when did the original texas chainsaw massacre come out
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 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 matinÃ©e and its false marketing as a "true story" helped it attract a broad audience.[44][45] For eight years after 1976, it was annually reissued to first-run theaters, promoted by full-page ads.[46] The film eventually grossed more than $30 million in the United States and Canada[47] ($14.4 million in rentals), making it the 12th highest-grossing film initially released in 1974, despite its minuscule budget.[48] Among independent films, it was overtaken in 1978 by John Carpenter's Halloween, which grossed $47 million.[49]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Critics later frequently praised both the film's aesthetic quality and its power. Observing that it managed to be "horrifying without being a bloodbath (you'll see more gore in a Steven Seagal film)", Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle called it "a backwoods masterpiece of fear and loathing".[79] TV Guide thought it was "intelligent" in its "bloodless depiction of violence",[80] while Anton Bitel felt the fact that it was banned in the United Kingdom was a tribute to its artistry. He pointed out how the quiet sense of foreboding at the beginning of the film grows, until the viewer experiences "a punishing assault on the senses".[81] In Hick Flicks: The Rise and Fall of Redneck Cinema, Scott Von Doviak commended its effective use of daylight shots, unusual among horror films, such as the sight of a corpse draped over a tombstone in the opening sequence.[82] Mike Emery of The Austin Chronicle praised the film's "subtle touches"—such as radio broadcasts heard in the background describing grisly murders around Texas—and said that what made it so dreadful was that it never strayed too far from potential reality.[83]