Suspiria - cut?

[sampath]

I notice the following entry in the Alternate Versions section at IMDb:



All english-language video versions (including the UK and Japanese DVDs) seem to be missing a few seconds trimmed from the opening murder (mostly from the slow pan over the dead girl's body hanging from the ceiling; there's a noticeable jump cut in the music score when this happens).



Having watched the Anchor Bay disk I do notice an awkward edit in the scene in question....

Anyone care to shed some light on this situation?


:confused:

[Narshty]

Since the transfer was made from the original negative, supervised by Argento and the cinematographer, I think it's safe to say it's complete.

Probably an over-enthusiastic IMDB contributor with a faulty memory sent that contribution in.

[sampath]

Originally posted by Narshty:

Since the transfer was made from the original negative, supervised by Argento and the cinematographer, I think it's safe to say it's complete.

Yeah that's what I thought (well that's what the packaging said anyway :D ).

But the jump cut is definitely there though, maybe it's due to some sloppy editing....

[Shingster]

Wasn't the film cut in the U.S to get an R rating? The new AB release is unrated, hence uncut, so maybe that comment on the IMDB was written before the new AB release, when only the cut version was on the market, and no-one can be arsed to correct it now there's a new DVD out.

[wong fei hong]

Just got the Anchor Bay, replacing my old vhs (second hand when I bought it, completely useless now :D )...there are definitely differences in the opening murder - most notably
The knife plunging into the exposed, beating heart of the girl! Urgh!

That wasn't on the old vid and it gave me a bit of a start! I put it down to BBFC cuts, though... As for the slow pan, there's a jerk on the vhs, but I didn't notice it on the dvd. Hmm. :confused:

[sampath]

Originally posted by wong fei hong
As for the slow pan, there's a jerk on the vhs, but I didn't notice it on the dvd. Hmm. :confused:

I reckon the dubious edit occurs when cutting from this (http://members.tripod.co.uk/sampath/suspiria1.jpg) (Warning: SPOILER) shot to
this (http://members.tripod.co.uk/sampath/suspiria2.jpg) (again, SPOILER) shot....

Anyone else notice that?

[Kryten]

I have just been asked to order this for a friend. He wanted the LE version but seemed to think it is a tin, is this correct or is it just a standard Anchor Bay pack with a limited edition number on it?

[Edge]

Originally posted by Kryten
I have just been asked to order this for a friend. He wanted the LE version but seemed to think it is a tin, is this correct or is it just a standard Anchor Bay pack with a limited edition number on it?

The Limited Edition version is the three disc set that comes in a standard Anchor Bay pack, albeit slightly wider than normal :), and a ltd ed number on back

Edge

[feverpitch96]

Originally posted by Edge


The Limited Edition version is the three disc set that comes in a standard Anchor Bay pack, albeit slightly wider than normal :), and a ltd ed number on back

Edge

Yeah, CDNow listed it as a "tin" too....they must have thought it was another AKIRA. :)

The box is fully double-thickness, plastic....though the unusually low ratio of box weight to the weight of the goodies inside means that the box can fracture easily, so take care.
:(

On the subject of cuts, I was wondering about this from a different angle. The extras on the new DVD pose a few questions. The US trailer says "the only thing more scary than the last 12 minutes of Suspiria are the first 92". 92+12=104.

A promotional poster shown on the disc makes the same claim except it says 80 minutes. 80+12=92.

The timecode for the film on the disc itself clocks in at 98:26.

So what is going on? Were people incapable of simple arithmetic in 1977, were there several differently-excised cinema versions, or...? Obviously there is no PAL speedup issue with the R1 DVD....
:confused:

But needless to say the transfer ROCKS! :)

[sampath]

Originally posted by feverpitch96



On the subject of cuts, I was wondering about this from a different angle. The extras on the new DVD pose a few questions. The US trailer says "the only thing more scary than the last 12 minutes of Suspiria are the first 92". 92+12=104.

A promotional poster shown on the disc makes the same claim except it says 80 minutes. 80+12=92.

The timecode for the film on the disc itself clocks in at 98:26.

So what is going on? Were people incapable of simple arithmetic in 1977, were there several differently-excised cinema versions, or...? Obviously there is no PAL speedup issue with the R1 DVD....
:confused:

As explained at IMDb:

The original (and only) version released in Italy is approx. 95 minutes long (98 minutes including credits). Contrary to popular belief there is no longer 107 minutes director's cut: this rumor started because of an erroneous publicity slogan on some US trailers. The US posters for the movie featured the tagline "The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of this film are the first 80" (80+12 = 92 minutes, i.e. the approx. length of the original US theatrical release, minus credits). The voiceover on some US trailers misread the quote as "The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of this film are the first 92", thus suggesting that the complete film was 12 minutes longer than it really is. Some reviewers took this as an indicator that the film had originally been available in a longer version and circulated the 107 minutes version myth (107=95+12). The trailer with the wrong '12+92' slogan is included on the Japanese DVD version.

Even Leonard Maltin makes this mistake in his review : "Also available in more explicit uncut version which runs 107m"

[feverpitch96]

Aha! :)

Originally posted by sampath
Even Leonard Maltin makes this mistake in his review : "Also available in more explicit uncut version which runs 107m"

Which only goes to show we can all screw up occasionally. :)

Cheers sampath!