There was a female critic who did reviews telling parents objectional elements in films. She did them for some magazine which might have been mccalls and came out with a book blasting this film claiming in the opening there's a shot of the kids after they'd been murdered which was'nt true.
shareThere is a shot of Curt Duncan after he has murdered the kids. He is shown to have blood all over him, but I don't think you necessarily see the kids' cadavers.
"All I want in life is a thirty share and a twenty rating."
I wonder if she meant to refer to what seems to be a body bag being carried downstairs.
I think 'implied horror' does funny things to people's memories. I saw this movie (on VHS, rented from our town's precursor to Blockbuster video) around 1982 when I was 7. I could swear up & down that the police officer said something about Spaghetti-Os in reference to the condition of the children's bodies. (I'm trying to be delicate here but I had a very descriptive statement in my head) I'm watching this movie now for the first time in 22 years. No Spaghetti-Os reference at all.
Many people remember the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre as being an incredibly bloody, gory film. It's actually not but it was truly terrifying anyway. Our brains just filled in the details we expected to see.