are involved in a car crash is credited as "I'm Not Hurt".
* GainaxEnding: It says a lot about the ending of ''Return''/''The Next Generation'' that [[spoiler:a plane suddenly flying down, killing Vilmer with its propeller and then vanishing again]] is one of the ''least'' objectionable things that happens.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: ''The Next Generation'' is on prom night.
* MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext: Even though it is regarded by the director (Kim Henkel, co-creator of the original TCM) as the "real" sequel to the first one (in the form of a semi-remake), many elements of this film make no sense whatsoever. [[spoiler: Among them are the facts that Leatherface is now apparently a transvestite, whose brother is a trucker with a self-made cybernetic leg, and the whole family belongs to the secret society known as the Illuminati (which, according to the film, planned JFK's assassination), which is run by the government, whose leader is shown to be somewhat alien in nature.]]
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: Whatever is controlling the family in ''The Next Generation''.
* RevengeOfTheSequel: ''The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (though its known as ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation'' in the United States).
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The grandfather in ''The Next Generation''.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: Vilmer in ''The Next Generation''. He [[LargeHam chews the scenery]] and gets almost all the kills (Leatherface is only responsible for one).
* TearOffYourFace: In the second movie, a character gets his face cut off with an electric carving knife.
* WickedCultured: W.E. in ''The Next Generation''.

!!!''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003)
* ActorAllusion: Sheriff Hoyt (portrayed by R. Lee Ermey) at one point calls Morgan "[[FullMetalJacket maggot]]".
* CatScare: A possum in the remake.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The grandfather in ''The Next Generation''. He appears in a few scenes, and during the dinner sequences he gets up, walks away from the table and out the front door, never to be seen or referenced to again.
** In the remake, Monty had a small dog that, after his introduction, never appears again, in either the films or comics.
* DrivenToSuicide: The hitchhiker in the remake.
* GilliganCut: Remake:
--> '''Pepper:''' Well, I'll tell you this much. There is no possible way I'm ever getting back in that van.
* GrievousBottleyHarm: Hoyt breaking a bottle into Morgan's face in the remake.
* GroinAttack: In the remake, Morgan is killed when Leatherface hangs him from a chandelier and saws him in half from the crotch upward.
** When Leatherface takes a swing at her in the meat locker later on, Erin manages to kick him in the balls.
* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom: The rambling traumatized hitchhiker in the remake, who commits suicide shortly after being found by the protagonists.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: Missing a leg and left hanging on a meat hook, Andy has Erin mercy kill him in the remake.
* MeaningfulEcho: When Erin is picked by the trucker near the end of the remake, she repeats nearly everything babbled by the deranged girl she and her friends had picked up earlier in the film.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: In the remake, family member Jedidiah was originally supposed to be killed by Leatherface for helping Erin and Morgan escape, but the scene was scrapped for being "too intense".

!!!''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning''
* AnArmAndALeg: When Monty's leg has to be amputated, Hoyt orders Leatherface to cut off both of his legs.
-->'''Luda Mae:''' What on earth didya do that for?
-->'''Sheriff Hoyt:''' You know, jus' to balance things out.
* BikerBabe: Alex.
* DangerTakesABackseat: End of ''The Beginning''.
* StartOfDarkness: ''The Beginning'', and going even further back, the comics ''About a Boy'' and ''Hoyt, By Himself''.

!!!AvatarPress comics
* AttemptedRape: The AvatarPress comics apparently liked this trope. In ''Special'' a serial rapist tries to have his way with the main character, but is killed mid-attempt when Leatherface impales him through the back with his chainsaw. In ''The Grind'', the main character is tied to a bed so Monty can have his way with her, but she gets an arm loose, punches him unconscious, and escapes.

!!!Topps comics
* IntercontinuityCrossover: The comic ''Jason vs. Leatherface''.
* VillainousIncest: Implied in ''Jason vs. Leatherface'', outright stated in ''Raising Cain'', another comic.

!!!Wildstorm comics
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer
* ADayInTheLimelight: Sheriff Hoyt from the remake series had his own one-shot comic - ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Hoyt, By Himself''.
* EvilChef: Drayton Sawyer, and "The Cook" in the comic ''Cut!''
* TownWithADarkSecret: The Wildstorm comics which act as a sequel to the remake reveal that the townspeople are fully aware of Leatherface and his family's murderous and cannibalistic tendencies, but don't do anything for fear of retribution.
----

* SanitySlippage: Happened ''for real'' while filming the infamous dinner scene. The food rotted under the filming lights, and created a horrific smell that actually drove the actors a bit nuts; the DVD commentary has Gunnar Hansen eerily recounting how he genuinely wanted to kill Marilyn Burns for a few seconds after being ordered to by his "brother." Vietnam veteran Edwin Neal even describes it as worse than anything he went through during the war.

