Mario83721

Hi,

are the (uncut/unrated) MGM R1 DVD and CIC VIDEO (canadian) edition of same length with no plot/gore cut differencies?What about the rumours about a longer canadian version?Whats the longest released version out there?

thanks
Mario

TylerDurden_73

Mario, I am not sure about the canadian version, but the mgm version is uncut as shown in theaters. There is a interesting interview with Wes Craven on the dvd I believe ( sold mine ) but the original studio that produced the movie, submitted a different movie as last house on the left to the MPAA. The Version in theatres, was all uncut.

Julie Walker

The M.G.M. release is the exact same version of the film in terms of length and content as the old Canadian release. Only the Canadian release was missing the titles like "Early Next Morning...." and so forth in the print(it was most likely an early unfinished workprint print). The titles are intact in the M.G.M. print and it's the longest version of the film that will ever exist.

Since all the other uncut footage is long lost and most likely gone forever. We see one fully uncut sequence in the deleted scenes section without sound(since the audio track was lost),while the rest of the deleted footage appears to be dialogue based(sans audio).

The lesbian rape,full chest name carving sequence,and Jr's graphic suicide death and aftermath are still missing though. And there may be some other things still missing here and there.

If the audio was found for the deleted bits included on the dvd,then the film would run almost close to it's rumored 91 minute theatrical length.

Also why the footage is lost and no full complete version exists. Is because of theaters chopping the film up themselves all over the country(thus making editing choices without filmmaker input,or even MPAA feedback on what would make it R rated instead of X). Also the distributor sending out uncut and cut prints into various theaters(thus people saw different more or less explicit versions by chance) and leaving theaters chop it up as they please for community guidlines. This all resulted in confusing over the running time of the film(most reviews listed it as 91 minutes) and the footage being lost in the years that followed.

So while a fully uncut version will never exist. The M.G.M. version on dvd is the best option compared to the hacked up R rated version(82 minutes) and the still cut U.K. releases.


Though we can always hope the rest of the footage and audio shows up somewhere,despite it being highly unlikely. Because it's surprising that I Drink Your Blood was able to be fully restored to uncensored uncut status 35 years later. And that suffered a similar fate as Last House,with the theaters editing the prints themselves. And until the Grindhouse dvd release,only the heavily edited 70ish minute R rated version was available.

Giles

beware the DVD commentary track from Craven/Miner - it's really dry and quite frankly a tad boring.

kevkev

theres an excellent book on the film worth checking out. the mgm dvd was actually pretty decent and included the intestine pull scene. but avoid all uk dvds. i think there was a canadian video release which was slightly longer than the us video at the time but the mgm dvd is the best these days.

Julie Walker

The Canadian(84 minutes) VHS release was longer than the 'uncut' U.S. VHS(83 minutes) released by Vestron in the mid-80's. But the M.G.M. print is definitely the Canadian print,since everything described in that version is intact in the M.G.M. print. And it's not added gore or anything in the Canadian version,just more dialogue bits and a brief addition to the chase scene,which adds about 1 minute more to the running time.

And be glad M.G.M. did restore the film as best as they could. Since they were originally planning on issuing the R rated version only on dvd(which they reissued on VHS).

If IFC uses the same print they were given by MGM for airing on their channel. You'll be able to see what the R rated version is like. Basically take out the more explicit moments that are left in the unrated version and you have an even less grisly film than it already is.

And the "Making of" book by David Szulkin is highly recommended. I loved that book and found it extremely informative and entertaining. And I'm a huge fan of the film and love it.

kevkev

yeah thats the book. i had it about 6 years ago. from what i remember the intestine scene clip was only in some soft porn trailer on video. so i guess they found the footage. it's great film. but the book goes into as much detail as you could ever want.

Mario83721

Ohhh,i didnt know about all this.Thanks so much for the prof infos!

Hmmm, as we seem to be moving into the re-unrated release age,there might be a full restored unrated dvd coming out in near future .

Thanks god they mostly remaster and restore all of the lost bits and pieces in those old films.

greets
Mario

n.phelge

Pick up the Anchor Bay UK R2 release for the 'Krug and Company' commentary - definitely not boring.