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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre IQ Score 112/200

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has an IQ Score of 112/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient rubric, placing it in the Competent tier.

horrorthriller
112/ 200
Competent

Engages without demanding much, watchable and reasonably crafted

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre poster, IQ Score 112/200, Competent tier on TV Intelligentsia

Score Breakdown

Legacy score. Published under our earlier workflow, before the current standard took effect in August 2026. A founder reviewed and approved it against our methodology, under a process that does not meet the standard we hold now. What this means →

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Cognitive Stimulation/50
31
Educational Value/50
13
Craft & Quality/50
44
IQ = round((Cognitive × 0.4 + Educational × 0.35 + Craft × 0.25) × 4)  · How we score →
What these dimensions mean
  • Cognitive Stimulation: observable narrative complexity, conceptual density, ambiguity, inference, and sustained intellectual demands in the work.
  • Educational Value: the density and integration of substantive academic, historical, scientific, cultural, ethical, or practical information in the work.
  • Craft & Quality: production excellence in service of the work, its direction, writing, performance, and aesthetic intent.

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Why you should trust this score

Scored under Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH
Physician and founding editor. Maintains the adult catalog against the published rubric and reviews the rubric application.
Formula
round((C × 0.40 + E × 0.35 + Q × 0.25) × 4)
Database scale
2,606 titles, version-controlled

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The TVI Take

Tobe Hooper's 1974 landmark treats horror as documentary. Daniel Pearl's grimy 16mm cinematography and the shrieking, industrial sound design build dread without gore, and the dinner-table sequence with the shrieking Sally remains one of cinema's most sustained nightmares.

Craft far outstrips cognitive or educational demand, but its influence on the genre is foundational.

People & Production Tobe Hooper · United States 19 connections

Direction & creation

Director

On screen & sound

Selected cast
Marilyn Burns Edwin Neal Gunnar Hansen Paul A. Partain Jim Siedow Allen DanzigerSelected in source order; not represented as billing order.
Composer
Cinematography

Production & release

Country of origin
Original language

Credits and relationships: Wikidata, CC0. TVI preserves production, broadcasting, and distribution as separate roles.

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Where to go next

Cite this score

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre scored 112/200 (Competent tier) on TV Intelligentsia's published methodology. Source: tvintelligentsia.com/titles/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre/

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