THE FLESH EATERS (1964) - Special Deluxe Edition

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Price: $399.99   

THE FLESH EATERS (1964) - Special Deluxe Edition Review

As an avid fan of this movie, I have multiple versions of it ranging from the original Monterey VHS tape, various "boot" VHS tapes and DVDs, and finally both the MPI Dark Sky DVD (sold here) and a Retromedia review copy DVD direct from the source. Here are the findings based on independant research, viewing various versions, the Arnold Drake/Tom Weaver/Fred Olen Ray interview on the Retro disc, and from just flat out watching both DVDs side by side thanks to 2 DVD players, split screen, and lots of patience from my wife:

The MPI/Dark Sky DVD being sold here is Jack Curtis' original print/edit. This same version was sold to TV in a very slightly edited version that was later released by Monterey Home Video in the 80's. This is NOT the slightly edited TV print. It IS the whole (original) shootin' match.

The Retromedia copy is the theatrical print/edit that basically had about 4 minutes of "insert" shots added by theatrical distributor Michael Ripps because I suppose he didn't think the film was shocking enough! For "artistic" reasons (or more likely to accomdate the extra footage and keep the running time around 86 minutes), Ripps also re-edited some of the scenes to remove roughly 4 minutes of footage from Jack Curtis' cut. Although touted as the "uncut" version, it is not uncut.

The MPI/Dark Sky DVD print IS missing the following compared to the Retro version:

1) A 2 second insert shot of a bloody hand in the opening sequence.

2) A 1.5 second insert shot of a white sign advertising "SEAPLANE CHARTER FLIGHTS" that was added to cover a scene edit.

3) A 4 second replacement shot with a close-up of "Bartell" twisting a knife into "Miss Winters".

4) A 4 second replacement shot with a close-up of "Bartell" inserting a hypo into "Grant's" arm.

5) About 3.5 minutes of the infamous Nazi flashback sequence, which replaced about 19 seconds of Bartell's flesh eater history speech. This has been added as a bonus feature to the disc for those who wish to see it.

6) The red color-tinted "blood in the eye" sequence. Here, it appears in black and white. In the Retromedia interview, Arnold Drake says that Jack Curtis did the color tint sequence before the film was turned over for distribution, so in theory, it should be here as well.

With the added Nazi sequence as a bonus feature, the disc is only missing about 10 to 12 seconds of inserted/replaced footage that wasn't in the original movie to begin with and about 6 seconds of color tinting.

If you must have those 12 seconds of (not really) cut footage, search eBay. The "DVDs" sold there are usually the theatrical cut.

However, this version of the film includes everything else: ALL the footage edited out from the theatrical version, all the blood, all the gore...the cutting of the flesh eaters out of Grant's leg, the skeleton supply boat captain, the see-through Omar, Bartell taking the "easy" way out...EVERYTHING.

The film looks better than it ever has and the audio is crisp and clear. It appears Dark Sky had access to the original film elements whereas the theatrical print on the Retro disc looks a couple of generations removed. The extras include the Nazi sequence with outtakes(!), and a couple of TV spots. It is a five star disc all the way except that it is missing all the great special features the Retro disc was going to have. Retro made it all available when Dark Sky was discovered to have full distribution rights. What would've been nice is a 2-disc edition with both the director's cut and the theatrical cut with all the extras. That would truly have been the definitive edition.

For not including the Retro bonus features (and possibly the theatrical cut as a bonus), I dock it a star. I would dock it 2 stars but the film presentation is too good for this DVD to warrant a 3 star rating.

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