Uncut in Japan?

[gremlins]

I heard rumors about H5 the Revenge of Michael Myers the uncut version was only sold in Japan.Does anyone know if this is true and if there even is an uncut version?

[lex luthor]

If anyone would know the guy to ask is chad.

[Chad K]

From what I have heard, there is an uncut version of the film. Some of the scenes may or may not have been filmed due to script changes. This is what someone else on another forum claims:

As everyone knows, there have been rumours of an uncut 'Halloween 5' circulating for some time now. Both Franchise and I have been trying exceptionally hard to get a hold of this with no luck at all. There are versions out there that claim to be uncut but never are, and on file-sharing software there is also a 'German Uncut' version - this is exactly the same as the regular US cut.

The rumours of this version probably began with the Fangoria article by Marc Shapiro in 1989, which showed actor Thernon Read holding The Shape's mask. The blurb to this image read something on the lines of 'Could Doctor Death, who saves the Shape's life, also become his successor?' Furthermore, the article described issues between the director, Dominique Othenin-Girard and Moustapha Akkad particularly relating to the gore that was supposedly going to be in the film.

As we know, there's very little gore in the final product, and there's no Doctor Death - so what happened?

At the time of the film's release, the MPAA was being particularly vindictive towards horror films and it seems that H5 was fighting an X-rating. Furthermore, given the fact that H5 was produced independently within a ridiculously short amount of time, it seems unlikely that they would have had the time or money to perform re-shoots. This means that any changes - specifically the opening scene with Doctor Death that was replaced with the scene with the hermit - would have been made during the shooting itself, not after the fact. The script was not fully complete at the time of filming and was subject to changes during production (the Man In Black was not a part of the script, and he was only added during shooting).

This fast production and re-shooting indicates that the changes were not made in post-production - they knew during shooting to change the intro. We can safely assume then, as a result, that the existence of an uncut H5 is more than likely a myth, as many of these scenes were never fully assembled (I cannot confirm this 100%, so if anyone can prove otherwise that would be great). If there was such a version, more than likely it would have been unearthed by now, and you'll notice that those who have seen it refuse to discuss the specifics, and also describe one scene being in there that NEVER made it to film (see item 3).

So then, to the specifics:

1) The Opening.

The opening as it stands shows The Shape take a sort of wounded refuge in the Hermits cabin. After a year, The Shape gets up, kills the hermit and gets back to chasing little girls and murdering deeply unappealing characters. The main point of interest in the scene is the revelation of the Thorn symbol, with the implication that it's always been there. As we know, this led to the 'rewrite' of The Shape's history in Halloween 6.

In the original intro this wasn't the case.

It begins as the released version, with Michael floating down the stream and arriving at the cabin. However, there is no old man at the cabin, but Doctor Death. We see him in the cabin, chanting some rather appalling lines of Halloween-inspired dialogue and being really, really goofy and over the top (I'll watch the footage again and transcribe this inane shite later). There are chicken legs and druid artefacts hanging in there, and he's a scrawny, dirty young guy - kind of like a homeless punk in appearance.

He hears a noise outside and grabs his spear (seriously) as he goes out to investigate. The Shape falls on him, just like the old man, before collapsing to the ground. At this point, Doctor Death kneels down and lifts the mask from The Shape and looks at it (this is the Fangoria picture).

The uncut version differs here, because at this point The Shape is supposed to be DEAD - or dying at the very least. Death takes him inside, and in there he chants a druid rite whilst moving this ceremonial stone above, back and forth.

Here's the important part: as part of this ritual, Death tattoos the thorn symbol onto The Shape's wrist. This completely changes everything, and if this scene had remained, then H6 as we know it would not have existed.

One year later, on Halloween, The Shape rises again as a result of this spell. The first thing he does his dispel of Doctor Death. He grabs him, lifts him in the air and breaks his back in two, crashing him down over his knee (a very Jason moment!), and then grabs the ceremonial stone and shoves it into his heart. It's the classic Shape theme that evil cannot be controlled.

From this point on, the movie continues as normal, with the only changes being to the gore


2) Mike's Death.

You'll notice that after Mike gets hit in the head with the garden tool ("The weeeeder" as Othenin-Girard calls it) and falls to the floor, there's a cut in the shot. In the original version, Mike's death twitch lasted longer - this was shortened to appease the MPAA. It wasn't done very well and you can see an erratic jump in the middle of his shakes.


3) Sammy's Death.

This one is, unfortunately, a popular myth amongst those who claim to have seen an 'uncut' H5. As we know, in the film, we see The Shape swing the Scythe and then we see the shadow of Sammy and the blood.

You may hear stories of a shot which showed her head being sliced or similar, but the truth is, this scene was never filmed.

There are two reasons given as to why:

The first one is that they tried, but couldn't get the effect to work out.

The second is that it was never intended to be shot.

Given that the FX group was KNB, it doesn't seem likely that the effect didn't work - it seems more likely it was never tested. After having watched the FX test footage from H5 with Sean Clark some time ago, I can confirm that the effect is not in there at all.


4) Outside the Myers House.

When The Shape arrives and attacks the policeman in the car, bashing his head against the glass, we don't see very much.

In the original, this was much more violent and bloody (you can see a shot of the poor guy's face with glass embedded in it in the aforementioned Fangoria article). This was cut down to reduce the violence level.


5) The Laundry Chute.

This one is already well documented. In the original sequence, The Shape stabbed Jamie in the leg, and rather graphically too.


6) Policeman Deaths.

Apparently, there were more scenes of violence being inflicted on the poor old law officers of Haddonfield.

However, this is unsubstantiated, and unclear as to where this applies. More than likely it is not the off-screen deaths of the comedy police, but the many shootings at the hands of the Man In Black (I'm pretty sure of this, having seen some of the behind the scenes footage).


So there we have it. Not that many differences then, despite the rumours.

The Man In Black, had the film remained unchanged, would have been tied to the druid at the beginning (perhaps a previous 'creation' by Doctor Death). It would have been interesting to see how the story would have been developed for H6 if that had been the case. Perhaps they would have explained why the Man In Black, as evil and mysterious as he is, insisted on using public transport in H5

[gremlins]

Thanks Chad for clearing that up.

[EvilOnTwoLegs]

Yes, at the OHMB people are trying VERY hard to get ahold of it. I too and trying.

[Christina05]

That really cool, I had no clue that there was uncut "Halloween" movies. I would love to get some...!

~Christina~

[gremlins]

Christina If you had no clue you should get H6 Producer's cut. I really like the movie and I think it's better than the theatrical release of H6.

[Christina05]

Well where do you get these uncut "Halloween" movies...? I already have the the "Halloween" movies but the only problem is that all of them are on VHS, but "Halloween Resurrection". I was waiting for them to make a "Halloween" boxset, but I heard that they can't do that because two different companys own the "Halloween" series now. But I got the Freddy and Jason boxset, but only one problem with the Jason boxset is that not all of his movies are in it...!

~Christina~

[gremlins]

Go to www.angelfire.com/ma/babybrownsplace/HalloweenS.html and then click on "producer's cuts clips" and a list with pics on the side should come up.Once they you see them click on any of them to see alternate scenes from H6 and H2O.(click on video clips first and I hope this helps)

[Jamie Llyod]

I dunno. I've never seen the original versions of any of the movies. I only seen the versions they show on AMC every October.

[michael myers]

[HADDONFIELDKILLER]

WAT THE FUCK HAS JAPANESE CARTOONS GOT TO DO WITH THAT HALLOWEEN 4 WALLPAPER IT JUST BASICALLY RUINED IT

[brandon213]

It Doesn't Matter. Just Get Back On Topic