Editing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (section)

== Release ==
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' premiered in Austin, Texas, on October 1, 1974, almost a year after filming concluded. It screened nationally in the United States as a Saturday afternoon matinée and its false marketing as a "true story" helped it attract a broad audience.<ref>{{cite news |last=Savlov |first=Marc |title=''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' |newspaper=[[The Austin Chronicle]] |url=http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/austin/t/texaschainsawmass4.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711002506/http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/austin/t/texaschainsawmass4.html |archive-date= July 11, 2011|date=February 11, 1998 |access-date=August 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Aronzyk |first=Melissa |title=A New Texas Chainsaw to Fire Up Blood Lust |newspaper=[[Toronto Star|The Toronto Star]] |date=October 12, 2003}}</ref> For eight years after 1976, it was annually reissued to [[Movie theater#Programming|first-run]] theaters, promoted by full-page ads.<ref>[[#Bowen04|Bowen 2004, pp. 17–18]]</ref> The film eventually grossed more than $30 million in the United States and Canada<ref name="BOM">{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=texaschainsaw.htm |title=The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Box Office Mojo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807174257/https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=texaschainsaw.htm |archive-date=August 7, 2010 |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=August 23, 2012}}</ref> ($14.4 million in rentals), making it the [[1974 in film|12th-highest-grossing film]] initially released in 1974, despite its minuscule budget.<ref name="Cook">[[#Cook00|Cook 2000, p. 229]]</ref> Among independent films, it was overtaken in 1978 by [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[Halloween (1978 film)|Halloween]]'', which grossed $47 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=halloween.htm |title=Halloween (1978) - Box Office Mojo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606185615/https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=halloween.htm |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |work=Box Office Mojo |access-date=August 23, 2012}}</ref>

{{Quote box
| quote = ''The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother, Franklin. [...]''
| source = — The opening crawl falsely suggests that the film is based on true events, a conceit that contributed to its success.
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Hooper reportedly hoped that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) would give the complete, uncut [[release print]] a "PG" rating due to its minimal amount of visible gore.<ref>{{cite book |last=Russo |first=John |title=Making Movies: The Inside Guide to Independent Movie Production |publisher=Delacorte Press |isbn=978-0-385-29684-7 |year=1989 |page=[https://archive.org/details/makingmoviesinsi00russ/page/252 252] |url=https://archive.org/details/makingmoviesinsi00russ/page/252 }}</ref><ref>[[#Worland06|Worland 2006, p. 298]]</ref><ref>[[#Jaworzyn04|Jaworzyn 2004, p. 40]]</ref> Instead, it was originally rated "X". After several minutes were cut, it was resubmitted to the MPAA and received an "R" rating. A distributor restored the offending material, and at least one theater presented the full version under an "R".<ref>{{cite book |last=Vaughn |first=Stephen |title=Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-85258-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/freedomentertain0000vaug/page/58 58] |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomentertain0000vaug/page/58 }}</ref> In San Francisco, cinema-goers walked out of theaters in disgust<ref>{{cite news |title=The Perils of a 'Chainsaw' star |last=Murphy |first=Mary |page=F.13 |date=November 20, 1974|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> and in February 1976, two theaters in Ottawa, Canada, were advised by local police to withdraw the film lest they face morality charges.<ref>{{cite news |last=Henry |first=Sarah |title=Mordbid 'Massacre' pulled off screen |newspaper=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |date=February 12, 1976|page=3 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=QBJtjoHflPwC&dat=19760212&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=August 23, 2012}}</ref>

