dvd

As I keep saying here, and am beginning to burn out of pointing out, the "Bonzai" version of Pray for Death currently floating around on dvd, has a 92 min (according to the back of its box) runtime which is THE SAME RUNTIME listed by IMDB. That, coupled with the fact that it even has the old "Trans World Entreatment" logo at the beginning of the film, seems to indicate to me that this is the official Rater-R version. It appears to be a direct transfer of the vhs video tape. Though I do not see any rating information given before the films start, this seems irrelevant. The "Bonzai" company seems a little odd (if you search into it like I have) and I'm not so sure about there legitimacy. They do put out other films, mostly foreign asian films/market. It did not seem to me like they were trying to preserve all aspects of the original source. I don't remember seeing any warnings and threats against copying, etc. Yet its old, I cant remember how far back all that stuff goes on vhs. It is possible that this company acquired the rights and did a rush job, or just got their hands on the film and put it out. Who knows? I'm not all that concerned. I'm just glad I finally got a copy of the film on dvd and hope that one day a version will come out by an official mainstream dvd company with some special features as well!

So, once again, this dvd copy of Pray for Death floating around out there does not appear to be any sort of "taped from tv" version of film, and as far as I can tell it is the original cut that was released on vhs. As I do not think it has ever been released in widescreen, this is simply the 80's fullscreen vhs version. I have recently seen a version being advertised as Widescreen on ebay, with the same "Bonzai" cover art. But my guess is someone has probably taken the Fullscreen and recorded it into Widescreen (but that's not a true Widescreen print). I always prefer Widescreen, when it is real and taken from the real print, but I think sometimes things seem a little chopped off when you take a Fullscreen print and force it to Widescreen.

That is the best I can make of it by look at all the evidence. Any other info, please look back through these posts.

If anyone has any new or relevant info to add, PLEASE DO!! Pray for Death is a great film.

just watched this on demand from Direct tv.
the running time was listed as 1 hour, 28 minutes, and it was preceded with a note that said "edited to meet this time frame".

it was in HD, and was not pan n scan, but not sure if it was true "widescreen" (unless it was poorly shot, since some images get cut off at the edge of the frame) - it was, however, for sure butchered in the editing room. all the "kills" were either not shown or cut away from quickly. several key plot element scenes were cut, as characters would mention something that we never saw. also, i'm sure i saw a video glitch line at the beginning of the film (which would indicate a transfer from tape).

sounds like it's either the same cut or worse than is available on dvd. granted, the movie is not sho kosugi's finest, but i bet it fairs better in its original, uncut state - which i'm not sure exists for commercial viewing at the moment.