Last seen movies

The US version of Creepers is almost 30 minutes shorter than Phenomena. Thanks to your post FF, I just ordered the uncut version of Phenomena. I've only ever seen the Creepers version.

tohostudios wrote:

The US version of Creepers is almost 30 minutes shorter than Phenomena. Thanks to your post FF, I just ordered the uncut version of Phenomena. I've only ever seen the Creepers version.

Cool man... lemme know if it's any more coherent as "Phenomena" than it was as "Creepers."

Weird, i tought it was the other way around. I thout it was the English version of Creepers that was cut, and the US version that was uncut. I remember owning the Italian version, uncut (or it might have been the Dutch verion). The Netherlands was pretty much the only country in the world that didn't censor movies, and that kept the original undubbed dialogue.

About Dario Argento; the man was a friggin' genius. I haven't seen any of his fils since his adaption of The Phantom of the Opera in the 90's. But prior to that, he friggin' ruled. Most Italian horror where chepa B-grade splatter fests. But Dario was in a league of his own. He hated censorship, saying it was as though someone cut his head off whenever they cut in his films. He also let the actors speak their native langauage in many of his films, as they were dubbed first to Italian anyways, and then re-dubbed into English afterwards! He is also a huge fan of Disney, and it is said that "Susperia" is his "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", go figure!

kmorg wrote:

Weird, i tought it was the other way around. I thout it was the English version of Creepers that was cut, and the US version that was uncut. I remember owning the Italian version, uncut (or it might have been the Dutch verion). The Netherlands was pretty much the only country in the world that didn't censor movies, and that kept the original undubbed dialogue.

If I understand all the details correctly (as I read them on IMDB), "Phenomena" was heavily edited and released to theatres in the U.S. under the title "Creepers" back in '85. When it was first released to home video (VHS) after that, the "Creepers" theatrical version was still the only one available in the U.S.

Editing was a pretty common occurrence with horror flicks back then; remember we had the PMRC targeting rock music around this time and parents' groups were also concerned about violent content in movies turning our kids into serial killers. One of the more famous examples of this is when a bunch of PTA parents banded together and drove the Santa Claus slasher movie "Silent Night Deadly Night" right out of theatres across the country in less than a week!! And if you notice, after the first three "Friday the 13th" flicks, each subsequent sequel became less and less gory.

... but as the home video market became more prevalent people have lightened up some (or just don't care anymore, haha), because somewhere along the way, the original, un-cut "Phenomena" became available on home video on this side of the ocean. I guess compared to what's coming out nowadays in horror films, where just about anything goes, stuff like Argento's seems almost quaint!!!

Oh, we had our own share of "editing" (nicely put!) here in Norway, too. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was banned, along with most horror and gore movies in the B-grade territory. And most horror flicks that got the pass were heavily cencored. Action flicks too. Stuff like Rambo, RoboCop and Commado were severly cut, and Commanod even lost it's plot in the cutting room!

So as a youngster I hunted down the uncut stuff from Italy, Denmark, Malta, Holland etc. Nowadays movies are no longer censored in Norway, unless the director wants a softer version for younger audiences.

I also agree with what SpectreFate said in one of these threads, seeing horror movies on old VHS tapes were the best. A umpteenth grade copy og Bad Taste, that almost didn't have any colors left, was a lot more explicit then seeing it on DVD in grand non-natural colors!

The fact that Norway banned Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a testament to how great that film is. If you stop and analyze it, it's really pretty tame from a gore perspective. But it's just so intense that viewers think they're seeing more blood and guts on screen than they really are.

tohostudios wrote:

The fact that Norway banned Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a testament to how great that film is. If you stop and analyze it, it's really pretty tame from a gore perspective. But it's just so intense that viewers think they're seeing more blood and guts on screen than they really are.

Yea, when I was a kid I used to hear how "TCM" was the sickest movie ever made, but when I finally saw it as a teen in the '80s I was kinda surprised at how relatively bloodless it is. I expected to see buckets-o-gore but you don't see a lotta "juice" in that one at all.

tohostudios wrote:

The fact that Norway banned Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a testament to how great that film is. If you stop and analyze it, it's really pretty tame from a gore perspective. But it's just so intense that viewers think they're seeing more blood and guts on screen than they really are.

