MovieChat Forums > La casa 4 (Witchcraft) (1989) Discussion > Most of the releases of this are CUT or ...

Most of the releases of this are CUT or CENSORED

posted 19 years ago by Squonkamatic
14 replies | jump to latest

I've been fascinated with this movie for a few years and recently undertook a study of about four different home video or DVD releases and found that they are all cut or censored ... except for one.

First, the North American VHS. While Out of Print you can still find releases under the title WITCHERY by "Vidmark" (1989) and "Front Row Entertainment" (1999) without too much difficulty. The "Vidmark" VHS releases were sold in a slipcase with the words "ORIGINAL UNCUT VERSION" on the cover and cite a runtime of 96 minutes on the back, which is where the IMDb gets it's quoted "uncut version" runtime for -- and that is not correct. The "Vidmark" tapes have two ultra-annoying preview trailers before the movie starts, *AND* the version shown is missing an extended flashback sequence of the witch running around chased by Puritans before the action starts. While this print does show all of the disturbing "Satanic orgy" scene with that guy who looks like Marilyn Manson after a Yoohoo shake frenzy, some of the spurting blood from Mr. Brooks' death was removed, resulting in two significant omissions. Yet if you time the video from the very beginning and include the preview trailers the resultant runtime is 96 minutes as stated on the box -- If you start your counter *AFTER* the previews have concluded the total duration of the film is about 92 minutes and some change. The "Front Row Entertainment" is an exact copy of that same transfer, also cites 96 minutes on the box and to add insult to injury the example I found plays back at the inferior SLP/EP mode, resulting in loss of picture quality. If you have to go with the North American VHS version be sure to pick the "Vidmark" tape, they are somewhat better made.

Then there is the 2001 British DVD by "Stax Entertainment" which features the European print titled WITCHCRAFT which runs about 93 minutes 30 seconds and has the entire pre-credits flashback sequence and all of the spurting blood ... BUT, the Satanic Orgy scene has been optically edited by slowing down the video playback (you have to see the unedited versions to catch how they did it: very subtle!) so that Leslie Cummings' bared breasts could be removed while not effecting the duration of the playback. It's technically not "cut", but has been censored to remove the nudity during the Satanic rape. All of the other content is intact, and the picture quality of the transfer is startlingly better than any of the others so it is not without merit, but definitely compromised.

The winner, amazingly, turned out to be a battered old 1988 made Australian PAL VHS release also called WITCHCRAFT by "Palace Entertainment" (with a gloriously goofy 'BANNED IN QUEENSLAND' sticker pasted on the cover) which when time corrected to NTSC and without the infernal preview segment before the feature clocks in at just under 94 minutes with the complete pre-credits flashback, the unedited Satanic Marilyn Manson orgy, and all of the erupting artery spurtage. That is your actual "uncut version" runtime: 94 minutes.

SO, if you want an uncensored & uncut print of this movie for home video, look elsewhere than American and on other formats but DVD for the time being -- Unless there is an Australian DVD pressing I don't know about yet, or perhaps a pre-certification British tape that hasn't crossed my path (ratings laws were amended recently and the nudity probably made the Satanic orgy qualify as "obscene", which is why it was censored for the DVD release in 2001). There is probably also a Japan video tape version floating around, they seemed to have extroardinary good luck at having uncut versions of movies that the rest of us only hear about. But just be forewarned: Finding this movie uncensored is more of a chore than you might think, and don't believe what companies print on their video/DVD boxes ever without checking it for yourself first.

Anyone claiming to have a "96 minute version" of WITCHERY simply doesn't know what they really have or has never botherd to examine it for themselves. And my hat is off to the Australians on this one: Good show!!

:--D

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] itsmrbigtoyou 18 years ago

I have the Irish DVD release, since I live in Ireland and am Irish, this DVD release is good, but it is cut heavily, and not very well done either, it is a 72 minute long release, with: no nudity, no real horror or violence, but with some mild swear words, and yet it is rated as 18. Anyone else have this release? I got mine last summer through my local HMV [took something like 2 weeks to order] and it is now unavailable, it cost me 9.99 Euro's, and it is well worth a look, it sounds like the best version since it is cut and crude-free, the other releases sound gory and unpleasant.

[–] Squonkamatic 18 years ago

LOL Ben! It's only a HORROR MOVIE :D hehe.

Today I finally got a video of this from Japan that is widescreen (or LBX, as the case may be) at about 1:85 and the runtime of 97 minutes almost on the nose: I will try to pinpoint what sequences may have more footage. The satanic scene was not optically censored and the neck eruption was way gory.

It is also interesting to note that the announced Oct 10 release of Shriek Show's DVD did not happen for whatever reason: Follow the DVD link to amazon.com on the main details page for the film and it will take you to a listing that says "This title is not currently available" with the given title of WITCHERY, one of the optically censored versions of the film.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Squonkamatic 18 years ago

OK so the Japanese made VHS of WITCHCRAFT ran 1hr 37min 40sec and was framed to about 1:85:1 but did look like a crop at times. I will try to make some screenshot comparisons to find out for sure, but my feelings is that WITCHCRAFT was an open matte 1:33:1 framed shoot that would be cropped for theatrical presentation but at the expense of maybe 20% of the screen info that is otherwise visible in the home video presentations.