(There is currently an effort to reorganize tropes into their respective sections. Any help would be much appreciated)

* ChainsawGood: Oh, hell yeah.

!!Original 1974 film

!!''TCSM [=II=]''

!!''Letaherface''

!!''The Next Generation''

!!Remake

--> '''Pepper:''' "Well, I'll tell you this much. There is no possible way I'm ever getting back in that van."

!!''TCSM: The Beginning''

-->'''Luda Mae''': "What on earth didya do that for?"
-->'''Sheriff Hoyt''': "You know, jus' to balance things out."

!!Wildstorm comics

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer

!!AvatarPress comics

----

* BackupTwin: Chop Top of ''TCM 2'' is apparently the twin brother of Nubbins from the original. Hank from the Wildstorm comics was confirmed (via WordOfGod) to be Sheriff Hoyt's twin brother.
* BodyHorror: In the second film, a character's face is cut off with an electric carving knife. '''WHILE HE'S STILL ALIVE!''' And he stays that way for several minutes.
** In the same film, Chop Top has an exposed metal plate, which he constantly picks at with a heated coat hanger, eating whatever skin gets caught on it.
** Rothman's abdominal mutilations in ''The Next Generation''.
* BoundAndGagged: Nearly every FinalGirl at some point.
* BroadStrokes: The loose connections between the sequels.
* CaliforniaDoubling: The third film actually was filmed in California.
* CatScare: A possum in the remake.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The grandfather in ''The Next Generation''. He appears in a few scenes, and during the dinner sequences he gets up, walks away from the table and out the front door, never to be seen or referenced to again.
** In the remake, Monty had a small dog that, after his introduction, never appears again, in either the films or comics.
* CoolMask: More "fear inspiring mask of madness" than cool.
* CorruptHick: Leatherface and his family. They are a BigScrewedUpFamily who are inbred, murdering, cannibals. At least one source implies that other people in the community know about the family's business, and will cover for them if an outsider tries to turn to them for help. Even though Texas is outside of Appalachia and the Ozarks, the community is supposed to be made up of hillbillies.
** Although it's probably less a matter of the locals wanting to cover up the depredations of the Hewitts because "they're one of us" or anything like that, and more a matter of grim survival. The locals turn a blind eye to the Hewitts slaughtering travelers and outsiders who won't be missed, and in return, they don't need to worry about their own loved ones (or themselves) being hacked up, brained, chainsawed or ground into chili.
* CreepyChild: Little Girl from ''TCM III'', and Jedidiah in the remake.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Played as straight as possible in the first film.
* DangerTakesABackseat: End of ''The Beginning''.

* {{Determinator}}: Even after getting one of his arms cut off in the remake Leatherface still tries to kill Erin.
** Leatherface continues fighting Lefty in the first sequel, even after he is impaled by a running chainsaw.
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters
* TheDitz: Heather in ''The Next Generation''.
* DomesticAbuser: Jenny's asshole stepfather in ''The Next Generation'', plus Vilmer had habit of smacking Darla around in the same film (though she's perfectly capable of hitting back).
* DoomedByCanon: Any characters from the remake's prequel, and any from the comics set before the remake.
** Subverted in the comic ''The Grind''. The main character escapes and survives, but is framed for the murders of her friends by the Hewitts, and is stuck in an insane asylum, where she spends her days freaking out and ranting about the inbred hicks who killed everyone.
* DramaticUnmask: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Averted]] in ''TCM III'', and the remake (where the unmasking isn't dramatic, Leatherface just takes it off while making a new one).
* DrivenToSuicide: The hitchhiker in the remake.
* DropTheHammer: Leatherface arguably uses a sledgehammer as much as a chainsaw.
** Chop Top also brains somebody with a regular hammer several times.
* DualWielding: Lefty combats Leatherface with a chainsaw in each hand at the climax of the second film.
* TheEndOrIsIt: Every film (except ''TCM 2'', probably) ends with Leatherface and a few relatives still alive. ''TCM III'' is the straightest example.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: A character in fourth film with whom the protagonists are involved in a car crash is credited as "I'm Not Hurt".
* EvilAlbino: Possibly Chop Top from ''TCM 2''.

