tali122

Watching witchfinder general on tv i noticed some scenes of very poor picture quality (such as preist's back torture) and the scene would cut away to as the film was iingood quality - why was this? it was very noticeable
Also why does the witchfinder go on business in another town and travels on his horse but curiuosly also with a mule and then returns with it

DocRobertPepper

The scenes of very poor picture quality are the parts that have been reinstated from the original cut
the scenes where cut by the censor so they where lost
so theses are the best they could get hold of

no idea about the donkey

vanburen

I think the donkey was a close freind of the horse and 'blagged' its way walk on part.

"You drive...i think theres something wrong with me..."

Sweeney Todd

This was true when the British DVD was released some years ago. But since, another DVD has been released, in France - but with the English soundtrack, and the French subs are removable - and this version is absolutely perfect from beginning to end. Apparently it was made from a print that was never cut.
This DVD is easily found on Amazon.fr, just type "Le grand inquisiteur". The publisher's name is NEO.

I have made comparizon with the previous DVD and it's like night and day. The only difference is that the "nude breasts" shots aren't in this French DVD - but remember, these inserts weren't directed by Michael Reeves, they were specifically for the US version. The French DVD contains the clothed version, the one directed by Michael Reeves. And (of course) it's also the original Paul Ferris music, not the atrocity contained in the US videos since many years...

ChristineCB

Next week, the Region-1 release is scheduled.

DocRobertPepper

Thanks Sweeney Todd i will try to get hold of this as i now hate watching the British DVD of this film
went on the Neo website and they call it The Withfinder General

NappieB

I always thought the donkey was used as the proverbial " beast of burden" to carry supplies, camping equipment and the occasional hapless suspect.

"It gets late early out here!" - Yogi Berra on a trip to the country

HIPPIEDAVE

The U.S. release titled The Conquerer Worm is supposedly longer, perhaps someone can enlighten us.D

Steve Crook

The IMDb Alternate Versions page gives details of a few cuts and other variations. The main one seems to be that the American version titled The Conqueror Worm has an extra section with a reading from the Edgar Allen Poe poem of that name.

First releases of the British version also had a few scenes cut although they've been restored on DVD releases

Steve

MarcMorris

I was the person responsible for the restoration - it's a long story. Will post details tomorrow as I'm on my way off to the NFT now.

DB7

I think this was the version shown during the recent BSoF season but like The Wicker Man the added scenes are of very poor quality. IIRC, Ogilvy stabbing Price over and over again was one.

m35541

I have the R1 MGM disk and it is of excellent quality - all of the reinserted censored shots in the UK disk are of perfect quality in the R1 disk. It's very cheap on Amazon so if you have a multi-regional DVD player it should be a must.

Note that it only has the UK print, not the alternate Contintenal version that appears on the Mterodome UK DVD.

Sweeney Todd

As I told some posts above, you can order the French DVD (if you don't have a multi-region DVD player), as this version is EXACTLY the same than the one on the recent R1 American disc, but is - of course - in Pal, not Ntsc.
This French DVD contains the English soundtrack, the French subs are removable...

MarcMorris

I was the person who restored WITCHFINDER here in the UK for both the Redemption VHS release (1995) and the Metrodome DVD release (2002). When we did the DVD restoration I was actually able to access the only two existing negatives in Britain, both of which I found were sadly cut for the cinema's BBFC X certificate.

I then accessed several 35mm prints, all of which were also cut in accordance to the BBFC censor cuts. I wasn't happy at all about this situation, but there was nothing I could do. The release date had already been set, the DVD and street date advertised everywhere, and the releasing company (Metrodome) were unwilling to put the release date back indefinitely in order to negotiate the use of materials from MGM in the USA, so I was forced to use the American laserdisc as the source to fill in the BBFC censor cuts (I'd done this previously with the Redemption video release, and I wasn't at all happy having to do it again). It was then decided that the Metrodome release should include the original BBFC X and restored versions. This DVD eventually was re-released by Prism as a budget title.

The only way this title is likely to be fully restored for the UK is by going back to the original American negative.

I should also add that the original US cinema version was altered, and added an Edgar Allan Poe poem to the end of the film, hence the re-title to THE CONQUEROR WORM. AIP wanted WITCHFINDER to fit in with their Poe series of movies. To add insult to injury, later US video releases had the soundtrack removed and replaced with an awful electronic music score by Kendall Schmidt, due to licensing problems with the Ferris score.

Luckily the film is at last available on US DVD mastered from the MGM negatives - and rather hilariously, the most recent UK DVD release - courtesy of Slam Dunk - reverts to the original BBFC X version - with cuts - for their lDVD release.

Sweeney Todd

Marc, the DVD released in France by Neo is NOT the US edition.
It has the original title credits ("Matthew Hopkins - The Witchfinder General"), not the US ones ("The Conqueror Worm").
Both this French DVD and the recent American one contain exactly the same version, I mean without the Edgar Allan Poe's poem, without the nude sequences, and - thanks God - without the awful electronic music.
As the sequences originally cut for the British release are in these DVDs, and are exactly of the same quality than the rest of the picture, we must suppose than an uncensored 35mm print of the British version existed somewhere - as THIS was the basis for these recent editions, NOT "an American print".
So, the best solution if someone wants this movie is to buy the US DVD, if you can play Ntsc - or the French one, if you can only play Pal. As I wrote, the French DVD has the English soundtrack, with removable French subtitles.