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The Most Complete “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” Release Ever Is Coming With “Chain Reactions”

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Half a century after Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” first slashed its way into film history, a brand-new documentary is digging deep into just how far the ripples of that 1974 horror landmark have traveled. “Chain Reactions” puts the spotlight on the film’s seismic impact, not through critics or academics, but through the personal memories and emotional fallout of five major creatives who still feel its influence today: Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama.

The doc explores how a grimy, low-budget indie shot on 16mm film burrowed into the culture and never let go, leaving a mark on everything from VHS rentals to modern genre filmmaking. Through childhood flashbacks, sensory memories, and stories of genuine trauma, each participant traces how Hooper’s film rewired the way they saw cinema and fear itself.

Writer-director Alexandre O. Philippe builds the conversation by pairing new interviews with never-before-seen outtakes from the original film, along with sequences shot in multiple formats — 16mm, 35mm, VHS, digital — to reflect how “Chain Saw” evolved across generations of viewers. It becomes not just a documentary about a movie, but about how physical media, texture, and format shape our relationship to horror.

And now, fans can own that evolution in a way that has never been possible before.

First-Ever Release of Eight Legendary Versions of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”

Alongside the feature documentary, “Chain Reactions” is being issued as a Limited Edition Blu-ray mediabook that includes a massive bonus: eight rarely-seen and highly sought-after versions of the original film, finally available on disc.

This set goes beyond simple restorations. It captures the film as viewers actually experienced it in different eras, from scratched-up 16mm prints to bootleg VHS transfers and even a 1978 Super 8 version once traded at conventions and horror swap meets.

The included versions:

  • 16mm Overscan Print

  • 16mm “BBQ Edition” Print

  • 35mm Grindhouse Print

  • 1984 K-Tel Australian VHS

  • 1981 Wizard Video VHS

  • 1987 Czech VHS

  • 1978 Super 8mm Print

  • 1980s Slovakian Betamax

Also included: a 24-page booklet featuring rare photos and exclusive essays chronicling the film’s physical media evolution.

Disc Breakdown

Disc 1

  • “Chain Reactions” documentary (101 min)

  • Feature commentary with Alexandre O. Philippe

  • Official trailer

  • Over 2.5 hours of rare outtakes from “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”

Disc 2

  • 16mm Overscan version (85 min)

  • 16mm “BBQ Edition” print (84 min)

  • 35mm Grindhouse print (80 min)

  • 1984 K-Tel Australian VHS transfer (85 min)

  • Original K-Tel trailer

Disc 3

  • 1981 Wizard Video VHS

  • 1987 Czech bootleg VHS

  • 1978 Super 8 version (22 min)

  • 1980s Slovakian Betamax transfer