MovieChat Forums > Death Line (1973) Discussion > Cut and uncut versions?

Cut and uncut versions?


It seems to me I heard that Death Line wasn't just retitled, but recut for its transition to the U.S. release called Raw Meat. Does anyone know if this is true? Is the U.S. DVD not the proper cut of the film?

reply

[deleted]

I think when the film was originally released in the U.S. it was re-titled and cut for an R-rating.MGM restored the cuts for the unrated DVD release but kept the U.S. title of Raw Meat.If you watch the old trailer on the MGM DVD it shows the MPAA R-rating at the end.

reply

[deleted]

I was under the impression that the only uncut version available is the 2006 R2 Network release:

Here's a review at Amazon that appears to confirm that:

"There is a nasty and protracted rape scene that was edited in the cinema release. It is included in full here and makes for a nasty film that leaves a nasty taste in the mouth .

What starts as an attack on capitalism - workers left in a tunnel to survive after an accident by corrupt and negligent employers - becomes just another bit of xenophobia. Oooh scary bad man vs. groovy 70s couple.

Amicus do it better as they never lose their moral compass.

Interestingly this is one of the many 70s Brit horror films that depict the cops as bungling idiots. See Theatre of Blood or Dracula AD 72 for something similar. I smell a thesis coming on ...."

Like the reviewer, I have no desire to see "a nasty and protracted rape scene", but I hadn't realised there was another version available. The 'Death Line' VHS and 'Raw Meat' MGM DVD that I own feature no such scene.

The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep.

reply