Screen 'video nasty' hits Channel 4

Scream: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was banned in the UK

Controversial horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is to be broadcast next month on Channel 4.

The movie was banned for many years for its depiction of violence and was one of the original crop of films termed a "video nasty".

Horror: The film was based on a series of true life murders

The movie will be shown as part of a season of horror movies, FilmFear, which will include Death Race 2000, the film which launched Sylvester Stallone's career.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on the story of mass killer Ed Gein who skinned his victims and used body parts as household decorations.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBCFC) refused to give The Texas Chainsaw Massacre a certificate when it was released in 1975.

It was briefly available on video but was taken off shelves after a video ban was also imposed.

'Genre classic'

The ban was lifted last year when the film was resubmitted to the BBFC to mark its 25th anniversary. It was given an 18 certificate.

The watchdog said the film featured little actual violence and there was no evidence that anyone watching it would be harmed.

Three sequels of the original feature film have been made, but each failed to reproduce the shock and originality of the first.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic of the horror genre.

"It's based on the same real-life story that inspired Hitchcock's Psycho and the film successfully implies fear and horror while showing less than the viewer has imagined."

Death Race 2000 gave Sylvester Stallone his first break

Death Race 2000 is another film which was once considered controversial.

It was a cult hit in the 1970s, and features a motor race across the United States with teams killing as many people as they can, earning extra points for elderly victims.

The premiere of box office hit Scream, starring Courteney Cox, and a documentary, Scream And Scream Again, tracing the history of so-called "slasher" films, are also part of the season, which starts on 28 October.