The mask, the gore, the true crime inspirations—altogether, they make The Texas Chain Saw Massacre one of the best and most spine-chilling horror movies of all time.
Directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote the independent film with Kim Henkel, the slasher classic roared into theaters in October 1974 with its terrifying tale of Sally (Marilyn Burns), her brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) and their friends as they're terrorized at an old farmhouse by the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), said to be loosely based on the real-life murderer Ed Gein. And out of all of cinema's cold-blooded killers, from Ghostface to Hannibal Lector, none gave me the creeps growing up quite like Leatherface.
