The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 8, 2025

Arrow may be getting a bit of a jump on scary Halloween fare with this release and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning 4K, though of course a certain, well, slice of the general film loving demographic may not need an officially spooky holiday to pop a disc in the player. They say that "nothing succeeds like success", and this film was financially incredibly successful, though it might be also jokingly offered vis a vis the relentlessly graphic violence that unfolds in this film that a better aphorism might be something like "nothing succeeds like excess". The fact that the film did so well obviously inherently suggests it found a receptive audience, but those unprepared for the carnage on tap here would be best advised to steel themselves for some extremely gory imagery. As usual Arrow is offering lovers of a cult film a 4K disc with solid technical merits and a great array of supplements, including deleted scenes which like the main feature are presented in 4K and HDR (though no Dolby Vision that my player detected).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a 1080 release from home studio Warner Brothers back in 2009, and Martin Liebman's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Blu-ray review provides a plot summary, list of supplements and Marty's assessment of the technical presentation. I'm probably a bit less of a fan of the film than Marty and my overall score reflects that difference of opinion.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray, so these screenshots are taken directly from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate, and I recommend those interested to look at some of the screenshots in our The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Blu-ray review (as old as it is) for a probably better representation of the palette. Since this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet has the following information on the presentation:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) has been restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ration of 1.85:1 with 5.1, 7.1 and stereo audio.

The film is presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K / 16 bit resolution at Warner Brothers / Motion Picture Imaging.

The film was restored in 4K resolution and color graded at Duplitech.

All materials sourced for this new mater were made available by Warner Bros.

QC review was completed by Pixelogic.

Marty was generally pretty pleased with the now "ancient" 2009 1080 Blu-ray, but in just one minor if salient sign of improvements overall in this new version is the slight adjustment to correct the aspect ratio. This new 4K version can also offer what I'd consider to be above average increases in fine detail, sometimes even in rather dark lighting conditions. Marty in fact mentioned the sweaty and stubbly faces of the guys in the opening van sequence, but for again admittedly picayune but still illustrative examples of excellent fine detail renderings, pay attention to things like the light downy hair on Mike Vogel's upper arm (which is indeed sweaty). Another good example comes later when faces are seen through a screen door, and the resolution of the screen is flawless. The Dolby Vision and HDR grades may frankly not have a bunch to play with, so to speak, referencing again Marty's original comments about the kind of sickly and dowdy palette that's often on display. In that regard, that opening van scene and some later moments have an almost sepia undertone to the largely beige, gold and ochre hues. The muted palette is still muted here, but there are some interesting new highlights in green tones in particular, tones that actually tend to suffuse a lot of the material once the carnage gets underway. The increased resolution can make for some almost swampy going in the opening intentionally heavy grain of the "archival" black and white documentary footage, so maybe have some Dramamine handy, but otherwise grain resolves tightly. In perusing the IMDb I noticed several different stocks were utilized, and perhaps that can account at least in part for some slight variances in both grain structure and clarity levels.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The old Warner Brothers 1080 disc that Marty reviewed offered a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track that Marty really liked, and for those who were similarly impressed by that older track, the good news is this Arrow disc offers three nice options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that I suspect is pretty similar to the one on the old Warner Brothers disc, plus a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 option and a stereo track in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Marty detail some of the great effects on the "standard" 5.1 track, but one of the kind of surprising things I noticed in toggling between this disc's 7.1 and 5.1 options was the overall greater vibrancy in terms of both amplitude and spaciousness in the 7.1 version. I frankly don't always hear a ton of difference between 5.1 and 7.1 offerings, but here the midrange had more energy and some of the really nice directional effects, including some of the scary panning effects, are noticeably more vivid. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentaries

Commentary by Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton and Chris MacGibbon




The Production is an archival 2003 commentary featuring director Marcus Nispel, producer Michael Bay, executive producers Andrew Form & Brad Fuller and New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye




Technical Aspects is an archival 2003 commentary featuring director Marcus Nispel, cinematographer Daniel Pearl, production designer Greg Blair, art director Scott Gallagherk, sound editor Trevor Jolly and composer Steve Jablonsky.




The Story is an archival 2003 commentary featuring director Marcus Nispel, producer Micahel Bay, executive producers Andrew Form & Brad Fuller, Screenwriter Scott Kosar, and actors Jessica Biel, Erica Leerhsen, Eric Balfour, Jonathan Tucker, Mike Vogel & Andrew Bryniarski

• New Interviews

Reimagining a Classic with Marcus Nispel (HD; 16:25)




Shadows of Yesteryear with Daniel C. Pearl (HD; 16:54)




The Lost Leatherface (HD; 15:17) features Brett Wagner.




Masks and Massacres (HD; 18:09) features make-up effects artists Scott Stoddard.




Chainsaw Symphony (HD; 19:01) features composer Steve Jablonsky.

• Archive Extras

Chainsaw Redux: Making a Massacre (HD; 1:16:09)




Ed Gein: The Ghoul of Plainfield (HD; 24:17)




Severed Parts (HD; 16:42)




Screen Tests

Jessica Biel (HD; 3:24)




Eric Balfour (HD; 3:06)




Erica Leerhsen (HD; 00:47)

Cast and Crew Interviews (HD; 17:50)




Behind the Scenes (HD; 9:22)




Trailers

Michael Bay Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:31)




Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:21)

TV Spots (HD; 4:16)




Concept Art

Production Concept Art Gallery (HD)




Leatherface Concept Art Gallery (HD)

• Deleted Scenes (UHD; 9:33)


• Image Gallery (HD)

An insert booklet contains an essay by Michael Gingold, and this Limited Edition also features a reversible sleeve and double sided foldout poster. Packaging features a slipcover.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is obviously not an "easy" watch, but for those prepared to experience the trauma inflicted on these characters Arrow has delivered a 4K presentation with nice video and audio and a really impressive array of bonus features. With caveats for the queasier stomached noted, Recommended.