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 Post subject: Exterminator, The (1980) [A-AE 0353]
PostPosted: 07 Jul 2020, 22:09 
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Exterminator, The (1980) [A-AE 0353]

The version I have is a promotional sample copy. The centre sticker is stamped as such. I've noticed a few things with this disc that give it, imho, a bit of extra importance that I think is worth noting.

The disc appears to be fully uncut. Though it is possible it may be the Pre Certification theatrical print that was released on VHS very briefly by Intervision in 1985. That print had 44 seconds of footage removed.

However, after checking up on the list of cuts and timestamps at Movie Censorship, it appears all of the cut footage on this promotional disc is intact. I still need to check it against a Blu Ray fully uncut copy but it does seem intact, which is odd. Is it possible this disc contains a fully uncut transfer that was made prior to the BBFC requesting the 44 seconds of cuts?

All of the footage that was removed in later prints is intact.

One of the most interesting points of this disc though is that the poster on the wall at 1hr 4 mins in the perverts bedroom is completely uncensored.

On all of the negatives of this film (even the uncut Blu Ray versions) that have been released (except one negative from Sweden iirc?) the poster was optically censored by the director who stated he smeared vaseline over the image. Referenced Here.

Yet on this print the offending image is completely uncensored. The image is of a man's leg by the way, not sure what the problem was with it. Interestingly the director states that the Japanese VHS is the best version of his film.

This means the print on this disc must have been extremely early, circa 1980? Or, it is from the Swedish negative? It may not be a Swedish source, again it is just something I recall reading. Someone please correct me if this is incorrect information.

Here is the cut list if you want to check for yourself. Also the BBFC entry for the same Intervision release.

https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=592069

https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/exterminator-1970-2

This is the Alpha Films (logo at the start of this Laserdisc) submission, notice the longer runtime? Yet the BBFC still cut it, unless it was pre cut by the MPAA?

https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/exterminator-film

As for the disc itself, it is P&S PAL with an old school analog audio track. It has an Intervision logo and an Alpha logo before the opening credits as well as a copyright notice.

The picture is a little washed out, not overly so, just in darker scenes. Cue marks are also present, another hint at a straight telecine maybe? The audio is superb though. I noticed as well a blooper at the beginning of the film where the boom mic is visible, maybe the transfer wasn't framed right?

This is definitely a disc worthy of further investigation I think. I will check it against the uncensored Blu Ray another day to be 100% but regardless I think this is an interesting little disc.

Footnote: One little piece of trivia to add. The opening Vietnam sequence was actually shot at the same spot as the tragic disaster on the set of The Twilight Zone that claimed the lives of Vic Morrow and 2 young children just 2 years after The Exterminator was filmed there. It was also worked on by the exact same special effects guy who worked on the Twilight Zone in the exact same spot. Read more at the Google Books link I referenced earlier.
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 Post subject: Re: Exterminator, The (1980) [A-AE 0353]
PostPosted: 07 Jul 2020, 23:40 
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Thanks for that teddanson.

The bit below is from imdb.....

The original UK cinema release was cut by 44 seconds with edits to the decapitation scene, the stabbing of Michael and a scene where a prostitute is tortured with a soldering iron. Video versions were cut by 3m 38 secs with further cuts to the cinema edits, and additional cuts to slow-motion footage of Vietnam killing scenes and the removal of an entire sequence where John makes mercury-filled dum-dum bullets. The Synergy DVD released in the UK in 2000 was treated much more leniently and was cut by only 22s, with the opening beheading and the prostitute's torture still edited. The film was finally passed completely uncut in the UK by the BBFC in 2004, since the offending scenes were no longer judged to be harmful by 2004 standards.
Finnish VHS version is cut over 10 minutes, it's missing:
The infamous decapitation (later on the film, an ultra-fast glimpse of this scene is shown uncut in a flashback). 2. A Nam-soldier walking from the bleeding torso body wiping his machete. 3. A Nam soldier trying to remove a wire from his bleeding throat. 4. Michael shooting a Nam soldier. 5. A Nam soldier fusing in flames. 6. A Nam soldier running to water in flames. 7. Ginty shooting the Nam-leader who is in the water (later on the film, this same shot is shown in an even more graphic angle in a flashback, completely uncut!). 8. The "Ghetto Ghouls" beating Michael (almost completely cut, all the actual beating deleted).
On British and German Blu-rays, a picture (hanging on a wall at the chicken house) showing a male genitalia was blurred. Ironically, the included making-of shows the non-blurred picture.
The norwegian release is cut in the opening scene with the beheading and when Michael Jefferson is violently attacked by the thugs.
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 Post subject: Re: Exterminator, The (1980) [A-AE 0353]
PostPosted: 08 Jul 2020, 12:47 
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teddanson wrote:
I noticed as well a blooper at the beginning of the film where the boom mic is visible, maybe the transfer wasn't framed right?


Could be open matte. Boom mics are a typical artifact of incorrect framing from widescreen to full screen as that space was never intended to be shown.
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 Post subject: Re: Exterminator, The (1980) [A-AE 0353]
PostPosted: 09 Jul 2020, 15:09 
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It doesn't seem to be open matte in the same way as, say, on the Straw Dogs PAL LD. Maybe just a goof? However it is not listed on IMDB as such:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080707/goofs/?tab=gf&ref_=tt_trv_gf

I watched through the disc again at the key moments in the timestamped list and I missed the part with the soldering iron on the prostitute. For the most part it is intact but there is a few seconds missing yet it's more complete than what was subsequently trimmed in the next print. So this promo disc is very likely to be the 1980 'X' rated theatrical print, yet the mystifying part is that it seems to be more complete than the X version.

I'd love to track down the Japanese LD to compare them, especially to see if the poster is still optically censored. My promo LD still has that 'advantage' (if you want to call it that) over the Blu Ray versions because no release to date (afaik) has that scene intact, as per what the director stated himself (linked prior).

The Exterminator is an interesting little film imho, and a good one at that too. While digging around for all this information I was sad to read that Robert Ginty passed away in 2009. He was only 60 too. Far too young.
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