Bryanston Distributing Company released The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in the United States on 11 October 1974.

This was unfortunate for the filmmakers, Bryanston, mostly due to incompetence, squandered the vast majority of profits. As I recall, Gunnar Hansen only ended up with a couple of thousand dollars. But such is the business of filmmaking. It ain’t pretty.

The film went on to spawn at least 8 other films. Most of them marginally successful. But they really don’t make a lot of sense. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre wasn’t great because of the amazing characters and backstory. In fact, I find these relatively weak. I’ve spent decades trying to figure out just why the film works so well.

I still don’t really know. There are two things that I return to.

1. The production design is fantastic. The house alone is creepy in the extreme. It really couldn’t be better.
2. Leatherface is a wonderful character because of his consternation. People keep coming to his house and he has to deal with it. Imagine a butcher who has random cows coming into his house and you get the idea. His behavior later in the film is far less interesting but that section has a lot of dramatic momentum.

At this point, I don’t watch the film. I’ve seen it a lot. See my article, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre vs The Happening: Comparison of Two Scenes. But now? I still love Tobe Hooper. But if I’m in the mood, I’ll watch The Funhouse or Spontaneous Combustion. And sometimes Eaten Alive. (I sometimes think Eaten Alive is his best film. There are times when nothing else but it satisfies.)

My point is that there are far too many derivative works. And not enough people have seen the original. And if you have managed not to see it on its 51st birthday, now is the time!

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Texas Chain Saw Massacre poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.