* EvilCripple: Mama in ''TCM III'', and Monty in the remake series.
* EvilLaugh: An entire sequence in the original film just has the family laughing maniacally at the bound Sally's expense.
* ExpandedUniverse: Various comics have been released, the bulk of them taking place in the remake universe and filling in the gaps there.
* FatAndSkinny: Henrietta and the Tea Lady from the remake series.
* FatBastard: The Tea Lady.
* TheFaceless: Leatherface only rarely appears without his mask, and even then his face is never given that much detail.
* FanDisservice: And ''how''. The remake and prequel protagonists are hot, half-dressed teenagers...that get cut up, hacked and doused in blood. Then eaten.
* {{Fanservice}}: The sweaty Jessica Biel wears such snug tank tops and jeans, which get wet often.
** Darla flashing her breasts in ''The Next Generation''.
* FinalGirl: Sally Hardesty, Vanita "Stretch" Brock, Michelle, Jenny, Erin Hardesty and Chrissie.
* {{Fingore}}: In the third film Tech has several of his fingers shot off by a burst of machine gun fire.
** The fingernail ripping scene from the remake.
** The finger slicing scene in the original.
*** Which was actually done for real, after the blood pumping machine broke.
* FlayingAlive: L.G. in ''TCM 2'', and Dean's arm in ''The Beginning''.
* FocusGroupEnding: In the third film, [[spoiler:Benny improbably survives having his head shoved into Leatherface's chainsaw thanks to this.]]
* GainaxEnding: It says a lot about the ending of ''Return''/''The Next Generation'' that [[spoiler:a plane suddenly flying down, killing Vilmer with its propeller and then vanishing again]] is one of the ''least'' objectionable things that happens.
* {{Gorn}}
* GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath
* GrievousBottleyHarm: Hoyt breaking a bottle into Morgan's face in the remake.
* GroinAttack: In the remake Morgan is killed when Leatherface hangs him from a chandelier and saws him in half from the crotch upward.
** When Leatherface takes a swing at her in the meat locker later on, Erin manages to kick him in the balls.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Several people are sliced in half throughout the series, notable the aforementioned Morgan.
* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom: The rambling traumatized hitchhiker in the remake, who commits suicide shortly after being found by the protagonists.
* HookHand: Tech in ''TCM III''. Leatherface gets one in comics set after the remake.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: ''The Next Generation'' is on prom night.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: Missing a leg and left hanging on a meat hook, Andy has Erin mercy kill him in the remake.
* ImAHumanitarian: It's implied very heavily that the family eat their victims.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice
* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: Sheriff Winston Hoyt was originally Charlie Hewitt, Jr. He killed the real sheriff and stole his identity and car.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: The comic ''Jason vs. Leatherface''.
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: There's a scene in the remake where the sadistic Sheriff Hoyt forces Morgan into sticking a gun in his mouth, under the pretense of reenacting a suicide committed earlier in the film; continually goading the obviously terrified Morgan (who doesn't know if the gun is loaded or not) into pulling the trigger Hoyt arrests him under the charge of attempted murder when Morgan tries to shoot him with the gun. [[MagnificentBastard Its implicated this was Hoyt's plan all along.]]
* LaughingMad: Sally at the end of the first film, and possibly Stretch at the end of ''TCM 2''.
* MadeOfPlasticine
* MalevolentMaskedMen
* MamaBear: Luda Mae Hewitt.
* ManOnFire: Tex in ''TCM III'', Heather in ''The Next Generation''.
* MeaningfulEcho: When Erin is picked by the trucker near the end of the remake, she repeats nearly everything babbled by the deranged girl she and her friends had picked up earlier in the film.
* MotorMouth: Alfredo from ''TCM III''.
* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: The family have habit of treating dead relatives as if they're still alive, going as far as turning Nubbins's corpse into a crude puppet in ''TCM 2''.
* MyCarHatesMe: Most of the time its due to them being trashed by the villains, not some malfunction.
* NeckSnap: Done by Vilmer in ''The Next Generation''. The Wildstorm comics had Luda Mae kill a girl this way.
* NewAgeRetroHippie: Chop Top in ''TCM 2'', and Tech in the ''Leatherface'' comics.
* NothingIsScarier
* NotSoHarmless: The minor relatives from the remake series are given more to do (rape, torture, kill, etc.) in the comics.
* {{Novelization}}: The remake had one and one (by the same author) was planned for ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'' but nothing came of it.
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: Whatever is controlling the family in ''The Next Generation''.
* OffWithHisHead: Surprisingly averted, though a severed and preserved head does show up in the remake.
* PeekABooCorpse
* PoliceAreUseless: Especially in the Bud's Pizza scene in ''The Next Generation''.
* PsychopathicManchild: Leatherface, and some of his relatives.
* TheQuisling: In the remake series the family abduct young children and raise them as their own.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: In the remake family member Jedidiah was originally supposed to be killed by Leatherface for helping Erin and Morgan escape, but the scene was scrapped for being "too intense".
* RevengeOfTheSequel: ''The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (though its known as ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation'' in the United States).
* SanitySlippage: Happened ''for real'' while filming the infamous dinner scene. The food rotted under the filming lights, and created a horrific smell that actually drove the actors a bit nuts; the DVD commentary has Gunnar Hansen eerily recounting how he genuinely wanted to kill Marilyn Burns for a few seconds after being ordered to by his "brother." Vietnam veteran Edwin Neal even describes it as worse than anything he went through during the war.
* TheSavageSouth: When everyone but the "outsider" is OK with the events in this film, we have a problem.
* SquashedFlat: Nubbins at the end of the original.
* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: The second film and (maybe... possibly) the fourth are comedy horror.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: Vilmer in ''The Next Generation''. He [[LargeHam chews the scenery]] and gets almost all the kills (Leatherface is only responsible for one).
* StartOfDarkness: ''The Beginning'', and going even further back, the comics ''About a Boy'' and ''Hoyt, By Himself''.
* TheStoner: Morgan in the remake, Karla in the Wildstorm comics. Sean from ''The Next Generation'' was apparently supposed to be this, but his screentime is so minimal it's hard to really tell.
* SubliminalAdvertising: A persistent urban legend is that the first movie's popularity was due to including subliminal messages telling viewers they loved the film.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Sally Hardesty is mentioned as having died in the intro of the third film.
* SuperWindowJump: In the original and ''The Next Generation''.
* TearOffYourFace: In the second movie, a character gets his face cut off with an electric carving knife.
* TortureCellar

