I understand that you (and indeed most of us here) want to support Shameless and buy this new release, but if it's the animal slaughter that's holding you back then why not buy the Grindhouse Releasing dvd? It gives the option of watching the movie without the cruelty.

Because I want the Tweety-coloured yellow case obviously! :happy:

You're right though, I could have made the Grindhouse purchase years ago. It certainly crossed my mind once or twice, though I would always frighten myself off by telling myself "what if you get p*ssed and put the wrong version on?!". And the PETA-boy would scream at me "but they still died! And you've just put money in their pockets!". Having to import it also gave me an easy way out.

I'm sure I'll get around to viewing it. Especially now its within easy grasp. More-so because its played on my mind so much over the years (even more ironic for a film I've never seen) and I think I just want to put it to rest. Who knows, perhaps this jaded old git will watch it stony-faced thinking "is that it?". Mind you... I jumped whilst watching Insidious, so I don't hold out much hope! :lol:

Having only seen the Vipco version before (the 2 disc set with 'house by the edge of the park') -I was quite surprised at just how much had actually been cut out of CH - I started to wonder if i'd fallen asleep during viewings of that dvd and missed bits of the film lol

Im glad someone mentioned the poor Spider - they always bring up the monkey more..... :p the new cut has alot more animal violence in than what it seems me and most people thought it would, think ill warn the gf before viewing it, as she definitely wont like what's coming for the pig.

Has the decision changed my opinion of CH? No, but its certainly a stronger film than what I thought it was - Like drinking a shot of apple sours vodka, only to be told its absynthe instead.

Well, I did it. I ordered the Shameless dvd from Amazon (dvd simply because I'm likely to be watching it through my fingers & squinting, so hi-def would be a waste). It was actually just after I'd ordered the uncut AWE release of House On The Edge Of The Park (sorry Shameless :blush:) that I felt a little hypocritical (and cissy if I'm honest) of my avoidance of CH. Surely I'm Man enough to sit through this now? Surely?:fear:

I've fannied around long enough (several decades in fact. There's procrastinating commitment for you). Either watch it or forget about it. It's probably the only video nasty (for want of a better phrase) that I've yet to see*, despite it's wide availability. Baz Luhrmann wrote "Do one thing everyday that scares you". So I'll watch CH... one day.
I'm sure it'll be a particularly gruelling watch for this lifelong RSPCA supporter (probably not a post Sunday roast viewing) and I'm not sure when it'll get an airing (this from someone who has new films in the player fresh from posties delivery), but my "review" should make interesting reading. Expect classic literature along the lines of "Gross!" "Barf!" "Sick b*stards!!" "Sob!" "No!! Not Porky!!"and "Blarrghhhh!!".

* Cos of the animal violence

seeing it in the -shop-with-the-dog was nice id have to say. il stick with my EC one for the time being...though the features do tip the balance....

thought Ferox was worse myself (and imm a vegetarian, go figure)

I'm easing myself in gradually.
I watched the two documentaries last night, which were very interesting. Ironically, piggy getting kicked around appeared unexpectedly in one of the doc's, so I've already exposed myself to a scene I was dreading. Turtle mutilation & screaming muskrats still to go... :fear:

OK, belly-full of Dutch courage, I finally watched the movie which I've been avoiding for the last two decades.

It's rank as a classic of it's genre is well deserved, and I only wish I'd seen it earlier. The animal slaughter, though repugnant, didn't affect me as much as I had expected. Yes it was awful (I did have to look away through some of the turtle sequence. Faye wasn't the only one with a mouthful of upchuck), but I suppose over the years I've seen a lot worse footage on tv (news footage of animal cruelty etc), so it perhaps lessened the effect. Ironically I think I was more upset by the sudden unexpected killing of the pig in Southern Comfort, than the death of the pig in CH. Probably because I knew it was coming in CH and had steeled myself for it (20 years worth of steeling myself!). The monkey scene happened so quick I wasn't even sure I'd seen it, and just witnessing the struggling muskrat in the guys hand and knowing what happened to it, was for me as awful as seeing the footage itself. It's one piece of celluloid I'm more than happy to let the BBFC mother me over.

I'm more angry at the animal cruelty because it kept me away from what is in fact a great movie. I understand it's inclusion (to make it hard to differentiate between whats real and whats not), but at the same time I didn't think it was necessary, especially considering the incredibly realistic special effects. And trust me, the effects at the end are so convincing that it wasn't necessary to tear open a turtle to make me wonder if those people were really getting eaten alive. Jacks lifeless bloodied lolling head as his meat & 2 veg were lopped off had me sitting there opened-mouthed and actually wondering, even knowing what I know, whether he was really dead?!

If I have one complaint (other than the animal stuff) is that I felt that the musical soundtrack pulled me out of the film a little, making me feel less like I was watching real discovered footage, and more like a was watching a film. I don't know if that makes sense as such? I think I was expecting something similar to Blair Witch, with no music or credits etc. Though on hindsight, perhaps it was better to be reminded that I was indeed watching a film after-all!

So, there you go, my two-penneth worth. Probably of no interest to anyone but myself, but I thought I'd follow up my "haven't seen it - just bought it" posts. It's definitely staying in my collection, though I'm not sure how often it'll be visited. Though when it does, the animal snuff will be courtesy of the FF button.

So that's one celluloid demon exorcised. Only got Pretty Woman to get through now, and I'm getting nauseas just thinking about that...

Really enjoyed reading that!

I think the main thing that shocked me was that the new edit featured far more of the cruelty than I was expecting.

Thanks, Paul. Was a bit worried it sounded too long winded, but thought people might appreciate feedback from someone who has actually never seen the film.

I'm just about to watch my copy of House on the edge of the Park now. I need something lighter after CH ;)

How's this for irony ; the guy who avoided CH for nigh on 20 years has not only since viewed it twice in it's entirety over the weekend, but has just purchased the Riz Ortolani soundtrack too. How can such a brutal film have such a dreamy lovey-dovey theme tune?! :shocked:

I'm currently playing the main theme on a loop, much to my neighbours appreciation (I can tell they appreciate Riz's beautiful score because they're openly weeping outside my window imploring me to play it again. One even threw a brick to get my attention, bless) ;)


OK, I've hogged this thread enough. I'll get me coat now.


P.S. The animal slaughter still sucks though :tsk: