Was this really re-rated PG? It a) seems pretty explicit, especially in regard to nudity, and b) the M rating is the only one that appears on the DVD box, and I'm not talking about on a reproduction of the poster. There is an M symbol on its own on the box, which I would assume would not have been made available if it had been re-rated..
shareIt seems this was not resubmitted to the MPAA, and it's restoration ( a longer print appears on DVD than in cinemas ) has upped the material to an R level. Original distributor in the US ( AIP ) frequently toned down their horror pictures prior to releasing them, so the version on DVD is not what people saw in the theater in the US.
CRY OF THE BANSHEE is also longer and bloodier now, with nudity intact that removed for the GP version. CRY went through the MPAA again and came out R.
I wondered about this, as well. MGM almost always resubmits films that were given a now defunct rating. Like "Dr. Phibes" was originally rated GP. Now, the DVD package lists it as a PG-13. In fact, "The Oblong Box" is the only release that retains its out of date rating for the DVD packaging. At least that I've seen, anyway.
By the way, about the new IMDb design.... Yeah, it still sucks.
"Original distributor in the US ( AIP ) frequently toned down their horror pictures prior to releasing them, so the version on DVD is not what people saw in the theater in the US."
Interesting. I've heard the same thing about TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, which I saw in a theatre. (Of course, in that instance, my videotape, copied from CBS, has things I saw in the theatre CUT.)
I was also amazed to learn that the version of WITCHFINDER GENERAL (THE CONQUEROR WORM) I saw in a theatre back in 1971 was intact, while the version released in England had several minutes missing (and was still considered "sick and depraved" by one UK reviewer). That film got even MORE butchered when run on local TV... there had to be at least 10 minutes cut out of it, in some ways, for the better. (It really was a sick, disturbing movie.)
I was 10 years old when my mother took me to see this movie at the theatre. She figured it was Vincent Price in a Poe classic, what could go wrong. We didn't stay very long. Mom walked us out of the theatre. This was before movie ratings. Should have read a review before we went.
shareI thought it was rated R?
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