* UnexplainedRecovery: Leatherface, if ''TCM III'' actually does follow ''TCM 2''.
* VillainousCrossdresser: Leatherface in ''The Next Generation'', and briefly in the original film.
* VillainousIncest: Implied in ''Jason vs. Leatherface'', outright stated in ''Raising Cain'', another comic.
* WickedCultured: W.E. in ''The Next Generation''.

Hooper initially took his inspiration from the real-life serial killer Ed Gein (who was also the inspiration for ''{{Psycho}}'''s Norman Bates, and later for TheSilenceOfTheLambs' Buffalo Bill) and based the character Leatherface on him. It was produced on a budget of $140,000, and Hooper cast mainly unknown actors from the local Texan population. When it was completed, Hooper struggled to find a distributor, due to the graphic depictions of violence (although the film is not ''nearly'' as bloody as its reputation suggests.) The movie was ultimately rated R, instead of the PG rating Hooper had intended.

* MakesJustAsMuchSenseinContext: Even though it is regarded by the director (Kim Henkel, co-creator of the original TCM) as the "real" sequel to the first one (in the form of a semi-remake), many elements of this film make no sense whatsoever. [[spoiler: Among them are the facts that Leatherface is now apparently a transvestite, whose brother is a trucker with a self-made cybernetic leg, and the whole family belongs to the secret society known as the Illuminati (which, according to the film, planned JFK's assassination), which is run by the government, whose leader is shown to be somewhat alien in nature.]]

* MakesJustasMuchSenseinContext: Even though it is regarded by the director (Kim Henkel, co-creator of the original TCM) as the "real" sequel to the first one (in the form of a semi-remake), many elements of this film make no sense whatsoever. [[spoiler: Among them are the facts that Leatherface is now apparently a transvestite, whose brother is a trucker with a self-made cybernetic leg, and the whole family belongs to the secret society known as the Illuminati (which, according to the film, planned JFK's assassination), which is run by the government, whose leader is shown to be somewhat alien in nature.]]

