In Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Burns, in her first lead role, portrayed the heroine Sally Hardesty, a teenager who travels with her brother and some friends to the cemetery where her grandfather is buried to investigate reports of grave vandalism, and then encounters an insane, cannibalistic family including the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface. The film was a massive hit, becoming one of the most successful independent films ever at the time.