TV showings just butcher this classic
I remember when I was a child and my friends and I used to share this tape of the movie before we bought our own videos. It was this taped version from TV, and we used to pass it between us whenever we wanted to watch it.
However, this showing on TV completely took out the sisters being hanged!!
I know in the Alternative Versions section on IMDb there are different variations of cuts made from the movie when shown on TV - like scenes of Billy's head or fingers being detached, the shot of the sisters' feet being removed etc - but I haven't seen the hanging scene being completely cut mentioned in the section.
For years, I never knew that scene existed until I had my own videotape or I saw a version on TV which was fully intact. In the tape we shared, the townspeople arrived at the cottage and banged on the door, then of course Sarah says what they were doing and Winnie chokes her. That's where the tape version ends! We hear Winnie's scream as she chokes Sarah, then it jumps to the shot of Miss Olin's witch hat and her telling the story to Max's class!
The hanging scene is where we are told how the witches can come back to life and how it has to be a virgin. Without it, you're left confused about the significance of the black flame candle and why they keep bringing up that Max is a virgin! I guess as a child I didn't really think about that and just accepted that the witches were back as you could hardly have the movie without them.
However, a cut like that would definitely confuse viewers today.