* NeckSnap: Done by Vilmer in ''The Next Generation''. The Wildstorm comics had Luda Mae kill a girl this way; possibly HighOctaneNightmareFuel since it's shown entirely from the POV of the victim.

Followed by three sequels and a remake, which had a prequel.

* CircusOfFear: Texas Battle Land from ''TCM 2''.
* DeadGuyPuppet: In the sequel, the hitchhiker from the first has become a dried-up husk of a corpse named Nubbins. At first, Leatherface wears Nubbins like a costume. And then later, Chop Top uses Nubbins as a puppet.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Leatherface licking his lips and making pelvic thrusts with his chainsaw in the general vicinity of Vanita's crotch in ''TCM 2''.

!!''TCSM [=III=]''

* SwampsAreEvil:.

!!The Next Generation

* ArtificialLimbs: Vilmer's weird leg contraption in ''The Next Generation''.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The grandfather in ''The Next Generation''.

** Not to mention the obnoxious wheelchair bound guy in the first movie.
* AttemptedRape: The AvatarPress comics apparently liked this trope. In ''Special'' a serial rapist tries to have his way with the main character, but is killed mid-attempt when Leatherface impales him through the back with his chainsaw. In ''The Grind'', the main character is tied to a bed so Monty can have his way with her, but she gets an arm loose, punches him unconscious, and escapes.

* ArtificialLimbs: Vilmer's weird leg contraption in ''The Next Generation''.

* {{Badass}}: Benny ([[TookALevelInBadass and later]] Michelle) in ''TCM III'', [[AwesomeMcCoolname Agent Baines]] in the Wildstorm comics.
* BarrierBustingBlow
* BloodlessCarnage: The original (for the most part), with ''The Next Generation'' being a near example.

* BrokenHeel: Various instances. Notably, at one point in the remake, it's Leatherface who trips during the chase.

* DeadGuyPuppet: In the sequel, the hitchhiker from the first ine has become a dried-up husk of a corpse named Nubbins. At first, Leatherface wears Nubbins like a costume. And then later, Chop Top uses Nubbins as a puppet.

* DirtyOldMan: Monty in the remake series.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The grandfather in ''The Next Generation''.

* AxCrazy: Leatherface and the rest of his family.

* DeepSouth: In the form of TheSavageSouth.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Leatherface licking his lips and making pelvic thrusts with his chainsaw in the general vicinity of Vanita's crotch in ''TCM 2''.

* FollowTheLeader: The first film is often viewed as being a [[SlasherMovies "proto-slasher"]]
** Likewise the reboot is often credited as starting the recent trend of remaking classic horror films.

* GilliganCut: Remake:
--> '''Pepper:''' "Well, I'll tell you this much. There is no possible way I'm ever getting back in that van."

* GoryDiscretionShot: Purposefully invoked by Tobe Hooper in the first movie for when Pam is hung on the meathook. He was seeking to cut down violent content to try to get a better rating, so he opted not to show the impalement. Instead, he established her wearing a shirt with no back, emphasized the hook and showed splatters of blood in the room. As he said, "The mind fills in the gaps for you." Other scenes in the film, such as Franklin's murder, make use of this as well.

* RedRightHand: Nubbins's facial birthmark, Chop Top's similar birthmark and exposed metal plate, Tinker's HookHand, Mama's electronic voice box, Alfredo's speech impediment and heterochromia, and Vilmer's bionic leg.

* SwampsAreEvil: ''TCM III''.

!!TCSM 2

!!TCSM 3

!!TCSM: The Beginning

* AmbiguouslyGay: According to Viggo Mortensen, this is how he played Tex in ''TCM III''.
* AnArmAndALeg: When Monty's leg in ''The Beginning'' has to be amputated, Hoyt orders Leatherface to cut off both of his legs.
-->'''Luda Mae''': "What on earth didya do that for?"
-->'''Sheriff Hoyt''': "You know, jus' to balance things out."

* AssholeVictim: The obnoxious drunk idiots at the beginning of ''TCM 2'', Barry in ''The Next Generation'', and the meat plant owner and female biker in ''The Beginning''.