In other words, if Shriek Show did make a 1:85 LBX DVD version of WITCHERY that runs 96 minutes, they have a cut & censored version of the film that will be incorrectly cropped to simulate a theatrical format. The movie wasn't filmed for widescreen scoped presentation, and if that's what their DVD is designed to look like it will be a crock, you're actually better off with your old fullframe home video versions. They are also cut and/or censored but at least you are not being deprived of 20% of the screen info. The only reason to even consider having the DVD would be for the bonus material, and I do not know anyone who buys DVDs for their bonus features.

[–] changelingfreak 18 years ago

I just bought the Shriek Show DVD of Witchery today and watched it. The DVD runtime is 1hr 36min 40sec (it is important to remember that VHS counters are LESS accurate than DVD counters). The Shriek Show DVD IS UNCUT. It features the full extended chase sequence in the beginning, the entire incubus rape scene and all of the blood spurting action from Mr. Brooks' neck.

The problem with the Shriek Show DVD is the aspect ratio, Squonkmatic is exactly right about that. This film was NOT framed for 1.85:1. A bit of the credits in the beginning are chopped off by the cropping, as well as some speaking characters have half of their face out of frame in a couple scenes. Since there was a planned theatrical release for this film, it was probably framed for 1.66:1 (could possibly have been framed for 1.33:1, but that is unusual unless they know before production that it will be straight to video).

There are no special features on the DVD except for a Joe D'Amato Trailer Reel. This is not even worth watching unless you're a Joe D'Amato fan (Witchery is the only film of his that I liked).

All in all, the only problem with the Shriek Show DVD is the aspect ratio. Had they cropped it at 1.66:1 widescreen, there wouldn't have been any problems. But the 1.85:1 aspect is only a problem in a couple scenes (maybe 2-4 scenes). The transfer is decent and the sound is decent. Not remastered (a couple scenes have rough picture) and does not have 5.1 surround sound, but still a good DVD and good movie.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Squonkamatic 18 years ago

Yawp, I was just about to post my own findings: Shriek Show's WITCHERY DVD is *NOT* optically censored during the satanic ceremony, amazingly, but that LBX job is definitely a crop of a 1:33 open matte shoot, a suspicion held out by what's her name's boobs, which are cut off by the bottom of the screen. The key is the opening "Filmrage Presents" credit from the opeing titles, which on the DVD are sliced in half.

They are not cut in half on the Japan VHS, which upon closer inspection by someone who knows more about this stuff than I do looks to be a 1:66:1 transfer after all, and possibly actual widescreen rather than a simple masked crop, or rather a true Panavison widescreen image. I am working on some screenshot comparisons to demonstrate what I mean.

[–] Zman-11 18 years ago

An addition to all of this insanity involving the various version of WITCHERY...

Has anybody noticed that the version that they used to show late at night on Cinemax and HBO (where most of us probably saw it) is different from both the Vidmark VHS and the Shriek Show DVD?! It begins where the Vidmark VHS begins, but then the rest of the movie--from what I can remember--was uncut. When I rented the Vidmark VHS YEARS after seeing it on Cinemax, I thought that I was crazy because of all that was missing: the horrid red warpzones, all of the extra gore when Mr. Brooks dies. I was fascinated to see ALL of the stuff that I remembered on the Shriek Show DVD.

There are a bunch of other tidbits that are on the Shriek Show DVD that weren't on the Vidmark video--but I can't pinpoint them all right now (my friend and I are big fans of this movie, so we watched the video recently and were able to compare). A few things that I do remember: there are a few tidbits that make Linda Blair's transition to possessed witch a bit more coherent (although not entirely), there are shots of Mr. Brooks spying on Linda and the real estate guy that are not on the Vidmark tape (but were on Cinemax), and I'm pretty sure that all of the footage of the real estate agent actually being crucified (in the Cinemax version) is gone (you just see what happened to him when he's hanging over the fire).

Very strange. I wonder how the TV people got the longer cut.

Also...does anybody know anything about who sings that bizarre theme song? And what happened to Leslie Cumming?!

[–] sharkattack1978 18 years ago

I think that i have the uncut version of this film on DVD. The cover has a woman being grabbed by the face and having needles pushed through her eyes and mouth. it's a very gruesome cover. Plus also the title for the film is splattered with blood.
In this one you see all the gore and the tits too and it isn't slowed down either. Is this the proper copy?

I have had a copy of this film before and the case was entirely different. It had a witchy looking linda blair on the cover (complete with evil red eyes and a white nightie which shows most of her "assets" running to (by what it looks like) kill the viewer holding the case. This was cut.

[–] ungerdeath 17 years ago

Linda Hickmans nipples were huge!

[–] keith66-1 10 years ago

I don't know if anybody still cares, but there's a new Blu Ray coming this month from scream factory that is 1.66:1 framed.

[–] legnadibrom 8 years ago

amen

Lee's Daniel's' THe Butler'