Yeah, it was like you were watching the events unfold. They weren't enhanced with music, gratuitous nudity or camera tricks. It was raw and intense.

Quote :

They weren't enhanced with music, gratuitous nudity or camera tricks.

Unlike my dad's home movies of my 7th birthday party. Which reminds me, I should get those burned to dvd one of these days.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

District 9

going to see that tonight, I can't friggen wait!

I watched, Pride and Glory, the other night. I enjoyed it. It was much more than the average cop flick. Ed Norton is truly underrated as an actor. Peace.

Sam,
I think you'll enjoy it. Pretty unique while tying in real SA problems and history in a Sci-Fi flick.

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

The fact that Norway banned Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a testament to how great that film is. If you stop and analyze it, it's really pretty tame from a gore perspective. But it's just so intense that viewers think they're seeing more blood and guts on screen than they really are.

Yea, when I was a kid I used to hear how "TCM" was the sickest movie ever made, but when I finally saw it as a teen in the '80s I was kinda surprised at how relatively bloodless it is. I expected to see buckets-o-gore but you don't see a lotta "juice" in that one at all.

I once was a part of a group in class making a video presentation with several "gory" clips from various movies. The point was to get the class to guess what scebes were foribidden, and what clips had been approved from the censors. Using a clip from TCM was essential, but we really had a hard time finding anything cruel enough to match up with the then legal Bad Taste, f.ex. We ended up with when Leatherface cuts his own leg with the saw

Fat Freddy's Festival of Craptacular Dollar Store Cinema continues... last night i watched "Black Cobra," an amazingly inept Italian-made action flick starring former NFL bad-ass/malt liquor pitchman Fred Williamson as "a maverick cop that plays by his own rules."

Basically what they did here was rip off the plot of Stallone's "Cobra" (biker gang terrorizes city and kidnaps a fashion model) to an amazing degree, on a budget of about six bucks and a broken cracker. "Cobra" was not one of Stallone's better flicks but it was MILES ahead of this version.

Watch only if you need to be bored to sleep.

uh...Freddy...if you need some movie recommendations let me know...it sounds like you need assistance.

detuned wrote:

uh...Freddy...if you need some movie recommendations let me know...it sounds like you need assistance.

I can't help myself, I love crappy movies!! Always have. An occasional bad movie makes the good ones seem that much better.

That DVD happens to be a double feature with "Black Cobra 2" (yes, they made a sequel!) on it, which is probably on tonight's viewing slate.

Yeah, I know. I need a life. Don't bother pointing it out.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Sam,
I think you'll enjoy it. Pretty unique while tying in real SA problems and history in a Sci-Fi flick.

Holy crap dude, this was the most amazing and ORIGINAL movie I have seen in a long time. 5 minutes in I was already loving it.

Spaceballs!!

exact33 wrote:

Spaceballs!!

All rise for Dark Helmet!

thejokeriv wrote:

exact33 wrote:

Spaceballs!!

All rise for Dark Helmet!

thats right! I am the everlasting know it all!!

"So you see, Lonestar, that evil will always triumph...because good is DUMB."

sheets wrote:

"So you see, Lonestar, that evil will always triumph...because good is DUMB."

I was born somewhere in the ford galaxy

"Pizza will send out for YOU!!"

sam wrote:

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Sam,
I think you'll enjoy it. Pretty unique while tying in real SA problems and history in a Sci-Fi flick.

Holy crap dude, this was the most amazing and ORIGINAL movie I have seen in a long time. 5 minutes in I was already loving it.

ScyFy had a Thor movie on tonight - did you catch it?

thejokeriv wrote:

sam wrote:

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Sam,
I think you'll enjoy it. Pretty unique while tying in real SA problems and history in a Sci-Fi flick.

Holy crap dude, this was the most amazing and ORIGINAL movie I have seen in a long time. 5 minutes in I was already loving it.

ScyFy had a Thor movie on tonight - did you catch it?

I don't get the ScyFy channel anymore, sadly. So no, was it any good?