* BerserkButton: In the remake series calling Leatherface a "freak" or "animal" is guaranteed to enrage him.
** Tex of ''TCM III'' hates being called by his real name - Eddie.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: Lets count Leatherface's relatives, [[LongList shall we?]]
** Original
*** Drayton, Nubbins, Grandpa and Grandma
** ''2''
*** Chop-Top
** ''TCM III''
*** Eddie, Alfredo, Tech, Mama and Little Girl
** ''Return/The Next Generation''
*** Vilmer, Darla, W.E. and Grandfather
** Remake
*** Luda Mae, Monty, Jedidiah, Henrietta, the Tea Lady and Charlie, Jr. (better known as Sheriff Winston Hoyt)
** Wildstorm Comics
*** Ezekiel, Shiloh, Hank, Adam, Cain, Abel, Connie Jean, Cal, Earl, Cain, Jr., Abel, Jr., Lyle, Clem, two unnamed brothers in ''Cut!'' and several other unnamed relatives in ''Raising Cain''.
** ''Jason vs. Leatherface''
*** Amelia, Emery and Velma.
* BikerBabe: Alex from ''The Beginning''.

* TheCameo:
** Joe Bob Briggs had a deleted appearance in ''TCM 2'' as a victim.
** Kim Burns, who played the main character in ''TCM 2'', appears briefly as a reporter in ''TCM III''.
** Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain and John Dugan (Sally, Franklin and Grandpa from the first film) all appear briefly at the end of ''The Next Generation''.
** Harry Jay Knowles shows up as a severed head in the Hewitts' basement in the remake.
* CannibalClan
* ChainsawGood: Oh, hell yeah.
* CarFu: Nubbins gets crushed by a truck in the original, Vilmer [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill repeatedly]] runs Sean over in ''The Next Generation'' with his tow truck, and Leatherface gets (non-fatally) hit with a van in the Wildstorm comics.

* CircusOfFear: Texas Battle Land from ''TCM 2''.

!!Sequels
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: In the Wildstorm comics.
* ActorAllusion: Sheriff Hoyt (portrayed by R. Lee Ermey) at one point calls Morgan "[[FullMetalJacket maggot]]" in the remake.

* SlasherSmile: The original Leatherface pulled this one. It's little hard to see thanks to the mask but if you look closely when he licks his teeth, you can see that he smirks while doing it.

* TheUnintelligible: Leatherface.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: This story is actually an amalgamation of three different elements. The famed necrophile/not-quite-SerialKiller Ed Gein, the legendary Scottish cannibal Sawney Bean and his clan (who probably never really existed) and Tobe Hooper's fantasies of mowing down shoppers at K-Mart with a chainsaw while he was trapped in the hardware department by the crush of the holiday crowds.

* TheVoiceless: Leatherface - the only times you hear him it's when he screams or grunts.
* WeaponOfChoice: Obvious.

!!This franchise provides examples of:

!!This frnachise provides examples of:

* GoryDiscretionShot: Purposefully invoked by Tobe Hooper in the first movie for when Pam is hung on the meathook. He was seeking to cut down violent content to try to get a better rating, so he opted not to show the impalement. Instead, he established her wearing a shirt with no back, emphasized the hook and showed splatters of blood in the room. As he said, "The mind fills in the gaps for you."

* BloodlessCarnage: The original, with ''The Next Generation'' being a near example.

* FridgeHorror: Purposefully invoked by Tobe Hooper in the first movie for when Pam is hung on the meathook. He was seeking to cut down violent content to try to get a better rating, so he opted not to show the impalement. Instead, he established her wearing a shirt with no back, emphasized the hook and showed splatters of blood in the room. As he said, "The mind fills in the gaps for you."

* GoryDiscretionShot

* TwentyMinutesWithJerks

* DualWield: Lefty combats Leatherface with a chainsaw in each hand at the climax of the second film.

* IGotBetter: Leatherface, if ''TCM III'' actually does follow ''TCM 2''.

* OrIsIt: Every film (except ''TCM 2'', probably) ends with Leatherface and a few relatives still alive. ''TCM III'' is the straightest example.

* DeadGuyPuppet: In the sequel, the Hitchhiker from the first movie has become a dried-up husk of a corpse named Nubbins. At first, Leatherface wears Nubbins like a costume. And then later, Choptop uses Nubbins as a puppet.

* NeckSnap: Done by Vilmer in ''The Next Generation''. The Wildstorm comics had Luda Mae kill a girl this way; possibly HighOctaneNightmareFuel since its shown entirely from the POV of the victim.

* TheStoner: Morgan in the remake, Karla in the Wildstorm comics. Sean from ''The Next Generation'' was apparently supposed to be this, but his screentime is so minimal its hard to really tell.