Newspaper advertisements featured lengthy statements issued by the film's producers defending it against claims that it sensationalized violence, one of which noted: "You will hate the people who perpetrate these outragesand you should! But if a movieand it is only a moviecan arouse you to such extreme emotion then the film director has succeeded ... The movie makes a plea for an end to all the senseless violence and inhuman cruelty that has become so much a part of the times in which we live." Promotional artwork for the film accompanying such producer's statements included a warning that the film was "not recommended for persons under 30." The film continued to screen throughout the United States into 1973.