Love this movie!


I must've watched this thing about a million times. There are two versions out there...one censored, one un-censored. But, the un-censored one has a few KEY elements removed. The Censored version ending is terrible, edited to shreds, because they just flash around and you're not sure what's happening.

But, this is Roddenberry at his best and yes, I KNOW the whole thing is soooo silly, but it's also so compelling, well paced, language driven and endless fascinating (ok...to me).

I LOVE the camaraderie between these two "old" timer actors (well, 40 and 50 are considered ancient in TV Land) but I'm betting that was one reason why it didn't sell...TV execs can't seem to see past age, and only people under 30 get to be heroes in shows like this. But, having these two veterans at the fore is great.

I'd love to see Spectre done as a series, and yes, I know it would not be the same, but it would be great to see an Andromeda done based on the premise, which is Sherlock Holmes meets the Devil, essentially.

Oh, trivia...the painting that Sebastian admires turns up in the hallway of Red Dwarf's Legion ep. I got a huge kick out of that.

Enjoy!

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We adore this one too!

Have you seen the Final Programme? It involves the "same" Cyon family, and Jenny Runacre (the redheaded driver/butleress) as an... interesting character!

We had just been talking the other day about how this WOULD have made a great series for weird folk like us! Too bad the essence of the age can't truly be captured today...

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Just out of curiosity, what key elements were removed from the uncensored version? I did finally get an uncensored copy and had a good time walking down memory lane. Now I need to get a copy of "The World Beyond" aka the Mud Monster!

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This comes a bit late, I know, but perhaps better late than never, eh?

In the uncut version, Sebastian and Ham leave Geoffrey's party just as it's about to become an orgy; middle-aged businessmen begin choosing (or are chosen) by female members of Geoffrey's household staff and at least one threesome begins making out. Sebastian and Ham enter the caverns. Sebastian drops the magic bullet and it rolls behind the opened fire chamber door. He and Ham leverage the door away from the wall; we are treated to a shock shot of Mitri's mummified corpse set into the wall. They take the missing piece of the seal from the corpse and enter the empty fire chamber. Hearing the cultists approaching, they hide in an alcove at the rear of the chamber. The cultists enter, chanting; the females in red robes bear Anitra bound on a litter, and transfer her to the sacrificial altar. Asmodeus enters in red robes, his "face" hidden by a voluminous hood. He reveals his Mitri face, and an orgy begins. Geoffrey appears in a similar but black robe; Asmodeus orders him to serve him "fully" and become his high priest. Geoffrey pleas that he has already served him well, but Asmodeus wants his soul, which will be forfeited in the act of sacrificing Anitra to the demon. Geoffrey transforms into a beast and is given a headsman's axe, but he resists. Begging forgiveness from Asmodeus, he is seized by the cultists and stripped of his beast form and his robes. Just then, Asmodeus partially transforms into his true form and detects Sebastian hiding in the alcove. The demon bids him to come forth. Cut to commercial. We return, Asmodeus commanding Sebastian to reveal himself, and Cabell (in beast form) goes to the alcove and reveals him.

In the "censored" version, Sebastian and Ham simply appear in the caverns under the mansion (we don't see them leave the mansion; the last thing we see is Ham having a discussion about probable cause with Cabell in front of the mansion). Sebastian drops the bullet and they move the door. We never see Mitri's mummified corpse; instead there is a cutaway to one of the workers' skeletons. The discussion of Mitri's "mummified" corpse remains, however, making the whole thing just that much more inexplicable. Sebastian suddenly has the missing part of the seal in his hand. They enter the fire chamber; despite the lack of noise earlier, the chamber is now in full orgy and they are greeted by Cabell (in beast form), who appears to be revealing them to Asmodeus. Anitra (whom we didn't know was missing in this version) and Geoffrey are inexplicably prisoners of the cult. The remainder of the scene is also choppy, and Asmodeus just seems to disappear in flames (in disgust? frustration? horror?).

I had always known something was missing from the final scenes, just from the jump cuts, the discussion of what appears to be a skeleton as a "mummified corpse" (and just how would they have instantly known that a fleshless skeleton was Mitri, anyway?), and how they kept the orgy quiet just on the other side of an open doorway. I had believed the rumour that there was a censoring of nudity that wouldn't fly on American TV, but this is not why the sequence was cut. There is no "nudity" the way we think of it today. There are lots of naked thighs and backs, couples (and triples) in rapturous embrace, but we're not talking simulated sex on the level of porn. It's all pretty tame, even by the standards of the time. It looks more like the party scene was cut, then the shot of the corpse was cut, and then a reel was lost. The effect is that the end of the censored version makes little sense; the heroes just appear to win because the cultists are insane and disorganized, and Asmodeus just disappears.

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I agree, I remember seeing this movie as a kid and spent years trying to find a copy. I finally found a fellow in England who had one. Pity it was not made into a series, it would have been a classic.

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Actually, what you have been referring to as the "censored version" is what was originally shot and aired in the USA on TV as a proposed pilot for a series. The "uncensored version" was simply a re-edit with specially shot inserts, after the fact, for a theatrical release in Europe. Apparently it is, or was, common practice to do that. One of my childhood friend's Dad saw "Battlestar Galactica" in the cinema in London, I believe, back in the late Seventies. The same thing was done with the TV series "Buck Rogers: In The 25th Century." The only major difference that time was, it also, received a brief theatrical release here in the state too. I saw that one on the big screen. And yes I loved it. Hey, I was twelve!

It would be great to see a decent DVD release of "Specter," maybe with both versions on it to choose from.

"We'll build a Glass Asylum, with just a hint of mayhem"-David Bowie,Big Brother, Diamond Dogs,1975

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Scared the crap out of me! I saw it on TV as a teenager & haven't watched another horror movie since.

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