The situation of Texas Chainsaw seemed obvious once all the information trickled in. At first, the news broke that it had to be censored for theaters where the "R" rating was the commercially desired classification. In interviews, the possibility of a release of the uncensored version (which initially got the infamous NC-17) was discussed and fans waited for the home video announcements. Unfortunately, there was no sight of the NC-17 version (or Unrated Cut, as studios favor to advertise such versions). And indeed, the US DVD and Blu-ray only carry the censored "R"-rated version of Texas Chainsaw. That's a bummer for those fans who waited for the complete goods.

When nobody expected it, the NC-17 was announced as being exclusively available as Video-on-Demand e.g. via iTunes. We quickly organized that version once it was released and provided our readers with the comparison.

Everything cleared up, we thought. But since several readers claimed that the British Blu-ray would carry the NC-17 version, we decided to order it and check these claims. Unfortunately, we cannot validate it. The British release only contains the "R"-rated version of the movie (both in 2D and 3D and although the "fleshy" titles of the NC-17 are included here). Some even state that their US releases would be the NC-17. Given the nature of the alterations and the little runtime difference they cause, we'd like to point out again to those who stick by their claims that these scenes depicted in the comparison do not mean that scenes were entirely removed. It is typical MPAA-style censorship that is often done by cutting very few frames or using harmless alternate material. Especially in this case, many moments happen so fast that the alterations are barely visible if not checked frame-by-frame.

The same situation is at hand in Germany, where the home video releases only contain the "R", as well. After hearing the news that the NC-17 does indeed exist and is being released as VOD, the German distributor Highlight Film was very upset on their Facebook page, stating that they were totally surprised by that and that the US distributors did not present them with the opportunity to get access to that NC-17 cut. Instead, they were told that only the "R" exists.

Currently, our assessment of the situation is that customers, who would like to obtain the NC-17 version, will have to buy it digitally as VOD or hope that the studio has secret plans to release this cut on DVD/BD at a later date.

If you don't see the point in waiting, you can order the "R" Blu-ray at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.