After its initial British release, including a one-year theatrical run in London,<ref name="Bowen 2004, p. 18">[[#Bowen04|Bowen 2004, p. 18]]</ref> ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' was initially banned on the advice of [[British Board of Film Classification|British Board of Film Censors]] (BBFC) Secretary Stephen Murphy, and subsequently by his successor, [[James Ferman]].<ref name="SBBFC">{{cite web|url=http://www.sbbfc.co.uk/CaseStudies/The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre |title=Case Study: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre |publisher=British Board of Film Classification |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019155715/http://www.sbbfc.co.uk/CaseStudies/The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre |archive-date=October 19, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/c2fb077ba3f9b33980256b4f002da32c/86714a632d6e4788802566c8003266b7?OpenDocument |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320100021/https://bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/c2fb077ba3f9b33980256b4f002da32c/86714a632d6e4788802566c8003266b7?OpenDocument |archive-date=March 20, 2012 |title=Texas Chainsaw Massacre Rejected by the BBFC |date=March 12, 1975 |publisher=British Board of Film Classification |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> While the British ban was in force the word "chainsaw" itself was barred from movie titles, forcing imitators to rename their films.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Diannah |last2=Gaskell |first2=Ed |title=Creative titling with Final Cut Pro |publisher=The Ilex Press Ltd |year=2004 |edition=illustrated |page=22 |isbn=978-1-904705-15-4}}</ref> In 1998, despite the BBFC ban, [[Camden London Borough Council]] granted the film a license.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/mar/13/filmcensorship.seanclarke |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207104312/http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2002/mar/13/filmcensorship.seanclarke |archive-date=February 7, 2011 |title=Explained: Film censorship in the UK |last=Clarke |first=Sean |date=March 13, 2002 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The following year the BBFC passed ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' uncut for release with an [[18 (British Board of Film Classification)|18 certificate]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre | title=The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | date=August 3, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/298009.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822141440/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/298009.stm |archive-date=August 22, 2010 |date=March 16, 1999 |title=Entertainment: Texas Chainsaw Massacre released uncut |work=[[BBC News Online]] |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and it was broadcast a year later on [[Channel 4]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/974619.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107215207/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/974619.stm |archive-date=January 7, 2013 |title=Screen 'video nasty' hits Channel 4 |date=October 16, 2000 |work=BBC News Online |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Egan |first=Kate |title=Trash or Treasure?: Censorship and the Changing Meanings of the Video Nasties |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2008 |edition=illustrated |page=243 |isbn=978-0-7190-7232-1}}</ref>

When the 83-minute version of the film was submitted to the  [[Australian Classification Board]] by distributor [[Seven Keys (company)|Seven Keys]] in June 1975, the Board denied the film a classification,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/904868623909466eca257671007b1284?OpenDocument |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305163124/http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/904868623909466eca257671007b1284?OpenDocument |date=June 1, 1975 |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Review 1) |publisher=[[Australian Classification Board]] |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and similarly refused classification of a 77-minute print in December that year.<ref name="OFLC">{{cite web|url=http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/663d0ec037aa8a32ca2576710079f4f2?OpenDocument |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305163132/http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/663d0ec037aa8a32ca2576710079f4f2?OpenDocument |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Review 2) |date=December 12, 1975 |publisher=Australian Classification Board |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1981, the 83-minute version submitted by [[Greater Union|Greater Union Film Distributors]] was again refused registration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/ee6070a48804edd5ca257671007a6260?OpenDocument 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305163146/http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/ee6070a48804edd5ca257671007a6260?OpenDocument
 |archive-date=March 5, 2012
 |date=July 1, 1981 
 |title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Review 3) 
 |publisher=Australian Classification Board 
 |access-date=August 23, 2012 
 |url-status=dead
}}</ref> It was later submitted by Filmways Australasian Distributors and approved for an "R" rating in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/72350d5bf418f476ca2576710078cde6?OpenDocument |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305163156/http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/72350d5bf418f476ca2576710078cde6?OpenDocument |date=January 1, 1984 |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Review 4) |publisher=Australian Classification Board |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Australia Parliament |title=Parliamentary Debates, Senate Weekly Hansard |publisher=Australian Authority |year=1984 |page=776}}</ref> It was [[List of banned films|banned for periods in many other countries]], including Brazil, Chile, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and West Germany.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/banned-the-most-controversial-films-1768299.html?action=gallery&ino=2 |last=Davis |first=Laura |date=October 5, 2010 |title=The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616162622/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/banned-the-most-controversial-films-1768299.html?action=Gallery&ino=2 |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |access-date=August 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[[#Chibnall02|Chibnall 2002, p. 16]]</ref><ref>[[#Bloom04|Bloom 2004, p. 7]]</ref> In Sweden, it would also symbolize a [[video nasty]], a discussed topic at the time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/film/a/On8Wql/succe-for-ny-massaker|title=Succé för ny massaker|work=[[Aftonbladet]]|language=sv|first=Annika|last=Johansson|date=October 22, 2003|access-date=June 15, 2018}}</ref>

The film was released in 2021 in Australia and 2024 in Russia, grossing $36,879 at the international box office.<ref name="The Texas Chain Saw Massacre">{{Cite web |title=The Texas Chain Saw Massacre |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0072271/ |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Техасская резня бензопилой, кинопрокат – ИНОЕКИНО |url=https://inoekino.com/distribution/TexasChainSawMassacre |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=inoekino.com |language=ru}}</ref> It grossed $2.5 million in Blu-Ray home sales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre-The-(1974) |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=The Numbers}}</ref>