Page "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" Paragraph 23

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre received a mixed reaction upon its initial release.

Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times called it despicable and described Henkel and Hooper as more concerned with creating a realistic atmosphere than with its " plastic script ".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said it was " as violent and gruesome and blood-soaked as the title promises ", yet praised its acting and technical execution.

Patrick Taggart of the Austin American-Statesman hailed it as the most important horror film since George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead ( 1968 ).

Variety found the picture to be well-made, despite what it called the " heavy doses of gore ".

John McCarty of Cinefantastique stated that the house featured in the film made the Bates motel " look positively pleasant by comparison ".

Revisiting the film in his 1976 article " Fashions in Pornography " for Harper's Magazine, Stephen Koch found its sadistic violence to be extreme and unimaginative.