You survived rotary phones, dial-up internet, and the trauma of Faces of Death. Now it’s time to relive the ultimate grindhouse gut-punch of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in glorious 4K.

In the blood-spattered annals of cine-massacre history, few films punch you in the gut quite like Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a rusty chainsaw revving in your soul — loud, messy, and unapologetically raw. Every scratch, every grainy frame, every budget-induced imperfection works like duct tape on a haunted house: it holds the horror together and makes it feel real.

Let’s be honest — this isn’t the gorefest your younger cousin thinks it is after bingeing the remakes and playing the video game. The original isn’t about buckets of blood; it’s about dread. The kind of dread Gen X grew up with: Cold War anxiety, Reaganomics, and wondering if your Walkman batteries would last the bus ride.

Shot for less than the cost of a used Pinto in the sweltering Texas heat, Hooper’s film dropped in 1974 — the same year Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, and Young Frankenstein hit theaters. And yet, this little indie horror flick made audiences lose their minds. Even The Ramones wrote a song about it. That’s punk rock validation right there.

Critics? Mixed bag. Linda Gross wanted it banned. Roger Ebert gave it the ol’ “I’m conflicted” shrug. But for horror fans, it was our Citizen Kane. Leatherface didn’t just swing a chainsaw — he carved out a place in cinematic history.

Inspired by Ed Gein (because of course it was), Hooper’s tale of the Sawyer family — laid off from the slaughterhouse and now freelancing in murder — is a twisted slice of Americana. Sally and Franklin, along with their doomed Scooby-Doo crew, roll into town to check on Grandpa’s grave and end up picking up a hitchhiker who makes cutting yourself in public look like a casual Tuesday. Then Leatherface shows up, and it’s game over.

This film gave us the Final Girl. It gave us the masked killer. It gave us nightmares that smell like gasoline and sweat. And like Night of the Living Dead, it’s way smarter than it has any right to be. Vietnam metaphors? Animal cruelty allegories? Film students have been writing tortured essays about this for decades — and we love them for it.

Now, for those of us who wore out our VHS tapes and caught this gem on late-night cable between USA Up All Night and MonsterVision, the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray is a revelation. The Dark Sky Films edition is like seeing your favorite garage band remastered in Dolby Atmos. It’s still grimy, still terrifying, but now it sounds like Leatherface is revving his chainsaw in your living room.

So yeah — if you’re Gen X and still have a soft spot for horror that feels like a fever dream shot on expired film stock, this release is your jam. Fire up the Blu-ray, dim the lights, and let the chainsaw serenade you back to a time when horror was raw, weird, and unforgettable.

Shot in the blazing Texas heat and banned in more countries than your high school punk band, Tobe Hooper’s 1974 shocker redefined terror for a generation raised on Tang and transistor radios. Now restored in 4K, this SteelBook edition slices through the static and delivers the carnage in Dolby Atmos — because Leatherface deserves surround sound.

Limited Edition SteelBook 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Edition

Home Video Distributor: Dark Sky Pictures
Available on Blu-ray - February 28, 2023
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English
Audio:
Discs: 4K Ultra HD single-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free

Violent, confrontational, and shockingly realistic, director Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE terrified audiences in a way never thought possible when it was unleashed on a politically and socially tumultuous America in 1974. Facing a storm of controversy, censorship, and outcry throughout its troubled release, this masterpiece of horror has stood the test of time to become a landmark motion picture and cultural milestone.  Now, for the first time, Dark Sky Films proudly presents its director-approved 4K restoration of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE on UHD, bringing all the scares and the screams into terrifying focus and clarity, making for an immersive viewing experience you won’t forget. Whether a first-time viewer or long-term fan, this is THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE as you’ve never seen or heard it before.

VIDEO

Dark Sky Films’ new 4K, 5.1 sound restoration has been authorized by director Tobe Hooper and looks fantastic.  I have truly never seen this film look so engaging and crisp, yet somehow still looking fresh out of 1974.  The 4K restoration looks wonderful and does not overdue the processing like other Bluray releases of classic horror films.  The colors are just as dry yet vibrant as ever, but the restoration doesn’t take all of the grain and grimy-like tone of the film away. 

AUDIO

The sound – including the pig squeals and the chainsaw – is dynamic in 5.1.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• For this release, two brand new commentaries, one with Director Tobe Hooper himself, and one with Cinematographer Daniel Pearl (who also shot the remake), Editor J. Larry Carroll and Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou.  The commentaries are pretty entertaining.  Hooper is quite magnetic throughout.  He dispels rumors and tells secrets about the making of the film.  His writing partner, Kim Henkel, is also on the track.

Special Features:

Also packed into the set, are special features like Sean Clark’s Horror’s Hollowed Grounds episode for TCM, a blooper reel, brand new deleted scenes and outtakes, and the highlight of the special features for me: the couple of interviews with “Grandpa” John Dugan, production manager Ron Bozman, and J. Larry Carroll.  The Dugan interview is so much fun to watch, as he doesn’t do the typical holding back that people tend to do in interviews, he drops f-bombs left and right, gives hilarious and also endearing stories about the filming of the movie, and just really stands out.  If you’re a fan of Leatherface and his exploits, this is a set well worth the price.

• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (73 min)
• Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw (72 min)
• A Tour of the TCSM House with Gunnar Hansen (8 min)
• Off the Hook with Teri McMinn (17 min)
• The Business of Chain Saw: An Interview with Production Manager Ron Bozman (17 min)
• New Deleted Scenes & Outtakes (15 min)
• Grandpa's Tales: An Interview with John Dugan (16 min)
• Cutting Chain Saw: An Interview with Editor J. Larry Carroll (11 min)
• Deleted Scenes & Outtakes (26 min)
• Blooper Reel (2 min)
• Outtakes from "The Shocking Truth" (8 min)
• Horror's Hallowed Grounds: TCSM (20 min)
• Dr. W.E. Barnes Presents "Making Grandpa" (3 min)
• Still Gallery (2 min)
• Trailers: 40th Anniversary Trailer (6 min)
• TV & Radio Spots (1 min)

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 83 mins
Director: Tobe Hooper
Writer: Kim Henkel; Tobe Hooper
Cast: Marilyn Burns; Edwin Neal; Allen Danziger
Genre: Horror
Tagline: America's most bizarre and brutal crimes.
Memorable Movie Quote: "My family's always been in meat."
Theatrical Distributor: Bryanston Distributing
Official Site: https://darkskyfilms.com/film/texas-chainsaw-massacre/
Release Date: October 11, 1974
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: February 28, 2023.
Synopsis:

Violent, confrontational, and shockingly realistic, director Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE terrified audiences in a way never thought possible when it was unleashed on a politically and socially tumultuous America in 1974. Facing a storm of controversy, censorship, and outcry throughout its troubled release, this masterpiece of horror has stood the test of time to become a landmark motion picture and cultural milestone.